Background to the Research

• With a similar study having been undertaken in England (Mapping Provision: The Provision of and Participation in Further Education by Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities: A Report to the Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities Committee), the intention was to extend this study to NI. In addition, the authors were aware that there was a need to promote a greater understanding amongst FE colleges with regard to the needs of SLDD, and indeed to determine exactly how well they were providing for these students at the time of the report.
  

Research Approach

• The report was based on two forms of empirical research; a questionnaire sent out to the seventeen FE colleges in NI and interviews with support agencies (organisations which have dealings with SLDD). In addition, the NI results were compared to those of England, thus gauging the relative performance of each in relation to SLDD.
  

Main Findings

Estimated Level of SLDD Provision and Participation in FE Colleges in NI

• In NI, 4.1% of FE college students have been identified as SLDD.
• This is in contrast to England, where the figure is 5.7%.
• Although the overall figure of SLDD is 4.1%, the figures for individual colleges vary significantly from 0.4%-18.5%, thereby indicating that there is no standard level of SLDD participation in FE throughout NI.
• Of the students who are SLDD in NI, 11% are enrolled on Full-Time courses, as opposed to England where the figure is 45%.
• A profile of SLDD in NI reveals that 75% are over 18 years of age, whereas in England the figure is 67%, thereby showing that NI has a lower percentage of SLDD in the 16-18 age group. However, 5 of the 17 colleges could not provide an accurate age breakdown.
• 35.8% of SLDD in NI are male, and 64.2% are female, although again, only 13 colleges were able to answer this question.

Characteristics of Existing SLDD provision in FE Colleges

• Of SLDD, only 29% attended mainstream programmes, with the remaining 71% attending discrete programmes. However, several colleges stated that they had difficulty identifying SLDD within mainstream programmes and therefore would question the reliability of these figures.
• The majority of the FE colleges acknowledged that they experienced problems when trying to categorise SLDD.
• The report stated that although colleges could say that they provided support and facilities for SLDD they could not distinguish the precise numbers of students who required such support.

The Levels of Need and Extent to which Need is Identified and Satisfied for each College's Catchment Area

• All the colleges admitted that there were students who had needs but who had not been identified as such.

The Extent to which Colleges are Identifying and Addressing the Principles of SLDD Inclusiveness in Terms of Policy, Planning, Management and Resourcing

• All 17 colleges had an Equal Opportunities Policy, and the report found that the majority of colleges also had implicit references to SLDD within various other college documents. However, the report also says that it is doubtful whether these would reach the SLDD adequately.
• Although the majority of the colleges had a member of staff of senior management level who had some form of responsibility towards SLDD, and other members of staff with professional qualifications, including City and Guilds and Diplomas and Certificates in Special Needs, the report found that there was no standard approach to the issue of managing SLDD.
• The report stated that, with regard to resourcing and profiling SLDD, there was no standard method employed throughout the colleges.

The Effectiveness of the FE Colleges Community Profiling, Links and Referral Arrangements with Support Agencies and Schools

• While FE colleges have some links with support agencies and the community as a whole, the report showed that in order to improve the identification and support of SLDD throughout NI colleges, these links need to be further developed.