England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, a tertiary college is a type of further education (FE) college that offers both academic and vocational courses to both teenagers and adults, combining the main functions of an FE college and a

sixth form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Edu ...

. Unlike a sixth form college these also have a substantial involvement in the education of adults over 18, therefore tend to have a wide spectrum of curriculum. In its truest form, a "tertiary college" is the sole provider of public post-16 further education in a single local authority; however with the effective halt of new tertiary colleges following the

Further and Higher Education Act 1992 The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 made changes in the funding and administration of further education and higher education within England and Wales, with consequential effects on associated matters in Scotland which had previously been g ...

, the term is nowadays not used by these colleges anymore, referring to themselves as simply the umbrella term of further education colleges. The first tertiary college was Exeter College, Exeter in 1970. Numerous local authorities implemented the tertiary structure that decade and in the 1980s, including

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Kirklees Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It ...

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

, Harrow,

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, Bury,

Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in south-west Greater London, London, England, forms part of Outer London and is the only London boroughs, London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller ...

, Knowsley,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and others. In Wales, tertiary colleges were set up in Gwent and

West Glamorgan West Glamorgan () is a former administrative county in South Wales. It is now a preserved county. West Glamorgan was one of the divisions of the ancient county of Glamorgan. It was created on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 fr ...

. The tertiary system reflected the confidence and power at the time of

local education authorities Local education authorities (LEAs) were defined in England and Wales as the local councils responsible for education within their jurisdictions. The term was introduced by the Education Act 1902, which transferred education powers from school bo ...

(LEA) to plan centrally. Additionally a 1980 paper noted that the tertiary system would encourage more schoolchildren to undertake post-16 study while giving further opportunities in terms of subjects as opposed to secondary schools. In

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, the council's approval of tertiary colleges in 1987 caused widespread opposition as it involved closing three schools and removing sixth form provision from ten other schools. However colleges did eventually open in Wilmorton and Mackworth with some of the schools remaining as a compromise. In 1991 there were 55 tertiary colleges in England across 32

. As of 1992 there were 63 tertiary colleges compared to 224 general further education colleges, 116 sixth form colleges, 35 agriculture/horticulture colleges and 13 art and design colleges. Not all colleges necessarily have or had 'Tertiary' in its name - many colleges have since dropped this name from titles even if they are technically still tertiary. According to a research by Responsive College Unit published in 2003, 16 to 18-year-old students at tertiary colleges had higher achievement rates than other sixth form students as well as FE students at all levels. However other statistics, dating from 1999, point that school sixth forms with 200+ students and sixth form colleges have higher A-level scores.

References

{{reflist School types Further education colleges in the United Kingdom Vocational education in the United Kingdom