FE study and almost nine out of ten (86 percent) who chose to pursue FE study did so at
Ayrshire College. The proportion of school leavers in the Ayrshire region moving onto HE study
increased by 2.1 percentage points. A third of Ayrshire’s school leavers pursued HE study at
college, 23 percent at Ayrshire College.
14. Of all college regions, Ayrshire has the highest proportion of school leavers who move onto FE
and the vast majority of school leavers taking up FE study do so at the College. The only other
college regions where the proportion of school leavers moving onto FE study was greater than
thirty percent were Fife and Dundee and Angus.
Table 2: College regions where proportion moving onto FE greater than 30%
College region
Ayrshire
Fife
Dundee and Angus
Scotland
Total leavers
in the region
3906
3679
2357
Percentage leavers
moving onto HE
37.7%
36.5%
33.9%
38.6%
Percentage leavers
moving onto FE
35.0%
34.6%
33.0%
26.3%
Source: Skills Development Scotland
15. Important conclusions that can be drawn from these figures are that FE courses are likely to
continue to be instrumental in achieving Scottish Government’s Opportunities for All targets for
16-19 year olds. Proportionately more school leavers in Ayrshire move onto FE study after
leaving school than any other college region and it is critical that these students receive the
support funding necessary to sustain a successful learning outcome.
Residence of students
16. The College is committed to serving the needs of people across Ayrshire. In 2013-14, 39 per
cent of our students lived in East Ayrshire, 25 per cent in North Ayrshire and 29 per cent in
South Ayrshire. This has changed from 2012-13 with students from East Ayrshire increasing by
five percentage points, students living in North Ayrshire decreasing by six percentage points
and students residing in South Ayrshire increasing by three percentage points. Concentrated
efforts are being made with partners in North Ayrshire to understand the demographics of the
local population, in particular areas of significant multiple deprivation.
SIMD10
17. In 2013-14, twenty per cent of Ayrshire College students lived in areas which fell into the
lowest 10% SIMD (SIMD10) datazones. Of these students, 43 per cent