Further education in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It may be at any level in compulsory secondary education, from entry to higher level qualifications such as awards, certificates, diplomas and other vocational, competency-based qualifications through awarding organisations including City and Guilds, Edexcel (BTEC) and OCR. FE colleges may also offer HE qualifications such as HNC, HND, foundation degree or PGCE. The colleges are also a large service provider for apprenticeships where most of the training takes place at the apprentices' workplace, supplemented with day release into college.
The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level. State-funded schools may be selective grammar schools or non-selective comprehensive schools. All state schools are subject to assessment and inspection by the government department Ofsted. England also has private schools and home education; legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any suitable means.
Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments. The UK Government is responsible for England, whilst the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively.
This article provides an overview of education in Wales from early childhood to university and adult skills. Largely state-funded and freely accessible at a primary and secondary level, education is compulsory for children in Wales between ages 5-16 years old. It differs to some extent in structure and content to other parts of the United Kingdom, in the later case particularly in relation to the teaching of the Welsh language.
A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965.
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 March 2010 and was replaced by the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People's Learning Agency.
An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. 80% of secondary schools, 40% of primary schools and 44% of special schools are academies.
Unity City Academy is a city academy in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, sponsored by the Academies Enterprise Trust.
Learndirect Ltd, stylised as learndirect, is a British training provider founded in 2000, owned by the private equity firm Queens Park Equity. The company has a network of learning centres in England and Wales, and also runs some courses online.
The Cornwall College Group (TCCG) is a further education college situated on eight sites throughout Cornwall and Devon, England, United Kingdom, with its headquarters in St Austell.
The Institute for Learning (IfL) was a voluntary membership, UK professional body. It ceased operating on 31 October 2014. Although precise membership figures and statistical details had been removed from IfL's webpage prior to its closure, at the end of financial year 2013-2014 IfL were reported as having only 33,500 of their 200,000 members remaining.
The Chalk Hills Academy is a Mixed secondary school and sixth form, part of Advantage Schools located in the west of Luton in Bedfordshire, England.
The Skills Funding Agency was one of two successor organisations that emerged from the closure in 2010 of the Learning and Skills Council. The agency was in turn replaced by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in 2017.
A university technical college (UTC) is a type of secondary school in England that is sponsored by a university and has close ties to local business and industry.
SirPeter Birkett is a British educator and entrepreneur, currently known for being the Chief Executive of an educational consultancy company p5e and the Founder and Director of Highgate Hill House School in Devon. Peter Birkett was Knighted in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to further education and the academy movement
Access Creative College, formerly Access to Music Ltd, is a UK-based independent training provider which specialises in industry-focused popular music and creative education. It operates across England with dedicated music colleges in Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Lincoln, London, Manchester, Norwich, and Plymouth. ACC's head office is in Manchester.
Ada, the National College for Digital Skills is a specialist further education college and has campuses in Manchester and London, England. At the London Sixth Form college every 16-19year old student takes Computer Science and all of Ada's diverse Higher Level and Degree Apprentices work in skills shortage disciplines in innovative, blue-chip companies. It is named after Ada Lovelace and opened in September 2016. Its curriculum is designed with input from founding industry partners such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Gamesys, IBM, Deloitte, and King. Their founding education partner is the Aldridge Foundation. The Board is chaired by Tiffany Hall. The College focuses on achieving three aims:
- To be the centre of excellence for the teaching and learning of advanced digital skills
- To offer students a viable, high-quality alternative to university
- To be a beacon of best practice for employment-focused provision
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) is an executive agency of the government of the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Department for Education.
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