Fall in student headcount despite rise in college places
The number of full-time equivalent places at Scotland's colleges rose in 2014/15 but the overall headcount dropped by more than 10,000, according to new figures.
The number of full-time equivalent places at Scotland's colleges rose in 2014/15 but the overall headcount dropped by more than 10,000, according to new figures.
Statistics published by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) show colleges delivered 121,364 full-time equivalent places last year, up 1.2% from 2013/14.
These included 119,078 funded places, exceeding the Scottish Government's target of 116,000.
Student headcount for 2014/15 was 226,919, down 4.8% from 238,399 in 2013/14.
The SFC said it expected to see a decrease in headcount from 2008/09 as colleges were asked to prioritise more substantive courses'' and reduce the number of students enrolled on leisure programmes and very short courses.
There were 79,565 full-time students in 2014-15.
Although the figure represents a slight fall from the high of 81,373 in 2011-12, full-time numbers have shown an overall increase of 19% from 2005-06 to 2014-15, the SFC said.
The Scottish Government highlighted the number of higher education students studying full-time for recognised qualifications at colleges increased to 32,384 for 2014/15, up from 31,827 the previous year.
Additional SFC figures on college performance show that in 2014-15, 23,717 students successfully completed such courses at that level - the highest-ever number.
Meanwhile, statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show a record 34,775 Scots-domiciled students were accepted to university last year.
Overall enrolments at Scottish institutions rose by 1% to 232,570 for 2014/15.
Education Secretary Angela Constance said 2015 was a landmark year for Scotland's young people''.
The ambitious changes in our college system continue to bed in following a period of intensive reform and will ensure colleges are focused on our economic growth,'' she said.
We have also once again comfortably exceeded targets on full-time equivalent college student numbers.
These figures suggest that our reforms are working and that more students successfully completed full-time courses leading to recognised qualifications that would lead to additional study or to relevant training or work.
Today's university student numbers back up last month's record Ucas figures and complement our continuing delivery of free tuition for Scottish undergraduate students, sparing them from the additional debt incurred by having to pay fees.''