Student Numbers On The Up

Increasing numbers of young people across Fife are embarking on full-time college courses.

Figures show that there's been a 3% rise nationally in the past year.

Between 2013/14, there were 59, 507 16 to 24 year olds in colleges.

The Scottish Government says the figures give the clearest indication yet that work to position Scotland's college sector at the heart of economic growth is paying off.

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Angela Constance said:

"The Scottish Government’s recent post-16 reforms were about maximising the impact of colleges by ensuring a sharp focus on helping young people into jobs and the skills our economy needs to grow.

"We can see now that vision beginning to pay dividends, with increases in FTE students, the number of 16 to 24 year olds at college full-time and a substantial increase in students successfully completing full-time courses. Estimates also show that one full-time Further Education student was equivalent to approximately 140 carrying out shorter courses that do not lead to a job.

"It is clear that the move to college courses that lead to a job was the right one both for our economy and for young people seeking the skills to get into employment, something which has also been reflected in recent youth employment levels.

"I am also very pleased to see that there are more Scots-domiciled students starting university in Scotland compared to last year and a record number of students left a Scottish university with a degree.

"Rates of course completion and retention in both Further and Higher Education at colleges have increased and the performance of those from our most deprived areas also continues to improve. However, the Scottish Government is clear that more needs to be done in this area, which is why we will be setting up a Commission on Widening Access to advise us on the critical steps towards our goal of equality in access to education.

"There is hugely positive news across today’s reports to reinforce Scotland's strong international reputation for Higher Education and that it remains a key destination for Scots-domiciles. We have maintained high levels of funding for both sectors as they remain key to this government’s key priorities of economic growth and tackling inequality."