Over a decade has gone by since the report of the Widening Participation Committee - Learning Works - was presented to the Further Education Funding Council. Ten years on, a new report published in 2008 asks how far have we come in the decade since Learning works? What progress have we made? And what barriers have we yet to overcome? Bringing together the perspectives of key thinkers, researchers and commentators, it aims to stimulate debate on what we need to do next to widen participation. Download the LSN publication 'Unfinished business in widening participation: the end of the beginning' in PDF or Word

A further education update (available here to download in Word ) was written by John Harvey and Madeleine King in September 2008.

Further education colleges are active in many Aimhigher partnerships and their involvement is crucial to the success of the programme. Colleges are key partners in Aimhigher because they

• already contribute over 40% of the learners who progress to higher education
• contain 75% of all post-sixteen learners
• are central to the Aimhigher ambition to increase the progression of vocational and work based learners
• offer many learners a second chance to succeed
• are increasingly important providers of local higher education opportunities including Foundation Degrees
• reactive partners in Lifelong Learning Networks

We will provide links to key sources of information relating to widening participation and the further education sector and would encourage you to inform us of resources which would be of interest to others in the sector by emailing info@actiononaccess.org

Action on Access also has a work based learning JISC Mail group.

QAA Report on HE in FE "overwhelmingly positive"  Judgments on the quality of teaching and learning on offer to students taking higher education courses in colleges of further education are "overwhelmingly positive", a report has found. Analysis of 51 audits of higher education courses in 46 further education colleges by the Quality Assurance Agency shows that 99 per cent of judgments on the quality of "learning opportunities" were "commendable" or "approved". (February 2008)

Young People's learning agency

Skills Funding Agency

(BIS website)

HEA (Higher Education Academy)

HE in FE

(HEA)

ACP (Association of Collaborative Provision)

Aimhigher

Association of Colleges

Association of Learning Providers

Foundation Degree Forward

LSN Publications

LSIS (Learning and Skills Improvement Service)

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (Framework for Achievement section)

For more information on FE Policy, visit our page Policy at a Glance

Useful Downloads and Newsletters/Bulletins

FE News is the Further Education, Skills and Employability news site / online magazine. We cover news across the entire FE Sector, and have been established since 2003. We are an independent publication that is passionate about promoting best practice across the entire FE Sector (when we talk about FE we mean the entire sector). Read More

Update is Skills Funding Agency weekly round up of business critical information, news and views for the sector. Read More

Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances, White Paper - March 2006, available to download in PDF

Skills Funding Agency Questions and Answers for Employers, available in PDF

University Challenge: Unlocking Britain's Talent, available to download in PDF

16 - 18 and Post-19 Transfer Bulletin 1 - Word