Report highlights success of region’s colleges

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Dr Michael Foxley

A new report has revealed that 69.4% of full-time further education students successfully completed their studies at Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½ and Islands colleges in the 2015 to 2016 academic year. This represents an increase on the figures from the previous year, which showed that 67.6% of full-time students passed further education courses in Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½ and Islands colleges in the 2014 to 2015 period.

The statistics were published in the Scottish Funding Council’s college performance indicators report last month. The number of part-time students who successfully completed their courses at Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½ and Islands colleges was also found to be higher than the previous year.

The Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½ and Islands further education region consists of North Highland College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½, Orkney College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½, Shetland College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½, Argyll College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½, West Highland College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½, Lews Castle College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½, Moray College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½, Inverness College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½ and Perth College Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½. The University of the Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½ and Islands Court, through the Further Education Regional Board, is accountable for all college and university-level education in the Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½ and Islands.

Dr Michael Foxley, chair of the Highland and Islands Further Education Regional Board, welcomed the report’s findings saying: “This is a truly magnificent result by the regional colleges in the Âé¶¹ÖÐÎÄÓ³»­´«Ã½ and Islands. During the past five years and, despite a funding cut of 25%, we have increased our regional activity by 15% and we now out-perform most of Scotland. This is a great result for all the hardworking college staff and the regional management team involved.â€

The Scottish Funding Council’s College Performance Indicators 2015-16 statistical publication is available at: