Demand & Supply in Scotland’s Colleges & Funding Council
The Brief: We were commissioned to undertake an assessment of the extent to which unsuccessful applicants to college courses went on to other provision or turned away from the system. The work was commissioned in response to a concern that in the absence of a centralised application system this was not know, yet each term some colleges reported declining many applicants. One view was of significant demand being unmet, and the study was asked to test this hypothesis to inform a spending review decision.
Our approach to this assignment included:
- liaison with colleges to gain their participation, including providing contact details of unsuccessful applicants for survey
- working with colleges to resolve data protection issues
- designing a survey questionnaire for a telephone survey of unsuccessful applicants (the survey was administered by MORI)
- consultations with colleges to understand their applications processes, to set the data in context
- analysis of the sample returns and grossing these up to be representative of the sector as a whole in Scotland.
The first key stages in the study was ensuring that the sample was robust. To achieve this we devoted considerable time telephoning college staff and working through intermediaries to secure their support. As a result, the number of participating colleges achieved was almost 25% above target. The second key task was providing a robust estimate at a system level. A series of assumptions were agreed with the client group to ensure that the range provided was realistic and defendable. The estimate also converted the number of people rejected in to Student Units of Measurement (SUMs), the unit used by the Scottish Funding Council to allocate resources.
The key outcome from the project was a report setting out a robust estimate of unmet demand for college provision in Scotland. The report also provided details of the process through which this estimate was derived. It concluded with a consideration of the findings of the for:
- the Scottish Executive – in terms of overall funding
- the Scottish Funding Council – as to how it allocated funding
- the college sector – about flexibility and administrative systems.
The report is due to be presented to the Association of Scotland Colleges (a forum of all college principles) and the Funding Council’s Skills Committee.
Sheffield