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Further education and sixth form colleges are key institutions for facilitating skill acquisition among 16–19 year olds in the UK. They enrol half a school cohort after completion of their lower secondary education, and this includes a disproportionate number from low‐income backgrounds. Yet little is known about what could improve performance in these institutions. We conduct the world's first management practices survey in such institutions, and match this to administrative longitudinal data on over 40,000 students. Value‐added regressions with rich controls suggest that structured management matters for educational outcomes, especially for students from low‐income backgrounds. For this group, in a hypothetical scenario where an individual is moved from a college at the 10th percentile of management practices to the 90th, this would be associated with 8% higher probability of achieving a good high school qualification, nearly half of the educational gap between those from poor and non‐poor backgrounds. Hence improving management practices may be an important channel for reducing inequalities. This paper is part of the Economica 100 Series. Economica, the LSE "house journal" is now 100 years old. To commemorate this achievement, we are publishing 100 papers by former students, as well as current and former faculty. Anna Valero is a distinguished Policy fellow at CEP and Deputy Director of POID and associate at GRI. Sandra McNally is Director of the Education and Skills Programme at the CEP. Luis Schmidt‐Rivera is a Researcher at STICERD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the UK government was the first to introduce a statutory obligation, also known as the "Prevent duty", on all education institutions, including Higher and Further Education, universities and colleges, in England and Wales, to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. The duty, promoted by the UK Home Office as another safeguarding measure, acted as an extension to the UK's Prevent Strategy (CONTEST), first published in 2006. The duty in schools came under scrutiny as national security measures of surveillance and reporting conflict with what education stands for, that is, a space for social, intellectual growth and the formation of one's identity. There is little literature examining how secondary school teachers attempt to prevent radicalisation through teaching practices. To fill this gap, interviews were carried out with 13 secondary school teachers, teaching different subjects at Key Stage 3/4 in England to investigate their views on what informs their choice of pedagogical methods to prevent radicalisation and how they engage with the curriculum to enact the duty. To contrast teachers' views, 14 Prevent Practitioners in England were interviewed to examine whether correct interpretation and implementation of the Prevent duty was taking place. Findings show that whilst the duty's main objective in schools is for teachers to signal and report potential radicalised students, teachers feel that Prevent policy and training requires strengthening to equip them with a sound knowledge of what violent radicalisation entails, and pedagogical tools to help them prevent radicalisation through educational teaching practices and their subject curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the positive experiences of three neurodiverse students who studied horticulture. The students found that the practical work in the course improved their mood, increased their understanding of horticultural science, and boosted their self-esteem. They also found that working outside and being in nature had a calming and therapeutic effect. The article suggests that vocational further education in horticulture can be valuable for neurodiverse students and recommends further research in this area. [Extracted from the article]

Previous studies have identified a deficit with the higher education (HE) decision-making support offered by further education (FE) colleges, compared with other post-16 providers. However, there has been little research as to why this might be the case. This paper explores this issue by considering the HE choice-making experiences of Level 3 Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) students and the staff supporting them in an FE college in England. Data are viewed through the theoretical lens of the Theory of Practice Architectures, a framework which illuminates the pre-existing conditions holding the practices of HE choice-making in place. The investigation reveals inconsistent College HE choice support, with a reliance on tutors and local universities that can both enable and constrain the programme. Factors underlying the construction of the programme include the structural parameters of both the BTEC qualification and the College, competing College priorities and the varying relationships the College has with different types of universities. The paper concludes by highlighting the complexity of the tensions and conflicts inherent in FE and making a number of practical recommendations as to the underlying conditions that would need to change in order for FE HE choice support to fulfil its potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The professionalism of artists and further education (FE) teachers is often questioned. This research will evaluate the impact this has on artist–teachers working in FE. Schön defines a professional as an individual who works in a highly specialized occupation. This article examines how this applies to artists and FE teachers, with reference to historical and contemporary cross‐disciplinary research. Published research focuses on professionalism in terms of meeting sets of criteria. However, research participants within this study were more concerned with the activities undertaken by artist–teachers and how these reflected their professionalism. The research findings focus on the perceived professionalism of artist–teachers in adult community learning (ACL), a sub‐section of FE in the United Kingdom that encompasses adult and community learning delivered to adults aged 19+ but local authorities or general FE colleges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data linked to administrative data to track the educational and labour market outcomes of young people. Students with lower skills have lower rates of participation in further education. While low‐skilled men out‐earn their higher‐skilled counterparts when they are very young, their earnings are overtaken by those with higher skills when they are in their early 20s, and they earn around 15 per cent less by the age of 25. The differences among women are substantially larger – women with low skills earn approximately 35 per cent less than their higher‐skilled counterparts by age 25. