Funding for equity and success in English further education colleges, 1998-2003.

'Incorporation' in Further Education in England and Wales centralised policy control and implemented a per-pupil funding formula that promoted equity, in that colleges were paid more for enrolling 'disadvantaged' students, and for performance, in that funding was contingent on retention and student success rates. This article analyses the impact of funding policy on student success rates for adults in general further education colleges using five years of student-level administrative data from 1998/99 to 2002/03. Results from descriptive statistics show that student success rates rose by 10% during the five-year period, with the largest gains made by ethnic minorities, adult basic education students, and students from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Logistic regression results mirror the descriptive statistic results but find especially strong gains for adult basic education students and students receiving additional learning support funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]