Overview of further education
Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) represents staff working in general further education (FE) colleges, tertiary colleges, sixth form colleges, independent specialist colleges, Scotland's colleges and post-16 learning provision in Wales.
Approximate numbers of staff working in FE are as follows:
- 246,000 staff in England
- 6,357 staff in Northern Ireland
- 12,330 in Scotland
- 9,122 in Wales
(Source: LLUK Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 Report).
There are 470 UK FE institutions, whose work is primarily concerned with post-compulsory learning, although the sector also offers work based learning and community based learning provision, plus institutionally based programmes.
Some of the main stakeholders in the FE sector are as follows:
- 157 Group
- Association of Colleges (AoC)
- Association of National Specialist Colleges (NatSpec)
- Association of Scotland's Colleges
- Centre for Excellence in Leadership (CEL)
- Fforwm
- Further Education Development Agency, FEDA Cymru
- Learning and Skills Council (LSC)
- Learning and Skills Network (LSN)
- Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)
- the national governments in the four UK nations
- Institute for Learning (IfL)
- Quality Improvement Agency (QIA)
- Scottish Funding Council
- Sixth Form Colleges Association
Links to other organisations active in FE are included in the nations pages and sector information is available in the research pages.
For information on leadership and management, the reform of initial teacher/tutor/trainer education, 14-19 workforce development and Skills for Life professional development, please view the relevant Standards and Qualifications pages. Information is also available about the Workforce Strategy for the FE sector in England and the Catalyst recruitment and retention programmes.
To learn more about careers and professional development in FE, please contact LLUK's Information and Advice Service.
