Independent report calls for overhaul of fees in FE Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - 10:31

The Independent Review of Fees and Co-funding in Further Education in England is chaired by businessman Chris Banks, former Chairman of the Learning and Skills Council. The review's published report recommends a series of simple but powerful shifts in funding of education for adults in this country.

Chris Banks said:

"In certain cases, individuals or employers are supposed to be contributing with Government to the costs of Further Education courses. In this report, I have called this 'co-investment'. The current system for ensuring this co-investment happens is not fit for purpose. At the very time when we need it to be operating to its greatest potential, it is failing us.

I have undertaken this Review with representatives of employers, adult learners, colleges, training providers and others with an interest in adult education. I am very grateful to all those involved for their dedication to the task and to the future of the Further Education sector. The recommendations of this Review are the product of extensive discussions, and represent an agreed path to an improved future, a path guided by principles we can all share.

NIACE has been pleased to be part of a Review that has stressed an equitable balance in funding between state, employer and individual. Its recommendations are a reminder to government of the need for transparency, equity and flexibility in the design of any future funding system.

Mark Ravenhall, Director of Operations at NIACE

We recommend a number of changes to ensure that individuals and employers are driving the system; that co-investment from individuals and employers is optimised where it is due; that Government funding is used where it is needed most; and that quality Further Education provision receives the total level of investment, from all parties, that it deserves.

In the future, we believe that Government funding for co-funded provision should follow and support the choices and contributions of learners and employers, using a principle of matched funding. We believe the system should be fair and transparent, on both price and quality; and that Government should expand and re-launch the system of Professional and Career Development Loans which can provide individual adults with the option to spread the cost of their investment in improving their skills and qualifications.

This Review is not about putting up the fees level, nor increasing the number of people who have to pay fees in Further Education. This Review is about ensuring there is a system in place to make sure that where individual adults and employers who are expected to co-invest in their learning and in their futures, this does indeed happen.

I very much hope that Ministers will accept these recommendations for change and that in signalling their support, they will initiate an overhaul of the system for co-investment in Further Education that will make it simpler, fairer, more transparent and more responsive to the needs of adults and employers."

Mark Ravenhall, Director of Operations at NIACE, said:

"NIACE has been pleased to be part of a Review that has stressed an equitable balance in funding between state, employer and individual. Its recommendations are a reminder to government of the need for transparency, equity and flexibility in the design of any future funding system."

Membership of the Review Group:

• Chris Banks
• NIACE
• Association of Colleges
• Association of Learning Providers
• Confederation of British Industry
• New College Nottingham
• Skills Funding Agency
• Trades Union Congress
• UK Commission for Employment and Skills
• University of Derby
• Young People's Learning Agency