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper revisits and reanalyses data from a study carried out in the further education and training sector in the Republic of Ireland to investigate (1) how adults access and participate in numeracy courses and (2) how adult numeracy provision might support active citizenship. We analysed 45 interviews with adult education providers, adult numeracy tutors, and adult learners to identify themes that connect adult numeracy with a human rights conception of citizenship as access to and participation in economic, social, and community life. This analysis found that the most common barriers to accessing adult numeracy courses arose from dispositional factors relating to fear, anxiety and lack of confidence with mathematics, largely due to negative experiences in formal schooling. To overcome these barriers, adults' participation in numeracy courses was encouraged by integrating numeracy learning activities into real world contexts in a non-threatening learning environment. The interview analysis also illustrated ways in which adult numeracy education supported active citizenship in the economic, social, and community spheres, by (i) enhancing financial literacy and preparing adults for employment; (ii) fostering individual empowerment, family learning and social inclusion; and (iii) enabling civic engagement. Policies for promoting adult education typically aim to develop active citizenship, but without specifying how this is to be achieved. Our study is valuable because it illuminates potential connections between citizenship and numeracy as a dimension of adult education that is separate from literacy. The findings lead to recommendations for translating national and international policy frameworks into research-informed adult education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on the significant shift that has heralded the normalisation of the further education researcher, including practitioners with multiple professional identities and skill sets who are comfortably inhabiting multiple spaces and communities. Further education sector offers an interface between industry, the arts, and private sectors. Further education colleges have developed partnerships between industry, curriculum makers, and university partners.

In 2010, the Department for Education in England decided to reform the vocational qualifications offered in secondary education (i.e., for 14–18 year olds) in order to increase their rigour and status. They set out new criteria that vocational qualifications needed to meet, which changed their nature in fundamental ways (e.g., content, assessment structure, grading and progression requirements). At a time when the reforms to vocational qualifications are settling in, it is important to understand their impact on student engagement in vocational education and, also, how the new categories of vocational qualifications help students progress through education. This research aimed to obtain an up-to-date view of progression from vocational qualifications to post-16 education. Using national data, we investigated whether students with different programmes of study and different vocational qualifications in lower secondary school were equally likely to progress to post-16 education and, if they progressed, what routes and qualifications they took. The research outcomes suggest that, although vocational routes do not close students' options, progression to post-16 education was affected by the proportion of vocational qualifications they took pre-16. More research is needed to find out the reasons behind this association, including whether this may reflect previous experiences with vocational education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the experiences of those who lead undergraduate education-related programmes in further education (FE) colleges in England. Questionnaire and interview fieldwork with 14 further education-based programme leaders were supplemented by a comparison survey of equivalent professionals from higher education institutions (HEIs). Drawing on Hodgson and Spours's four-level lifelong learning ecology and Nardi and O'Day's keystone species concept, our analysis characterises the role of the undergraduate programme leader as distinctive and critical within the further education context. Extremely multifaceted and busy, this role is also poorly defined, often involving individuals relying on craft wisdom accrued within specific contexts. Three overall strands of responsibility emerged in participants' view of their role: the administrative and organisational demands of colleges and the validation/franchising of higher education partners; the provision to learners of appropriate support in their studies; and the recognition of and response to pastoral needs of students. Tensions were identified between these, with one strand tending to preoccupy programme leaders at any time, obscuring their view of other important role objectives. As such, we introduce the concept of sightlines to capture the importance of enabling programme leaders to see through and beyond their institutional context and engage outwards, rather than turn inwards. Practical recommendations include the provision of time and licence to study for advanced qualifications, to undertake research and to help nurture distinctive cultures of higher education learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article employs speculative fabulation and poetic inquiry as methods to explore the role of the body and embodied experiences in the classroom. We read ethnographic material from secondary schools in Finland and Further Education colleges in England with Donna Haraway, Karen Barad, Rosi Braidotti and Jane Bennett to trouble the practices and expectations in mainstream classrooms. By fabulating stories we demonstrate how seeing classrooms as sites of intra-action allows us as educators to see the relationships between humans and non-humans differently. By turning ethnographic data into poems we create shared experiences of lessons, perhaps invoking shared feelings and memories from our past. Above all, we strive towards a feminist future that challenges the prevailing mind/body dualism in the classroom and calls for better understanding of the diverse needs of our students by asking what if things were done differently in our mainstream classrooms? