Policy Areas

Every year, colleges educate and train three million people. This includes over two million adults and 846,000 16 to 18-year-olds, almost double the number who choose school and academy sixth forms. College courses range from entry-level basic maths and English right through to postgraduate qualifications which may be vocational or academic. Success rates (a combination of student achievement and retention) for further education (FE) in colleges are impressive at around 85%.

AoC’s team of policy experts, who have extensive experience in FE, act as an intermediary between policy makers and colleges across all areas of teaching and learning. AoC informs Government officials about revising policies to make them more relevant to colleges and helps colleges cope with the impact of changes. We work across all areas of teaching and learning. We have more than 20 key stakeholders, among them the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Ofsted.