ERIC Number: ED544584
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Jan
Pages: 27
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Student Representation in Scottish Further Education Colleges. An Aspect Report for SFC by HMIE
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education
All further education colleges in Scotland have arrangements that enable students to contribute to the improvement of the quality of their educational experience. These range from the informal contacts between staff and students to student membership of each college's board of management, which was provided for in legislation. Over the years colleges have adopted systems that have provided them with information about students' views and have given students opportunities to be represented at various levels
in their organisations. The HMIE report "Learner Representation in Quality Assurance Arrangements in Scottish Further Education Colleges" reported on the position in 2002 and made a number of recommendations. Since then, HMIE had introduced a new review model with a more comprehensive approach to engagement with learners. Also, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC), the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) and, latterly, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) had provided funding for Student Participation in Quality Scotland (SPARQS) to assist students and institutions to improve the engagement of students in quality processes. SPARQS had recently carried out a mapping exercise into how students were represented across the FE sector in Scotland. Given the welcome emphasis on enhancing the contribution of learners to quality
improvement in recent years, it is timely to look again at the various arrangements in Scottish colleges that ensure the representation of learners. This report describes and evaluates the ways in which students were represented and the ways in which colleges gathered students' views. Finally, the report makes a number of recommendations for improvement. Summary of findings and recommendations for improvement are presented. Appended are: (1) Colleges visited and consulted and other organisations involved; (2) Bibliography; and (3) Glossary. (Contains 8 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Research Reports, Foreign Countries, Adult Education, Quality Assurance, Student Participation, Participative Decision Making, Educational Quality, Educational Improvement, Questionnaires, Focus Groups, Self Evaluation (Groups), Institutional Research, Group Membership, College Administration, Educational Practices, Lifelong Learning, Colleges, Consultants, Student Interests, Governance, Committees
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education. Denholm House Almondvale Business Park,
Almondvale Way, Livingston, EH54 6GA, UK. Tel: +44-014-1282-5000; e-mail: enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk; Web site: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) (Scotland)
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (Scotland)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A