Created on: 03 Oct 2025
The EIS has highlighted that the report Scotland’s Colleges 2025, published yesterday by Audit Scotland, confirms the severe pressures facing Further Education Colleges across Scotland.
The EIS-Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) has repeatedly raised concerns over the level of funding allocated to colleges across Scotland.
The report from Audit Scotland reiterates the pressures facing the Further Education sector which the SFC’s recent report on colleges’ sustainability highlighted. The SFC reports most of Scotland’s colleges are unsustainable, highlighting how years of real-terms cash cuts for the sector are beginning to seriously bite with up to 18 colleges facing net cash outflows by 2027-28.
Audit Scotland have focussed on the fact that colleges are teaching fewer students, supporting fewer from deprived backgrounds to access university in 2022/23, have had mental health funding withdrawn, struggle to meet the demand for apprenticeship places, and that cuts are beginning to negatively impact staff and students.
Commenting, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “Whilst EIS-FELA has consistently maintained there needs to be better scrutiny and accountability in terms of ensuring public money is well spent in the sector, we are assured by both reports that more investment is required in the sector.
"A further cut of 6.6% of staff, on top of the 7% over the past 18 months, will compromise the education of students and will negatively impact social cohesion in communities.”
Ms Bradley continued, “Nonetheless, EIS-FELA is disappointed the SFC and Audit Scotland have framed staff inflationary and, at times, sub-inflationary pay awards as an overall driver of the apparent unsustainability of the sector. Living wage or nationally bargained pay awards have mainly followed Scottish Government pay policy and have been separately funded by the Scottish Government at the outset."
Ms Bradley added, “The EIS believes it is important to invest in the sector, including in estates, staff, and resources for students to properly upskill and reskill Scotland's workforce. Investing in staff is investing in students.
"We believe these reports should be counter-balanced with the fact that less investment in staff pay and terms and conditions means driving down the quality of education on offer. Surely that is neither a desirable not a sustainable model.”
EIS-FELA’s analysis is that the pay packets of some of the sector’s executive leaders have increased by well over 20% in the past ten years whilst lecturers’ pay has, on average, increased by less than 17% in the same period.
Indeed, some principals’ pay has increased by over 60% in that period and EIS-FELA has long been critical of the lack of cost/benefit analysis carried out by the governance structures within the sector on expenses, international travel and trade missions. EIS-FELA would also be concerned if some of the £148m earmarked for capital investment went to any of the colleges still paying huge amounts of interest for the NPD contracts on their new build estate.
EIS-FELA believes the Tertiary Education (Funding and Governance) Scotland Bill, which has passed stage 1 debate and is looking likely to cost well over £21million, is an expensive distraction involving the reorganisation of public bodies when a more serious look under the bonnet of the sector is urgently required.
EIS-FELA believes it would be better if the Scottish Government were to provide a real-terms cash injection to the sector, highlighting their expectation that colleges are anchor institutions in their communities, tackling poverty and social isolation, providing reskilling and upskilling opportunities, as well as educational chances for life.