Right issue for FE

The appointment of Roger Ward to run the newly-formed Association of Colleges is likely to be good news for higher education. It has been quite clear recently that Government, opposition and the Dearing committee of inquiry into higher education have noticed how much cheaper higher education is if it is offered in further education colleges.

The reason is, in large part, that further education students are more likely to be paying fees as part-time students and are less likely to have grants. The clear implication has been that every effort would be made to confine any renewed expansion of higher education to the further education sector, thereby getting it cheap.

Mr Ward's determination to get himself and his association alongside higher education in any discussion of student finance suggests that this cheap option may be less easily available in future.

His appointment could also be good news for further education, however bruised staff may feel as a result of recent battles over contracts. For it is not only higher education students in further education with whom Mr Ward is concerned. All further education students are disadvantaged by comparison with higher education students. The case for more equal treatment is overwhelming. If Mr Ward, with his characteristic robustness, is now going to set about getting a fair deal for further education students, that is good news for them.

The trouble is that the cost of treating everyone even-handedly would be prohibitive unless substantial amounts were taken away from those who get the best deal now. Mr Ward's arrival on the scene can only make more urgent the wholehearted reform of student support. This is long overdue anyway.