Further education in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education 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 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. FE in the United Kingdom is usually a means to attain an intermediate, advanced or follow-up qualification necessary to progress into HE, or to begin a specific career path outside of university education. Further Education is offered to students aged over 16 at colleges of Further Education, through work-based learning, or adult and community learning institutions. In the United States and Canada, the term continuing education has a similar meaning.
Colleges are primarily covered by the Department for Education. Until July 2016, colleges were also covered by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. With the abolition of BIS and formation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 14 July 2016, responsibility for FE colleges moved to DfE. The regulatory body for sixth form colleges was already DfE prior to the 2016 changes. Following the merger of the Education Funding Agency and the Skills Funding Agency in 2017, funding for colleges is provided through the Education and Skills Funding Agency for all further education students. The Technical and Further Education Act 2017 laid out a framework for an insolvency regime for further education colleges known as "Education Administration". This is a form of corporate administration adapted to the needs of further education, to be used "where a further education body is unable to pay its debts or is likely to become unable to pay its debts" and intended "to avoid or minimise disruption to the studies of the existing students of the further education body as a whole". All colleges and FE providers are subject to inspection by Ofsted which monitors the quality of provision in publicly funded institutions in England and Wales. Colleges in England are represented by the Association of Colleges.
Most secondary schools also provide a Sixth Form scheme whereby a student can choose to attend said school for 2 additional years to complete their AS and A-levels.
Scotland
Scotland's further education colleges provide education for those young people who follow a vocational route after the end of compulsory education at age 16. They offer a wide range of vocational qualifications to young people and older adults, including vocational, competency-based qualifications, Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas. Frequently, the first two years of higher education – usually in the form of an HND – are taken in an FE college, followed by attendance at university.
Further education in the Republic of Ireland is similar to that offered in the UK. Typical areas include apprenticeships and other vocational qualifications in many disciplines, such as childcare, farming, retail, and tourism. The many types of further education awards are known as Post Leaving Certificates. Further education has expanded immensely in recent years, helped by the institutions and their relationships with their communities. Quality and Qualifications Ireland, which was established in November 2012, is the regulator for FE qualifications.
