King's College London

Audrey Cumberford is Principal & Chief Executive of Edinburgh College.

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Reform or evolve

Colleges in Scotland were at the centre of significant reform in 2012, creating 13 regions and regional colleges of scale and influence. At the heart of the reform agenda was an emphasis on ‘place’ and regional coherence in terms of planning and delivery of provision. There are undoubtedly benefits of regionalisation but this needs to be combined with coherence across the wider system, policy and funding environment. Policy coherence is critical in the context of transformation or reform, preventing fragmented or siloed policy actions and supporting alignment across local, regional and national actions. To understand why coherence is such an issue, we need only look at the recent policy landscape.

The potential for a cluttered education and skills policy environment

In 2018 the Fraser of Allander Institute noted a proliferation of competing economic strategies and advisory boards launched by the Scottish government over a period of 10 years.[1] The analysis identified the potential risks associated with a ‘cluttered’ economic landscape: confusion, a lack of alignment, duplication and weakened accountability.

The same critique could apply to the education and skills sector. During the period 2020 to 2023 a plethora of reviews have been published, all ultimately centred on the reform of aspects of our education and wider skills system. Recent major developments affecting the college sector include: The Muir Review (2022), focusing on reform of the Scottish Qualifications Authority; the Withers Review (2023) of the Skills Delivery Landscape; the Smith Review (2022) of the Careers Service; the Hayward Review (2023) of Qualifications & Assessment; and the OECD Review (2021) of Curriculum for Excellence. Each call for reform highlight challenges and opportunities, and each comes with its own set of recommendations with the potential to inform future policy and system reform. It is difficult, if not impossible, to consider each review in isolation without being aware of the interdependencies. Reform in one part of the system will undoubtedly impact either directly or indirectly on other parts of the wider system and policy.

The commissioning of this range of reviews points to the need for change and an acknowledgement that the perpetuation of the status quo in the policy environment and education and skills system is not an option. And what of the outcome of the reviews? Of particular note is the Scottish government’s response to the Withers Review, which recognised the 15 recommendations were ‘persuasive’. In the same month the Scottish government published its ‘Purpose and Principles’ to set out a framework for decision making in educational and skills reform.[2]

One year on, a consultation was launched on 25 June this year on legislation and proposals for change in the funding body landscape. An Education and Skills Reform Ministerial Group has also been established to support and challenge the government in looking at reform issues right across the education system.

Converging on the need for reform and vocational excellence

During that same period, Scottish government ministers commissioned a review of the economic impact of colleges in Scotland. The Cumberford-Little report, One Tertiary System: Agile, Collaborative, Inclusive (of which I was one of the authors), was subsequently published in 2020, highlighting the economic and social impact of Scotland’s colleges.[3] The report illustrated the already significant impact of regionalisation from the 2012 college sector reforms and identified the potential to do much more. The report set out the conditions necessary to realise the untapped potential of Scotland’s college sector.

The report identified the significant economic impact colleges already have – not least, an annual boost to Scottish GDP of some £3.5bn. The report set out a series of recommendations for government and its partners, with a starting point of defining the purpose of colleges in Scotland which should place employer support as colleges’ cornerstone, such that colleges provide world-class lifetime learning, and high-quality business support. The report also argued that funding, accountability, performance, and quality regimes must align and support the pursuit of the new purpose, pointing to the need for systemic change in creating a fully integrated tertiary system in Scotland.

In 2020, Scottish ministers also commissioned the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to undertake a Review of Tertiary Education & Research – Coherence and Sustainability.[4] The final report was published in 2021 and the recommendations were subsequently endorsed by the Scottish government with a commitment to develop a clear strategic, longer-term vision and intent for the future of tertiary education and research.

In 2023 James Withers’ independent review of the skills delivery landscape, Fit for the Future: developing a post-school learning system to fuel economic transformation, made the case for transformational change of the skills system, setting out why structural reform was required to the current way skills are delivered in Scotland and proposing recommendations to ensure the public sector could meet the level of economic transformation expected over the coming years. The report described how the public body landscape should be adapted to drive the government’s ambition for a skilled workforce, a key pillar of the government’s National Strategic for Economic Transformation.

What many of these reviews have in common is that they emerge from a need for transformation driven by technological advances, changing demographics, a climate crisis and the need for economic growth.

In Europe, the implementation of vocational excellence features prominently in EU policy, with a focus on the reform of colleges to ensure opportunities exist to train young people as well as the upskilling and reskilling of adults. Provision must meet the needs of a dynamic labour market, shaped by both green and digital transitions. Colleges are catalysts for local business support and applied close-to-market innovation. Colleges have to rapidly adapt skills provision to evolving economic and social needs.

It is no different in Scotland and there are strong foundations on which to build.

Scotland’s college system in the wider UK context: towards harnessing the benefits of regionalisation

The UK wide Independent Commission on the College of the Future, established in 2018, brought together leading figures from business and the trade unions as well as national and international experts and key stakeholders from across the four nations of the UK. The work of the commission in framing the UK-wide recommendations for the college of the future was significantly informed and shaped by the Scottish experience, specifically the regionalisation of Scotland’s colleges and college system.

Initially the commission set out to answer two simple but fundamental questions:

1. What do we want and need from colleges in 10 years’ time?
2. What changes are needed in order to achieve this?

Following extensive consultation with the sector and its stakeholders throughout 2019 and 2020, we shared our vision for the college of the future. We published our final reports for the whole of the UK[5] and reports for each of the individual four nations, including the Scotland-specific report.[6]

This work recognised the importance of colleges as a national asset and an essential part of public infrastructure. In this regard, regionalisation of colleges in Scotland was considered to be a particular strength by stakeholders across the other three nations, providing a coherent structure for closer working with employers, and the foundations for much closer integration with universities, schools and other public bodies at local and regional level.

Professor Sir Peter Scott, Commissioner for Fair Access, said:

“Scotland is in a better position to develop a truly flexible tertiary education system than any other UK nation. The case for an integrated tertiary education system, rather than discrete university and college, higher education and further education, education and training sectors, should be vigorously promoted in Scotland.”

The commission concluded that the regionalisation of colleges in Scotland established a more coherent system, with colleges playing a much stronger role in the delivery of national, social and economic policies and an enhanced role in local and regional economic development.

Colleges in Scotland are also key partners within each of Scotland’s eight Regional Economic Partnerships – collaborations between colleges, universities, local government, the private and third sectors. These partnerships bring together regional interests and promote a collaborate approach and platform to accelerating economic growth at a local and regional level.

‘Tipping point’: the possibility of reform in a funding crisis?

Despite what has been achieved by the college sector in Scotland since regionalisation, it is important to recognise that successive Audit Scotland reports, including the most recent in 2023,[7] as well as SFC reports,[8] [9] point towards a ‘tipping point’ being reached with regard to the ongoing financial sustainability of the sector.

In 2022, Audit Scotland reported that change was needed to improve this for the long term, and that the Scottish government and the SFC should support colleges in this process. But risks to the sector’s financial sustainability are now even greater, with the Scottish government’s funding for the sector reducing by 8.5 per cent in real terms between 2022 and 2024.

In May 2023, the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee concluded:

‘If additional funding is unavailable, and flexibility within current funding arrangements is also not forthcoming, then the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council need to provide colleges with a clear steer on what they should be prioritising.’

The Scottish government’s Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills included a target outcome that the system is ‘financially and environmentally resilient’.

Institutions and the systems in which they operate evolve naturally but can they reform naturally? What kind of environment needs to exist for reform to happen? And can we take regionalisation to a new level, building on the strong foundations that exist today.

It is questionable whether the level of reform required can be achieved, at pace, against the backdrop of a funding crisis. Colleges face daunting challenges now to their business models and finances. In the context of the wider tertiary system, per-student public investment in higher education in Scotland is approximately five times as high as in England. However, Scotland’s universities receive approximately 23 per cent less funding per student. Scotland’s colleges deliver around 13 per cent of all higher education in the country, yet the corresponding differences in funding levels for Scotland’s colleges are even more significant: they receive approximately 51 per cent less income per student than English HEIs and 36 per cent less than Scottish universities.

Demand for what we provide, and how we provide it, is changing. In colleges, the full-time higher education full-time equivalents (FTEs) fell by 16.5 per cent from 2021-22 to 2022-23. Over a 10-year period the number of FTE full-time HE-level students in the college sector has reduced by almost 20 per cent. In contrast, there are strong signals pointing to an increase in demand for more part-time flexible provision, more work-based and work-integrated training and a rapid upskilling and reskilling of our workforce with shorter and more flexible educational provision.

The case for reform is clear, as demonstrated through the recommendations of the various reviews that have been commissioned. The challenge, however, is to support colleges in planning for change now and ensure the sector is sustainable in the longer term. It is vital that we invest in the education, skills planning and delivery needed to drive the economy and society of the future.

Reform that achieves a future-proofed college sector requires clarity and consensus on the role and purpose of colleges, with a planned and funded transition to see it through. But is there now a case to also consider a review of the funding environment, underpinning the recognised need for wider reform?

Investment in the education, skills planning and delivery needed for our economy and wider society should be grounded in clarity of what it is we are trying to achieve; what we want to prioritise; equity and fairness of investment in individuals and across the system; and distribution of investment to ensure it is in the right place, reflecting and meeting regional demand.

[1] Fraser of Allander Institute. (2020). The economic policy landscape in Scotland. https://fraserofallander.org/economic-policy-landscape-scotland/

[2] Scottish Government. (2023). Purpose and Principles for Post-School Education, Research and Skills. https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/education-children-and-young-people-committee/correspondence/2023/purpose-principles-post-school-education-research-skills-report.pdf

[3] Cumberford, A. and Little, P. (2020). The Cumberford-Little Report. https://view.pagetiger.com/inlhij/1/PDF.pdf

[4] Scottish Funding Council. (2021). Coherence and sustainability: a review of tertiary education and research. https://www.sfc.ac.uk/reform/review/

[5] The Independent Commission on the College of the Future. (2020). The UK-wide final report from the Independent Commission on the College of the Future. https://www.edpol.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/2021-College-of-the-future-AoC.pdf

[6] The Independent Commission on the College of the Future. (2020). The Scottish College of the Future: A Nations-Specific final report. https://d4hfzltwt4wv7.cloudfront.net/uploads/images/COF-Scotland-Report.pdf

[7] Audit Scotland. (2023). Scotland’s colleges 2023. https://audit.scot/uploads/docs/report/2023/briefing_230907_colleges_2023.pdf

[8] Scottish Funding Council. (2022). Financial sustainability of colleges and universities in Scotland. https://www.sfc.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/uploadedFiles/FinancialSustainabilityOfCollegesAndUniversitiesInScotland.pdf

[9] Scottish Funding Council. (2021). Op. cit.