Commenting on the survey of Further Education College Leavers from 2018/19 which has been released by the Department for Economy today, Ken Webb, Chair of the College Principals Group said:
“This report is very encouraging and once again highlights the real value which our FE Colleges offer to learners completing and achieving a qualification at Level 3 or below. We are all committed to ensuring that each of our learners are equipped with the skills to succeed in a future career and it is heartening to see an increased number of these students (up from 47.4% to 50.2%), in employment six months after achieving their qualifications.”
“As the job market becomes more uncertain, we know that challenges exist but we are confident our learners will continue to benefit from choosing to study at their local FE College. Our close links with the business community across all sectors ensures these learners can readily gain employment and we will continue to strengthen these. As we can see from this report, the subject areas with the highest proportions of leavers in full-time employment were Construction, Planning and the Built Environment, Business, Administration and Law and Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies. Our programmes in these subjects are vital not only for our learners but also employers who require a skilled workforce with the technical skills and expertise to meet the challenges of the future and it is crucial that these are continually supported.”
“Choosing to study in a FE College is about so much more than learning – it is about that wider experience. Figures which show that more than two thirds of our learners would choose to study again in the same College is really positive. Collectively, we all have to continue to champion the benefits and value of choosing to study in our FE Colleges and as Principals’ we remain committed to further improving these findings next year.”