The public spending watchdog has given a warning over further college cuts in Scotland. The organisation has suggested that Scottish colleges will need to find increased savings as cuts to funding are set to increase further. Audit Scotland, which ensures that public sector bodies in Scotland are making effective use of public funds, stated that the sector’s income dropped by a tenth (9%) between 2011 – 2012, including a drop of £56million from the Scottish Funding Council, the college sector’s main source of funding. Audit Scotland also predicted further cuts in the next two years.

The scale of the cuts has had an impact on the number of staff employed in the sector – with full-time equivalent staff levels falling from 12,800 to 11,600 in 2011 – 2012. The majority of these jobs were lost through a reduction in teaching staff.

Despite the cuts, Audit Scotland did suggest that the sector was generally well-funded, with a small surplus of £2.2m, and with full-time student numbers remaining relatively stable.

The continued merger program will reduce the number of further education institutions in Scotland from 37 incorporated colleges  in 2011, serving around 258,000 students, to only 21 institutions by the end of 2013. These 21 colleges will be spaced across 13 regions. The idea behind the merger program was to reduce the amount of duplication and to focus the available resources more directly towards students.

Researchers at the VoicED Panel have completed several market research projects in Scotland including work with Scottish teachers, schools and colleges. if you are interested in doing further research in to this topic, you can find out more about our offer by viewing the qualitative and quantitative education market research services we offer or by contacting us. Alternatively, if you work in education and would like to offer and opinion on this or any other topic, why not join the VoicED Education Market Research Community and make your opinions known?