Funding for FE in Leicester

Prospects Sport raise funding to help FE colleges increase participation.

Within the City of Leicester there are two HE institutions: de Montfort University and Leicester University, and four FE institutions – Leicester College, Regent College and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College, and the Gateway 6th form College. There are two School Sports Partnerships covering the City.

Prospects4Sport helped Regent College and the 2 School Sport Partnerships raise funding and grant aid to address issues such as:

Provision for minority ethnic groups and deprived areas: Regent College has a very high proportion of black and ethnic minority groups (about 78%), and serves some of the most deprived wards in the country. Participation amongst these groups is lower than average so the particular needs of different communities need to be taken into account.
The strategic priority for sport – often sport is given a low profile and is not a significant priority for institutions.  
Staff time –Regent provided a full time post to organise clubs and pay external coaches, but many Colleges find it difficult to find funding for trained staff and the priority has to be for teaching rather than extra curricular activities. 
Lack of available facilities – little shared use of facilities between FE, HE and Schools in the City. Regent suffered from lack of indoor facilities which the planned building programme may address. 
The drop off in participation post 16, and continue the work of SSPs into FE and HE.  The CSP target of 1% increased participation per year, and the potential to increase the participation of young people attending college or University is great. 

The project proposed a new post of College Sports Co-ordinator to work with the Local Sports Alliance partners. The role of the post is to:

• ensure that the Physical Education and sports related curriculum for young people moving from school to College is co-ordinated across institutions, with learning opportunities for staff to ensure courses are up to date
• build links between Colleges and Governing Bodies of Sport, so that clubs and leagues are open and accessible to students 
• ensure that projects in School Sports Partnerships are supported by the use of students, for example Step into Sport, festivals, competition structures and extra curricular clubs in schools
• ensure a smooth transition for those moving on to HE through curriculum links and programmes (both participation and competition) with the Universities in the City
• support the Gifted and Talented programme by tracking athletes from KS4 upwards
• assist with profiles of students entering college to monitor participation rates, identify those with interest and/or ability and work to build up the number and range of opportunities available for students to participate
• extend the competitive opportunities for students in a range of sports, in partnership with English Schools GBs and British Colleges Sport
• monitor participation levels of 16-19 year olds and track improvements

The total cost of the project over 3 years was £78,500. Prospects4Sport secured £21,000 from Sporting Equals and £27000 from Sport England and the post was recruited in April 2007.  Now that there are other similar posts in the other Colleges in the City, there is real opportunity for FE to work together for 16-19 year olds in Leicester.