our members

FE Colleges

All of Wales’ 20 further education (FE) colleges and two FE institutions in Wales are members of ColegauCymru / CollegesWales. 14 colleges may be described as general FE colleges of which two are part tertiary and one is merged with the University of Glamorgan; five are tertiary; one is a Catholic sixth form college; one is a specialist land-based college; one is an adult residential college and two – YMCA Community College and WEA South - are FE institutions.

Throughout our website, the terms ‘college’ and ‘FE college’ are used to cover all types of FE colleges and FE institutions.

Qualifications

The largest colleges offer over 1,000 different qualifications across a wide range of levels of difficulty. Colleges make an important contribution to tackling social exclusion. In a single building, a college may have students with special educational needs sharing facilities with those taking academic and vocational courses from Entry Level through to Level 3 (e.g. ‘A’ levels) or higher education levels (e.g. honours degrees).

Governance

Before 1993, colleges were under the control of local government. The Further and Higher Education (FHE) Act 1992 took colleges out of local authority control and established colleges as incorporated bodies, each with a governing body that determines the educational character and mission of the college and ensures its overall well-being and financial solvency. The membership of governing bodies reflects the college’s stakeholders and is a powerful means through which the college is accountable to its local community. The membership is made up of people from business, local education authorities and the local community as well as staff and students. One third of the members must come from local business, and between 1 and 3 from each of the other categories.