ABSTRACT
Until the incorporation of further education (FE) institutions in April 1993 it was common to see references to the sector in terms of its ‘Cinderella’ or ‘Invisible Man’ status. In the years since then, the colleges have witnessed an impressive increase in student numbers at all levels, the implementation of new curricula and learning strategies, the expansion of provision in new areas in the 16-19, vocational education and training (VET), adult and higher education (HE) spheres; and the sector is now central to the current New Labour lifelong learning policies aimed at enhancing economic competitiveness and workforce skills, widening participation and challenging social exclusion at all levels of the education system.
