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The creation of a limited number of Regional Management Centres (RMCs) in England and Wales was an institutional innovation without precedent in British further education. It was the creation of a group of new academic institutions based on a single subject — management studies. It was a major policy initiative to enhance the credibility of management education in further education, and thereby to enable that system to complement the national Business Schools in meeting the management education needs of the business community. It was a political decision with far‐reaching consequences for management and for British industry as a whole.

This chapter explores the numerous considerations that an external examiner (EE) of an undergraduate degree within a further-education (FE) college must be mindful. There may be the perception that our academic experience of lecturing within a university equips us with the knowledge to collaborate with colleagues within an FE institution. However, this is valid only to a certain point. There is a spectrum of contrasts between the higher education (HE) and FE environments that are reflected within the comparisons that this chapter highlights between the teaching-and-learning experiences. If we think back to the original purpose of an EE (where Oxford scholars were invited by Durham University to provide external guidance in the nineteenth century), we can appreciate the key task of an EE and its aim: to assess the comparability of student achievement. The landscape of HE has changed considerably since then, and now undulates with numerous opportunities for learners to gain a HE qualification. It is this difficulty in assessing comparability that an EE of a HE course within an FE environment must be willing to acknowledge. The fact that the student-and-learning experience varies wildly in HE and FE muddies the waters for the EE: how can comparableness be assessed?

Partnership arrangements involving institutions of further and higher education provide educational provision to a broad audience. It is essential that within the framework of a partnership arrangement there is a structure in place which allows senior academics and administrators to ensure that the partnership is maintained, developed and realizes the objectives set by senior management. This paper makes reference to a centre of entrepreneurship, which academics and administrators can establish, to facilitate the development of partnership arrangements and can be viewed also as a catalyst for developing new products and services which can be turned into marketable products and services, leading to increased opportunities for income generation. The framework outlined in this paper can provide a basis for establishing a professional and relational marketing approach that should ensure that customer expectations are met, and can be used to audit, evaluate and manage a partnership arrangement.

The appearance of a memorandum prepared by the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions, together with the Association of Principals of Technical Institutions, on relations between colleges and the representatives of Industry Training Boards, gives public recognition, at least by implication if not by direct statement, to difficulties which have for some time existed in the working of the 1964 Industrial Training Act. A year ago, W. M. MacQueen referred to evidence which suggested that … the Industrial Training Act is being misinterpreted to the detriment of our technical education service and consequently of our industry, and more recently, EDUCATION, the official journal of the Association of Education Committees, commented that Resentment against the training officers attached to industry training boards has been steadily hotting up in colleges of further education. Some of them, the technical teachers say privately, are butting in like self‐styled HMIs, and presuming too far to tell the teachers their business. And some local authorities, the teachers allege, instead of defending the teachers, have been turning a blind eye to the interference because of the undeniable financial benefits which accrue to the education service from investment by industry.

In April 1998, the legal status of further education colleges in Northern Ireland changed (Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997). Their new legal status offers colleges the opportunity to develop a greater business focus while preserving a robust framework of public accountability. Colleges will need to respond in a balanced fashion to the competing demands made by multiple stakeholders. In order to assist colleges to respond to these challenges, the Department of Education (NI) has commissioned the Business Development Service, an agency within the Department of Finance and Personnel, to provide consultancy to those colleges which wish to explore the use of the business excellence quality model (developed by the European Foundation for Quality Management 1988‐1991). This paper evaluates the relevance and validity of this approach for all 17 further education colleges in Northern Ireland.

This paper aims to investigate whether the institution attended or type of course taken in further education, by students who are classified as low achievers at age 16, influences the probability of their subsequent educational success.

To evaluate the probability of educational success of this subsample of young people, a probit model with sample selection is estimated, using the Youth Cohort Survey data for England and Wales and covering the period 1982 to 2004.

