News story: Students praise quality of colleges and training providers

Colleges and training providers across the country are continuing to impress students, with new figures showing that at least 90 per cent of learners are happy with their place of study and its teaching quality.

In one of the largest student satisfaction surveys of its kind, which had over 300,000 respondents, findings published by the Department for Education revealed:

  • 90% of learners were satisfied with their FE provider
  • 91% of learners were satisfied with the teaching from the FE provider
  • 82% of learners were likely to recommend their learning provider to friends or family

The Government has taken significant steps to improve the standards in our further education sector, through multi-million pound schemes including, the Strategic College Improvement Fund (SCIF), National Leaders of Further Education programme and National Leaders of Governance programme.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton said:

We want to improve the quality of education for everyone and I’m thrilled that today’s student satisfaction figures give the FE sector the recognition it deserves.

Further education can bring amazing opportunities for learners. I’ve been fortunate to see first-hand how colleges and training providers across the country are changing the lives of people of all ages and from so many different backgrounds. It’s been a privilege to hear the personal stories of all those involved in Further Education. The passion and commitment of teachers and the life changing experiences of young people shine through.

The figures come at the same time that further education colleges across the country have seen an increase in the number of good or outstanding ratings they have received from Ofsted.

The survey took place between October 2017 and May 2018, with a total of 341,627 learners taking part from an eligible population of 1,821,629, across 923 colleges and other training providers.