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of further education for safety assessors is an important topic in the field of safety assessment of cosmetic products. Safety assessors are responsible for evaluating the safety of cosmetic products for human health. The German Society for Scientific and Applied Cosmetics (DGK) and the Industry Association for Personal Care and Detergents (IKW) have been offering specialized further education courses for safety assessors since 1998. The concept currently includes seven further education courses and will soon be expanded with two new modules. The goal is to keep safety assessors up to date with the latest science and legislation. [Extracted from the article]

In post-compulsory initial teacher education (ITE) in the UK, mentors are purported to play a critical role in shaping trainee teachers' professional development through the provision of regular, constructive and purposeful feedback on their mentee's teaching practices. However, the complexity of mentoring feedback practices – socially, spatially and temporally – situated within programmatical and institutional architectures and in the turbulent landscape of Further Education (FE), is often underestimated. Using the theory of practice architectures, this single-site case study attempts to untangle this complexity as it explores how mentoring feedback practices were realised on one post-compulsory ITE programme, examining the processes, arrangements and artefacts which enabled and constrained their enactment. The site ontological approach also examines the dynamic unfolding of mentoring feedback practices in response to these institutional conditions in time and space, concluding that their trajectory largely depends on the 'stickiness' of their relationship and congruence with other organisational practices and concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While student class involvement (i.e. engagement in classes) has been studied thoroughly, student educational involvement (i.e. willingness to take education) is rarely studied. Such research is essential due to decreased student enrolment in education. A survey of 425 participants was conducted to explore the influence of self-congruence and relationship quality on student educational involvement. The findings indicate that both actual and ideal self-congruence is positively related to relationship quality (i.e. satisfaction, trust, commitment and social benefits). Interestingly, while ideal self-congruence influences educational involvement positively, actual self-congruence does not have an influence. The majority of relationship quality items, including satisfaction, trust and commitment are positively linked to educational involvement. Academic and managerial implications are discussed. Particularly, the results suggested marketing remedies to enhance student educational involvement in further education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a critical reflection upon the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (2018) guidelines on blended learning from the perspective of a Further Education and Training practitioner. The purpose of the guidelines is set out and it is suggested that there is much to be welcomed here. The contested meaning of the term blended learning is explored and it is noted that the definition proffered by QQI is a false one. It is argued that the neoliberal language of these guidelines is contributing to performativity. Finally, there is comment upon how the guidelines address equality of opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the qualitative findings of a Master’s research study which focused on the unique voice of neurodiverse students’ lived experiences in Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses in Ireland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with neurodiverse learners in 2021 and these findings, with relevance to the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, are discussed in this paper. The findings relate to the holistic experiences of neurodiverse adults. The article presents several frameworks relevant to teaching and learning in neurodivergent environments. Finally, recommendations are made to create a more equitable learning environment in FET for neurodiverse students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quotation in the title from a college leader is a stark reflection of the experience of the Further Education (FE) Sector during the COVID pandemic (2020–21). Traditionally regarded as a poor relation of the English education system, evidence from Sector sources suggest that the five COVID harms identified through a scoping review of the latest research closely mirror the main social and educational features of English general FE colleges. The pandemic has led to longer-term harms on vocational learning, with major disruptions to college-based courses and to apprenticeships, a stagnation situation captured in the metaphor 'educational long-COVID'. The analysis conceptualises the impact of the pandemic on FE provision and learners as leading to a 'COVID learning and skills equilibrium'; whereas effective mitigations are conceptualised through the idea of 'COVID recovery ecosystems'. Rapid review evidence suggests that the most effective way of addressing system-wide disruption is the development of integrated, strategic actions at local and regional levels to address vocational learning losses, facilitate greater entry-to-employment and to create more job opportunities for young people. Without these longer-term measures it is likely that the negative effects of the pandemic on the FE Sector could become further entrenched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, society and further education institutions have seen an increase in the reporting of poor mental health and wellbeing. Although further education settings (typically comprising of study programmes ranging between levels one to six, including A levels, apprenticeships, T levels, GCSEs, BTECs and higher education qualifications) are appropriately placed to be part of a solution to this issue, they are suffering from a shortage of resources and an inability to intimately understand poor mental health and wellbeing. Consequently, it has become difficult for institutions toimplement appropriate interventions that prevent poor mental health and wellbeing. Appreciative inquiry was used to explore a further education institution and how they encouraged students to flourish. The novel use of photovoice allowed the researchers to empower the participants and produce a dynamic and deep conversation. The study found that informal peer and teacher support were crucial in ensuring students flourished. More pertinently, a trusting and collaborative environment was established through informal conversations between teacher and student. An unexpected outcome was students consistently citing happiness as an essential element of a flourishing student. Due to the differing cultural and geographical contexts, other institutions should conduct similar research to investigate what enables their students to flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The month in which we are born affects our experience of and progress through the education system and is known as the relative age effect. This study reports on a project in which the author conducted mixed methods research into the impact of different birth months on enrolment patterns and participant experiences within further education in England, a neglected sector for this research area. This paper challenges the current view that the negative impact of being born later in an academic year cohort dissipates with age. Analysis of the findings shows that enrolment patterns are skewed towards the summer months for those entering the further education college in the study and that the month of May should be included in the definition of summer months. Summer-born study participants were aware of their relative age at a social and physical level, but made no connection to their academic progress. This paper argues that relative age is a significant driver for enrolment to and, therefore, subsequent performance within further education, which should be monitored alongside other better known disadvantage factors, with the aim to reduce and eliminate this systemic disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing efforts to improve their access, students facing socio-economic disadvantages are still underrepresented in UK higher education. In this paper, we study whether behavioural nudging with information provision through text messages, embedded within a larger programme of widening participation activities, can be effective at increasing higher education application rates. We conducted two randomised control trials in which final year students in schools and further education colleges in areas with low higher education participation rates in the East of England region received a series of text messages that prompted thinking and/or action regarding the process of applying to higher education. We find null and statistically insignificant effects on application outcomes, suggesting that behavioural nudging in a setting where it is implemented as part of a more intensive widening participation programme is not effective at increasing higher education application rates. These results add to recent evidence regarding the potential impact of nudging in education by studying such interventions within a busy intervention space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitions in education are known to have an impact on learners both in social and emotional terms as well as academically. This article argues that transition experiences should be regarded as an on‐going process rather than a one‐off event. The move from compulsory education at the age of 16 can have a significant impact on engagement and retention, particularly for learners with additional learning needs (ALN), yet this is an underexplored area. While the transition from compulsory education to a further education (FE) setting brings increased independence, new opportunities and the emergence of adulthood, it can also be a time of trepidation and uncertainty for all learners, including those with ALN. Using an interpretive methodology, the voices of key stakeholders in the transition to FE from one setting were recorded to explore and inform good practice. Data were gathered using online questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. Findings ascertained the value of nurturing effective practitioner–learner relationships in preparation for transition, the importance of developing peer support networks and the provision of a central, safe space that is accessible to learners with ALN at all times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the connection between theory and practice in the context of a further education programme (FEP) (KigaDance) for nursery teachers based on contemporary dance education. The evaluation of the FEP had a programme-forming objective within the meaning of a formative evaluation. The applied method included data collection based on non-participant observation of the teaching units over a period of 15 months along with interviews and questionnaires. The participants were 12 nursery teachers (11 female and one male) between the ages of 18 and 48 years. During the evaluation process, several questions regarding the appropriate combination of the theoretical and practical phases emerged. Four categories (e.g. the category 'need for