CIFE Intercollegiate Articles

Universities are certainly not going anywhere. Nor should they. But let’s address this head on: University is not for everyone. Nor does it have to be. There are plenty of students nowadays who would rather go straight to work and there is a growing number of schemes

In this article, Martin Meenagh of Chelsea Independent College reviews the changes which independent colleges have experienced over the past decade and speculates on changes to come in the years ahead.

How can this be fair? When Bosworth’s Examinations Officer recently re-read the latest version of the “Yellow Book” (examination regulations) to ensure that we conduct examinations in full compliance with the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) regulations, she was incensed. Not a woman easily moved to question

No Sixth Form College can help but be very aware of the increase in reports of stress and anxiety amongst students. It has also become clear to mental health professionals that this can no longer be attributed to over diagnosis or over-protecting the ‘snowflake’ generation. Young people are struggling with anxiety disorders and depression in greater numbers than ever before and sixth form colleges are in the front line of managing the effects of this.

Previously, many cife colleges would have been happy to accept students with a variety of SENDs and make appropriate provision, according to EHCPs (educational health care plans) or equivalent.  Special provision for such students was made primarily through the individual attention provided by the college, including, of course, small class sizes – high functioning autistic children have enjoyed particular success because of this feature alone. If the college thought it could not make reasonable provision/adjustments for such students, it could decline the offer of a place without fear of attracting an accusation of discrimination; for example, it might be cautious about accepting a student who was given to extreme, uncontrollable, emotional outbursts.