Further Education (FE) is the term used to describe education between school and higher education. It is the biggest educational sector with four million students studying for a wide range of qualifications

Who can benefit from FE?

FE is available for people of all ages and backgrounds, not just students who are studying A-levels before going to university. The majority of FE students are older and study part-time. Some may want to improve basic literacy skills, others want to develop their employment skills or improve promotion prospects, and others just want to gain extra knowledge and skills for pure enjoyment.

What can be studied?

Because FE caters for such a wide range of people, it offers a huge range of qualifications including basic literacy and numeracy courses, NVQs and GNVQs, A-levels and City & Guilds professional courses. FE students can study purely academic courses or vocational courses linked to specific careers. It's also easy to study a combination of practical and academic subjects. Higher National Diplomas (HNDs), which are classed as Higher Education (HE), are also available from some FE colleges.

Some FE courses require a full-time commitment, but there are many opportunities to study part-time in the evenings or at weekends. The National Extension College and Open University also allow students to study for FE through distance learning, enabling them to study while they work, reduce travel costs and fit their study time around their own commitments.

Funding for Further Education

There are many sources of funding for people wanting to study in further education. You should contact your local Training and Enterprise Council (TEC) in England and Wales, or Local Enterprise Council (LEC) in Scotland, about FE funding.

School-leavers aged 16-19 are entitled to free full-time FE but may have to pay for books, exam entrance or field trips. School-leavers can now also receive financial support during FE through FE Access Funds and the new Education Maintenance Allowance. Contact your LEA about this.

Modern Apprenticeships, work-based training schemes open to 16-24 year-olds, require participants to attend college either once a week or on a block-release basis in summer. Modern apprentices do not have to pay for the courses they attend.

Employed school-leavers can receive cut-price or free FE under the Youth Credits scheme.

People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance can attend college part-time and usually receive concessions on course fees.

Access funds are available to mature students aged 19+ who are in part or full-time education.

Students attending Adult Residential Colleges are entitled to a bursary covering some living costs.

Disabled students can apply for the same funding as other students, and also for Disabled Student Allowances to cover costs such as personal assistants and equipment.

The Helena Kennedy Bursary Scheme is a new scheme which offers bursaries of up to £1,000 for FE students. The bursaries come from colleges and commercial organisations.

Find out more from The Learning Skills Council