Cash constraints stymie colleges' bid to deliver participation target

Further education colleges are hampered by funding and quality-control constraints in their efforts to help deliver government targets for expanding higher education, college leaders said this week.

Colleges are "pivotally placed" to develop vocational higher education and vocational routes into HE.

But in a briefing paper, the Association of Colleges, which yesterday held a conference in London to examine the issue, says colleges are constrained by the Higher Education Funding Council for England's steer towards collaborative provision. This has led to a decline in the number of colleges directly funded by Hefce. "Some are unable to find HEI partners... Where colleges are working with partners, there can be issues about the funding split," it says.

Another obstacle is the difference in quality-assurance systems between the Learning and Skills Council and Ofsted for FE and the Quality Assurance Agency for HE.