Tertiary college

In England and Wales, a tertiary college is a type of further education (FE) college that offers both academic and vocational courses to both youngsters and adults, combining the main functions of an FE college and a sixth form college.[1] They are often the sole provider of education for 16 to 19 year olds in a single local authority,[2] but unlike a sixth form college also have a substantial involvement in the education of adults over 18. As a result, tertiary colleges tend to have a wide spectrum of curriculum.[3][4] Most tertiary colleges nowadays do not use the term anymore, referring to themselves as simply the umbrella term of further education colleges.

The first tertiary college was Exeter College, Exeter in 1970. Numerous local authorities implemented the tertiary structure that decade and in the 1980s, including Hampshire, Sheffield, Lancashire, Kirklees, Dudley, Harrow, County Durham, Dorset, Bury, Richmond upon Thames, Knowsley, Sunderland and others.[5] In Wales, tertiary colleges were set up in Gwent and West Glamorgan.[6] The tertiary system reflected the confidence and power at the time of local education authorities (LEA) to plan centrally.[7]

In Derbyshire, the council's approval of tertiary colleges in 1987 caused widespread opposition as it involved closing three schools and removing sixth form provision from ten other schools. However colleges did eventually open in Wilmorton and Mackworth with some of the schools remaining as a compromise.[8]

In 1991 there were 55 tertiary colleges in England across 32 local education authorities.[5] As of 1992 there were 63 tertiary colleges compared to 224 general further education colleges, 116 sixth form colleges, 35 agriculture/horticulture colleges and 13 art and design colleges. Not all colleges necessarily have or had 'Tertiary' in its name - many colleges have since dropped this name from titles even if they are technically still tertiary.[3]

According to a research by Responsive College Unit published in 2003, 16 to 18-year-old students at tertiary colleges had higher achievement rates than other sixth form students as well as FE students at all levels.[9] However other statistics, dating from 1999, point that school sixth forms with 200+ students and sixth form colleges have higher A-level scores.[10]

From an outsider's perspective, tertiary colleges are not part of internationally recognised tertiary education.

References
  1. "Public Expenditure on Education and Skills" (PDF). publications.parliament.uk. 1 March 2006. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  2. Not always, and often denominational faith-based colleges exist(ed) alongside a tertiary college
  3. "Changing Colleges" (PDF). alansmithers.com/. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  4. Parry, Gareth (2016). "College higher education in England 1944–66 and 1997–2010" (PDF). www.scienceopen.com. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  5. "Tertiary Colleges (Hansard, 4 June 1991)". api.parliament.uk.
  6. "Tertiary Colleges - Monday 27 June 1988 - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk.
  7. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/157233.htm
  8. "Three Derbyshire schools set to close in huge 1987 shake-up". October 26, 2017 – via www.derbytelegraph.co.uk.
  9. Pendle, Peter (June 8, 2004). "Peter Pendle: Tertiary colleges are stars of the A-level system". the Guardian.
  10. "Are sixth forms on the way out?". The Independent. October 22, 2011.
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