READ the FEdS reviews of these reports and much more in our As part of the ongoing post-16 reforms, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) have launched a consultation with specific proposals on planning, funding and delivering college learning on a regional basis. Feedback is sought on proposals including:
- 12 proposed regions – North East, Tayside, Fife, Edinburgh & Lothians, Borders, Glasgow, Highlands & Islands, Dumfries & Galloway, West, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Forth Valley – plus five colleges funded on a national basis
- four broad regionalisation models for colleges to adopt – mergers, federations, collaborations, or one ‘lead college’ per region
- strengthening college response to employers at a local, regional and national level
- insisting that all SFC-funded courses ‘provide people with the skills they need to get a job, keep a job or get a better job and develop a career’
- improving student retention rates.
The timescale for reform is set out, including defining the regions by January 2012 and having everything in place by 2014–15.
Consultation closes on 23 December 2011 – a tight timescale, to fit with the same closure date as the post-16 reforms consultation, Putting Learners at the Centre.
