SFC news published since 2018. See SFC archived content for earlier news articles.
Photo (left to right): Newbattle Abbey College, UHI Perth, Fife College, City of Glasgow College
The latest Scottish Funding Council (SFC) College Statistics report highlights a promising increase in the number of 18 – 19 year olds choosing full-time study at Scotland’s colleges. Drawing on newly collected data trends from the past decade, the publication presents a broad picture of college education since 2014-15.
A key development was SFC’s strategic move to reduce the annual target number of learning hours (credits) by 10% for the 2023-24 academic year. Designed to help align the system more closely with anticipated student activity, the change also had the benefit of increasing the investment in each individual student’s learning.
The college sector successfully delivered 100% of its 1,552,851 credit target in 2023-24. There had been an almost 2% under-delivery in the previous academic year.
Although overall student headcount and student enrolments declined in 2023-24, there was a notable increase in Scotland’s 18 – 19 year-olds participating in full-time college education; the first rise in three years. Analysis shows this was due to the twin effects of a decreasing 18 – 19-year-old population and an increase in numbers of that age group studying full time.
Francesca Osowska, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said:
“Increasing our ability to use data to produce a detailed and accurate picture of tertiary education is an important part of SFC’s work and will lead to even more responsive and agile decision-making.
“I’m pleased to see confirmation of the sector’s 100% delivery against the activity target. It’s also encouraging to see evidence of how a more active approach to forward planning can benefit colleges, and align funding to changes in the demand for places.”
College Statistics 2023-24 is now available on the SFC website.
