There is growing interest across the UK in developing more ‘tertiary’ approaches to post-compulsory education, encouraging greater coordination between further and higher education institutions. Proponents argue such collaboration can respond more effectively to local economic needs, improve student flexibility, and address inefficiencies caused by institutional competition. However, evidence on how these partnerships are formed, their institutional dynamics, and their impact on student outcomes remains limited.
This research explores formal tertiary pathways between further education colleges and universities in England and Scotland. Drawing on documentary review and interviews with institutional representatives, the study examines how partnerships emerge, the factors shaping their sustainability, and their influence on student experience and progression.
Findings reveal that collaboration is often driven less by strategic alignment with national aims and more by institutional precarity within a competitive market. Although such partnerships are aligned with widening access and labour market agendas, they are also deployed to sustain student recruitment and institutional viability. Successful collaborations are typically underpinned by shared values, trust, and a clear regulatory environment: conditions more evident in Scotland than in England.
Students accessing these pathways benefit from enriched educational opportunities and support, although formal evaluative evidence remains limited. The report offers four considerations for policymakers and institutional leaders:
- the need to reduce reliance on competition
- strengthen regulatory coherence
- better articulate the distinctive student offer
- invest in data strategies to evaluate long-term impact.
Written by
Josh Patel