didactic reduction') were identified through qualitative content analysis, all of which highlight the challenges inherent in linking theoretical and practical learning content within the FEP. Taken together the data indicates that reflective phases, which take place at the end of each unit, turned out to be most effective and meaningful for the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how Further Education (FE) lecturers and trainers manage a mild stigma that socially taints their work through a discourse intersecting gender and class. To frame their experiences, I draw upon identity work tactics established within the dirty work literature. Through an interview and observational study, the potency of cultural imagery and discourse is shown to manifest as a stigma. This stigma differentiates those associated with hair and beauty work by imposing discrediting tropes pertaining to skill, class status, and social value. Lecturers and trainers become tainted by proxy through the association with an industry and interaction with bodies that are discredited through a gender‐class discourse. Through close proximal positioning to a tainted subject matter, FE lecturers and trainers rely upon esteem‐enhancing strategies to minimize discrediting assumptions. The students they teach may embody stigma through tainted attributes that signal working‐class femininity, yet they enable FE lecturers and trainers to minimize taint by drawing from an alternate discourse that celebrates upward cultural mobility and a more refined iteration of femininity. By broadening the landscape of stigma to recognize it as milder than its extreme theorization in dirty work, this article explores discourse and representation as a centralizing source of stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of the concept of 'demand' in Welsh-medium education policy in Further Education and its effectiveness in increasing the number of learners studying through the medium of Welsh and bilingually. The research is based on a sample of four different areas across Wales, drawing on semi-structured interviews with staff in schools and Further Education colleges, and on focus groups with pupils in the final year of their statutory education, who are intending to pursue vocational subjects. The study identifies the principles underlying planning provision according to demand, and analyses the limitations of doing so. Using Bourdieu's concepts of linguistic habitus and the linguistic market, the article examines how planning according to demand fails to take into consideration the power context of Welsh and English, and the social expectations of the networks in which learners make linguistic choices. It argues that in order to increase the number of learners following Welsh-medium and bilingual provision in the FE sector in Wales, there is a need to reject the neoliberal discourse of choice and demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a qualitative, longitudinal case study conducted in England that explored the transition experiences of autistic students with intellectual disabilities (ID) as they left special school to go to colleges of further education (FE). Sequential interviews with six young people, their parents/carers and educators were developed to address an important knowledge gap in relation to progression to post-16 education for differently abled learners. Transition is theorised through both the lens of the social model of disability and the three typologies of induction, development and becoming. Combining these enables a focus on flexible systems and adaptive environments as well as an openness to the variability of autistic students. While the research found evidence of transition planning, it also identified gaps in critical processes, limited understanding of autistic students' capacity to manage change and normative expectations around independence. Parents reported a largely 'tick-box' approach to transition that was further reflected in a lack of preparation for social transition. The paper highlights responsibilities of institutions to make adaptations to transition processes in order to enable autistic students to better navigate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical testing of children in schools is challenging, with economic implications limiting its frequent use as a monitoring tool of the risks assumed by children and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, a wastewater-based epidemiology approach has been used to monitor 16 schools (10 primary, 5 secondary and 1 post-16 and further education) in England. A total of 296 samples over 9 weeks have been analysed for N1 and E genes using qPCR methods. Of the samples returned, 47.3% were positive for one or both genes with a detection frequency in line with the respective local community. WBE offers a low cost, non-invasive approach for supplementing clinical testing and can provide longitudinal insights that are impractical with traditional clinical testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The appointment of student governors to the governing board is mandatory in further education (FE) colleges across the UK. There is, however, confusion and lack of clarity over the role of the student governor, and little empirical research, especially involving direct observation, has been undertaken which sheds light on this. This paper examines how the role of the student governor is understood by governing boards and how it is enacted in practice. Over one calendar year, we observed and video/audio-recorded governing board meetings in eight FE colleges across the UK, two in each UK country (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales). In addition, we interviewed key actors and spoke to student governors. Our findings reveal a lack of understanding about the role of the student governor which creates a tension between student governors acting in an advisory capacity as part of the governing body, and student governors representing learner voice. We conclude with recommendations for boards aimed at facilitating meaningful engagement of the student governor in governing processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]