NI colleges face 'challenge to manage financial viability'

The number of students in FE has fallen from 76,000 to 64,000 in the last five years.

Northern Ireland's six Further Education (FE) Colleges face a "continuing challenge to manage their financial viability".

That is according to a just-published report from the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO).

The NIAO said the six FE Colleges had a total financial deficit of around £21m in 2022/23.

"The FE colleges play a key role in developing skills," the auditor general, Dorinnia Carville, said.

The NIAO audit into the accounts of government bodies, however, said that the collective deficit of the FE Colleges had reduced from over £33m in 2021/22.

4% funding cut

Northern Ireland's six FE Colleges are arms-length bodies of the Department for the Economy (DfE).

Around 40% of the department's annual day-to-day spending is on further education.

The department had faced a reduction in its 2023/24 budget and had to make £75m of savings.

That included a 4% cut in funding to FE Colleges.

Some FE Colleges had sought to lay off staff due to budgetary pressures.

The six colleges had around 64,000 students in total in 2022/23, according to DfE statistics.

But the number of students in FE has fallen from over 76,000 five years ago.

The colleges offer a wide range of courses from essential skills to degree qualifications.

The NIAO said that the six FE Colleges had a total financial deficit of around £21m in 2022/23

In the NIAO report, the auditor general highlighted the important role the colleges had but also the financial challenges they face.

"The FE colleges continue to face financial challenges and in 2022-23 all six further education colleges again reported deficits," Ms Carville said.

"However the continuing challenge to manage their financial viability means that they may not be able to do everything that they have done in the past and there is a need for clarity as to which aspects of their provision they should prioritise."

A recent review of Northern Ireland's entire education system said FE Colleges played "an enormously important role" in growing the economy and promoting social inclusion.

"FE is the sector most immediately linked to the needs of the employer and the economy," the review said.

"Colleges have vital responsibilities in ensuring that Northern Ireland has the mix of skills that it needs to prosper."

But it also said that colleges were facing competition from school sixth forms and universities and "a weak culture of lifelong learning among adults".

The Education Minister Paul Givan recently announced plans to make it compulsory for young people to stay in education or training until they are 18.