Further Education means learning after your compulsory school leaving age. This means people make a choice to take a course. Typically FE includes A levels, AS levels and vocational qualifications. You can work towards qualifications at level 3 which you may use to go for higher level jobs or to university, or you may be working towards level 1 and 2 qualifications which you may not have achieved by the time you were 16. The biggest group of students in FE is made up of 16-19 year olds, but many adults also decide to go into full time or part time FE to improve their skills.

In 6th form colleges many of the courses on offer will be level 3 qualifications such as A Levels, Advanced 14-19 Diplomas and BTEC National Diplomas. At FE colleges the choice is much wider because they are bigger institutions and have many more facilities and staff. So you can take the same qualifications as mentioned above but also qualifications at lower levels (1 and 2) and higher (level 4) and other specialist qualifications such as NVQs. You may also decide to take short courses to improve your qualifications such as a first aid certificate, health and safety award or a computing course.

Popular reasons for young people going to FE college or 6th form college are that their school may not have a 6th form, they want a change from the school environment to learn somewhere new or they want to do a vocational (ie, job-related) course where they need specific facilities such as Motor Vehicle Studies, Construction or Hair and Beauty. FE colleges also offer a broad range of NVQs, occupational qualifications which train you in work skills.

Further education shows first and foremost that you are eager to learn, keen to improve upon your skill set, and prepared to go the extra mile to better yourself. Even if you choose your course for personal interests alone, further education shows you are motivated, passionate, lively and take a great interest in the world around you. The difference now is that you are 'choosing' to learn...you do not 'have' to learn.

Depending on what level of qualification you have achieved FE can take you into further learning within FE (eg, up to level 3), you could go into Higher Education (an option if you have achieved level 3) or you could choose a work-related option (employment, employment with training or an Apprenticeship). Aswell as gaining qualifications you can gain many transferable skills from being in FE as you will be introduced to a wider range of people and be exposed to new opportunities, many of which you may not have had access to at school.

Check out the list of learning providers on My Steps and in the wider North East area to see which colleges are nearest to your home. You can find all 12 online Area Wide Prospectuses in the North East by using the public sector website direct.gov.uk.