Cross-border provision of public services for Wales: Further and higher education - Welsh Affairs Committee Contents


Supplementary memorandum submitted by fforwm and The Association of Colleges

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION ON DATA

INTRODUCTION

  1.  This paper has been submitted following oral evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee by fforwm and the Association of Colleges (AoC) on 17 June 2008.

  2.  The paper outlines the different student data collected in England and Wales, identifies some issues concerning the use of the terms "domicile" and "postcode" in England and Wales; and compares data collected in Wales and England.

STUDENT DATA COLLECTION

  3.  In Wales, learner data is collected using the Lifelong Learning Wales Record (LLWR). In England, the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) is used. Although there is much in common between the two, both systems differ in terms of the type of data collected (for example the ILR collects data on Train to Gain, which does not exist in Wales) and definitions of terms.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOMICILE AND POSTCODE

  4.  The data on learners enrolled at colleges in England or Wales is collected on the basis of whether the learner is "domiciled" in one country or on the basis of their postcode.

  5.  The term "domicile" in respect to the LLWR refers to the "country in which the learner has his/her permanent home". The country of domicile is recorded before the person commences a learning programme. The ILR, however, defines "domicile" in the following way. Domicile: "should reflect the learner's normal country of residence. This is the country the learner would normally regard themselves as going home to".

  6.  The other data used in fforwm's written evidence is based on "postcode". The LLWR states that the postcode refers to "the home postcode for the learner at the start of a learning programme". Home postcode is defined slightly differently in the ILR as "the permanent or home postcode of the learner prior to enrolling at the provider". The LLWR and the ILR both have a field covering "current postcode". There is no definition in the LLWR whereas in the ILR it is defined as "the postcode of the learner's current or last known residence ... This may differ from home postcode field where a learner has changed residence since enrolling. For example, if they are living away from home".

  7.  The definitions of data used by the LLWR and the ILR differ slightly and this may lead to data not being strictly comparable.

DATA ON CROSS BORDER MOVEMENT OF POST-16 FE LEARNERS

  8.  Data collected by the LLWR on learners attending colleges in Wales who are domiciled in England differ from the data on learners who have been recorded as having an English postcode.

  9.  Thus 7,540 learners studying in colleges in Wales gave their postcode as England whereas the numbers stating they were domiciled in England totalled 5,955—a difference of 1,585 (25% higher in the case of "domiciled" learners).

  10.  It is important therefore to recognise the differences between "postcode" and "domicile" in analysing data. The same difference of scale might apply to data collected in England through the ILR.

  11.  Another complicating factor is that learners can change addresses during a course. For example, a student studying in Wales but living in England might move to an address in Wales during his/her studies.

  12.  The data on domiciled students shows that the numbers of 16-19 learners living in Wales and enrolling in English colleges is almost identical to those travelling in the opposite direction (760 as opposed to 763). However, there is a major difference in 19+ learners. There are 1,182 more 19+ learners travelling to colleges in Wales than travelling to English colleges—almost 30% more.

  13.  The evidence presented by AoC shows that the numbers of learners domiciled in England studying at colleges in Wales fell between 2005-06 and 2006-07. Similar data is not yet available from the LLWR.

FE STUDENTS DOMICILED IN ENGLAND AND WALES CROSSING THE BORDER 2005-06


Domiciled in England/
attending college in Wales
(a)
Domiciled in Wales/
attending college in England
(b)
Difference in number
(a-b)
16-18760763 -3
19+5,1954,013 +1,182
Total5,9554,776
Data collected from the Lifelong Learning Wales Record (Wales) and the Individualised Learner Record (England).
Data is not available in Wales on 2006-07.

CONCLUSION

  14.  England and Wales both use different data collection systems—the Individualised Learning Record in England and the Lifelong Learning Wales Record in Wales. Although both systems have much in common there are some differences between them. Definitions of terms—such as "domicile"—differ. Data collected in the two countries needs therefore to be treated with caution.

  15.  There is a difference in both data collection systems between "domicile" and "post-code". Data based on postcode rather than domicile in Wales increases the numbers of learners from England studying in Welsh colleges by around 25%.

  16.  The Committee might wish to recommend that there should be common definitions of terms and that data should be collected in the same way between both countries. This would help paint a clearer picture of the numbers of learners crossing the border to study in colleges in Wales and England.

  17.  The Committee might also wish to recommend that the Welsh Assembly Government and the Learning and Skills Council (and successor bodies) might wish to publish annual figures on the extent of migration in respect of post-16 education to monitor the trends.

LEARNERS FROM WALES IN FE COLLEGES IN ENGLAND, 2006-07


Provider Name


Number of
16-18 students


Number of
19+ students


Total
% of Welsh
domiciled
students in
English
colleges


West Cheshire College
90 72581521.7
Walford and North Shropshire College132 25138310.2
City of Bristol College27 2302576.8
Manchester College of Arts and Technology   (Mancat)

22

228

250

6.6
Herefordshire College of Technology84 1111955.2
Blackpool and the Fylde College9 1631724.6
Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology 35118153 4.1
Ruskin College Oxford0 1101102.9
Solihull College090 902.4
Royal Forest of Dean College52 35872.3
Telford College of Arts and Technology 07676 2.0
Others (135 Colleges)207 9061,17331.2



  Table 2 illustrates the comparison with the previous year and particularly a sharp fall in post-19 numbers as a result of the changes to Learning and Skills Council funding rules. These reductions are not particular to Wales-domiciled students and have affected all colleges in England in a similar way. There was a reduction of 700,000 further education students in English colleges between 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Table 2

TOTAL NUMBERS OF WALES-DOMICILED LEARNERS STUDYING IN COLLEGES IN ENGLAND

2005-06

2006-07
%
difference

16-18
763 718-5.9
19+4,0133,043 -24.2
Total4,7763,761 -21.3

July 2008





 
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