The results suggest that the best route to educational success for “lower achievers” is through further education colleges. There are further significant gains in the probability of educational success for young men who take vocational courses at the FE college. Furthermore, the students taking this route into post‐compulsory education are subsequently most likely to enter higher education; a result relevant to policy, since the aim of the Education Act (2008) is to increase the educational attainment of all young people up to the age of 18.

The paper provides an analysis of the educational decisions and outcomes of young people who were considered of low ability at age 16.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the results of an empirical investigation of the effective use of social software in further and higher education. The aims of the research are to: identify situations where social software tools had been employed in learning and teaching; elicit the experiences of the staff and students; and to draw out the benefits, challenges and issues (and their resolutions) associated with the use of social software.

In the empirical study, data from 26 initiatives, where social software tools have been employed, were collected, analysed and synthesised. A case study methodology was followed and both educators and students were interviewed to find out what they had done, how well it had worked, and what they had learned from the experiences.

This study provides insights about the benefits to the students, educators and institutions; challenges that may influence a social software initiative; and issues that need to be considered in a social software initiative.

The data analysis in this project has been qualitative. In future research, it would be useful to obtain quantitative evidence relating to the effectiveness of the use of social software. Such evidence would be of considerable assistance to institutional policy makers. The case studies in the project are snapshots of the current situation. It would be useful to carry out longitudinal studies over a period of time to investigate the sustainability of the individual initiatives.

It is hoped that the lessons captured in this paper will inform the learning and teaching strategies in higher and further education – specifically, assisting the institutions and educators who are considering the use of social software, or more generally, people or organisations undertaking technology‐enabled learning and teaching initiatives.

The published research so far has tended to focus on the use of forums, blogs and wikis, rather than extending to encompass other social software. Furthermore, the literature discusses experiences of individual educators and with a small set of students. The project reported in this paper examined data from 26 initiatives from a varierty of institutions, involving a wide range of social software tools, and in diverse contexts.

A number of Authorities have established sixth‐form colleges in order to economise on provision at sixth‐form level, but these are still run under secondary regulations. This creates problems in effecting co‐operation and possibly eventual merger with adjacent further education colleges. Is there any reason why all institutions which admit students only when they are over the compulsory school‐leaving age should not be run under further education regulations? Although where would still be differences in treatment between 16–19 year olds in all‐through secondary schools and in post‐16 institutions, the anomalies would be much less than in the present system where sixth‐form colleges operate under secondary regulations.

The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of research into the extent and impact of restricted access by specific groups of staff to ICT‐based communications in UK further and higher education institutions.

An exploratory approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods. A questionnaire survey was distributed to all HEFCE‐funded institutions in the UK. Six institutions acted as case study sites for in‐depth qualitative investigation using documentary analysis and semi‐structured interviews.

Lack of hardware and network infrastructure posed less of a barrier than lack of ICT skills, lack of motivation either to use computers or to gain ICT skills, and line manager resistance to staff using computers or accessing ICT training in work time. Job function was the factor most associated with lack of access, with cleaning, catering and estates staff least likely to have access. However, there were also many examples of good practice to extend staff access, particularly with regard to ICT training. The research concludes that one of the main concerns for institutions is to “win the hearts and minds” of non‐desk staff and their managers. The development of an institutional communication strategy is identified as being of critical importance.

Provides a “snapshot” of the prevailing situation at the point of data collection rather than a longitudinal insight into developments in access over time.

The first comprehensive analysis of staff access to ICT in UK further and higher education. In addition to highlighting examples of good practice for dissemination across the sector, the research provides information about gaps in provision to inform the targeting of future initiatives.

The British Library Research & Development Department is funding a two‐year study of library support for franchised higher education courses in the UK. “Franchising”, in this context, is a process whereby a university approves another body, usually a college of further education, to run one of the university's own courses at the college. Delivery of the course, and provision of the necessary resources, including library services, are the college's responsibility. Students who complete the course receive a university award and/or are able to progress on to other university courses. It is believed that there are about 50,000 students in the UK following such courses.