Funding Maximisation within a Further Education College: a case study

Since the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act, colleges of Further Education have been funded by the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC). Now that these arrangements have been in operation for over four years, it seemed appropriate to evaluate their impact. A college of further education known to have significant funding problems was selected for the study. Teaching staff were requested to complete a questionnaire relating to their perceived understanding of funding mechanisms and the means by which they believed that funding could be optimised. Results indicated that many staff appeared not to understand the workings of the funding mechanisms. There was no willingness to adopt any course of action to boost FEFC funding from purely economic motives, student welfare being of paramount importance to staff. Given that results indicated that staff perceptions of FEFC funding mechanisms were often misconceived, or lacking, a list of possible areas for optimisation of funding was compiled that could be brought to the attention of these and other staff. Indeed, it is intended that, if the college is typical, the areas for highlighting awareness raised in this article may be applicable throughout colleges generally.