City & Islington College is the largest provider of Further Education (FE) not only in Islington, but in the Greater London area with a student intake of 15,000 full and part time students. (20% are aged 16-18, 80% aged 19+).
A) MULTI-SITE FE PROVISION
It is a multi-site college with 9 sites located mainly in the North and City fringe of the borough and includes a 6th Form Centre with 1,250 students. Its commitment to raising the standard of educational attainment in Islington; to an inclusive, multi-cultural diversity; and to vocational education and training, is evidenced by the fact that 57% of students are from black and ethnic minority groups, and 50% of its enrolments are from students on benefits or following ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and Basic Education programmes.
The college's FE provision covers 9 programme areas with a wide range of programmes. Humanities, Art & Design, Science, Maths & Computing, Basic Education and Business studies account for the bulk of its provision with smaller numbers in Health & Community Care, and the Engineering, Construction, and Hotel & Catering industries.
B) STRENGTHS
Strengths in C&IC's FE provision include its National and International Centre for training in Ophthalmic Dispensing for the optics industry. The College also has a national reputation for its pioneering Access courses which act as an alternative route into Higher Education (HE) for of mature students, and for those whose qualifications are not recognised by UK universities. Its very large range of access courses are available in Engineering, Business, Social Work, Nursery and Speech Therapy, Art & Design, and Humanities.
Its Nursery Nurse training for 300 students has a strong placement component with employers, as does its Engineering programmes. Another area of strength is its Art & Design, Performing Arts and Media programmes available in Pre-Access, Access, BTEC, City and Guilds qualification formats . A strategic development in this Programme Area is to expand its income generating provision and to strengthen its links with employers.
In the Humanities programme area the College has a good track record, provision here mainly being through its 6th Form Centre where students have an A level pass rate of 89%, with 82% of A level students going on to university (ie 280 in 1997).
B) WEAKNESSES
Despite above average pass rates at Foundation, GCSE and Advanced level, and good results at Access level (with 1,100 students progressing to HE each year), for vocational courses at Intermediate level it is below the national average. A large number of students studying ESOL and Basic Education courses are not following a "qualification aim" which has had the effect of lowering student achievement indicators at C&IC.
The College is heavily dependent of Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) income (ie 85% of its 20 million 1997 expenditure) which is capped. Non FEFC income fell from 1.2 million to 750,000 in 1997 and reflects the continued lack of TEC contracts with the College, and reductions in its commercial work.
C) DEVELOPMENTS
The college aims to increase its non-FEFC income by 200% by recruiting a Director of Business Development to implement a strategy which includes getting more commercial contracts by for example, developing training and consultancy work with SMEs, and individuals seeking to update specific skills; expanding its new Weekend College work, and greater participation in bidding for EU and partnership funds.
In its Basic Education and ESOL courses, developments include improving the quality of teaching, integrating IT, and working out an accreditation strategy for ESOL courses backed up by more rigorous monitoring of student progression.
The FEFC Inspection in 1996/7 found that the college was successful in attracting students who are under-represented in FE and the College wants to be more proactive in targeting provision at socially excluded groups through liaison with voluntary organisations, outreach and a more systematic use of LMI.
The College's involvement in Welfare to Work Schemes is minimal and it plans to set up partnerships to widen its participation in this. Other work with Focus Central TEC will include pilot projects focusing on IT, Multimedia and the Internet. In collaboration with 4 other colleges, private sector organisations and Focus Central TEC, the College will be part of a partnership for EU ADAPT funding relating to SMEs and the development of the Information Society.
C&IC intends to expand its sub-degree provision (eg HND programmes) through franchise arrangements with UNL, City University and Southbank University. In 1997 the college joined with another local college and UNL to make a consortium bid for training contracts relating to SRB projects for the Kings Cross and City Fringe regeneration areas.