To ask the Minister for the Economy (i) for an update of her Department’s review of student services within further education; (ii) how her Department engaged with students as part of this review; and (iii) what improvements she envisages to better support students in further education in the context of responses related to COVID-19.

The Review of Further Education (FE) Student Support was initiated as two separate consecutive pieces of work comprising of ‘Stage 1: Baseline Information Exercise’ and ‘Stage 2: Policy Review’.

Stage 1 of the review has now been completed. Student views included were taken from the 2018/19 QDP Teaching & Learning survey, which showed that overall the work of colleges in relation to student support services is highly valued and appreciated by students.

It was intended that much of the work relating to Stage 2 would be informed by and stem from the information contained in the Stage 1 report. However, cognisant of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the resultant significant ongoing changes in delivery of provision by FE, it is recognised that this information may now need to be reviewed before progressing.

Accordingly, my Department proposes to include an interim step to the project; a ‘Stage 1.5’ to map the changes and impacts to student support resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, and better inform expectations for Stage 2 as to what improvements may be required to improve the support for students. This stage of the review is expected to commence in the next few weeks.

Input from Further Education Sector will be vital, and this will include engagement with students, student support services managers and representatives from Student Bodies or Student Unions. As part of that engagement, the Department met with NUS-USI, which represents learners at FE colleges, in February 2020 to set out the background to the review and to seek their views on how best the voice of students could be taken into account. The Department met with representatives from NUS-USI again in July 2020 during the development of the Framework for the Safe Resumption of On-site Educational Provision and Related Activity (Framework Document), and shared a draft version of it with them. Their feedback, and that of a learners’ survey about the return to on-site provision commissioned by the Department, provided useful insights which were taken into consideration in the final version of the document. The Framework Document will be reviewed periodically as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves to ensure that it is kept up to date and reflects the sector’s needs, and the Department intends to continue its engagement with NUS-USI throughout this process. In terms of responses to Covid-19 in recent months, the Department has made several adaptions to student financial support arrangements, including payment of childcare retainer fees during lockdown, payment of Free School Meal allowances directly into the households of eligible students and working closely with colleges and the Education Authority to ensure that Covid-19-related transport restrictions are mitigated and managed. My Department will keep student support arrangements under review in response to the pandemic.