AQW 37801/11-15 Written question to the Minister for Employment and Learning
To ask the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the increase in the number of further education qualifications provided for by his Department in each year since the launch of his Department’s Skills Strategy.
Asked by Claire Sugden MLA on 21 October 2014
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 21 October 2014
- Answer due by
- 5 November 2014
- Answered
- 6 November 201416 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for Employment and Learning
- Priority question
- No
Answer
I have interpreted your question as being about the number of qualifications achieved by learners in further education colleges, which have been funded by the Department through the further education recurrent grant.
On this basis, the numbers of qualifications achieved by learners in further education colleges between 2010/11 and 2012/13 are provided in the table below.
| Academic Year | Achievements |
| 2010/11 | 51,443 |
| 2011/12 | 53,066 |
| 2012/13 | 61,932 |
Source: Funded Learning Unit (FLU) data.
The figures provided above exclude Essential Skills. The numbers of qualifications achieved by learners in further education colleges in the Essential Skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT, over the same period, are provided in the table below.
| Academic Year | Achievements |
| 2010/11 | 14,907 |
| 2011/12 | 16,132 |
| 2012/13 | 15,643 |
Source: Funded Learning Unit (FLU) data.
2010/11 is the earliest academic year for which the Department holds validated and reliable data on learner achievements in further education colleges. The 2012/13 academic year is the most recent year for which validated data is available.