Created on: 07 Nov 2025
The EIS-FELA has issued a stark warning that Scotland’s Further Education (FE) sector is at a critical crossroads — facing a crisis of finance, governance and identity with defunding and a drift towards privatisation threatening its public mission.
In a new report, The Future of Scotland’s Further Education Sector, EIS-FELA calls for urgent investment, democratic reform, and a recommitment to education as a public good. The union warns that sustained underfunding and market-driven policies are undermining colleges’ role as community anchors and vital centres of learning.
General Secretary, Andrea Bradley, said “EIS-FELA envisions a publicly funded, democratically governed FE system which focuses on learners and communities rather than commercial interests. Colleges are the heart of their communities — places where people of all backgrounds can learn, grow, and contribute meaningfully to society.”
The EIS report acknowledges the SFC and Audit Scotland reports, launched in October 2025, which highlight that college funding has fallen by 20% in real terms since 2021, with most colleges projected to be financially unsustainable by 2027–28.
Nonetheless, the report argues that colleges must prioritise inclusion, lifelong learning, and social cohesion, offering smaller class sizes, well-supported lecturers, and a broad curriculum which values every learner.
EIS-FELA believes that the Scottish Government and college leadership have encouraged market ideology to dominate education policy. Colleges are increasingly run on commercial models, diverting public funds away from core teaching budgets and students with ASNs, from the most deprived or rural areas in Scotland.
EIS-FELA highlights opaque governance structures and excessive management pay, calling for greater accountability and transparency.
“Members of college Boards must be equipped to interrogate college accounts in order to answer to staff, students, and communities. We do not want to see another failing of governance as has happened in various education institutions over the years, most prominently Dundee University earlier this year,” said Anne-Marie Harley, EIS-FELA President.
To reverse the decline, EIS-FELA proposes a comprehensive reform agenda, including:
Restoring real-terms funding for colleges and ring-fencing resources for teaching, ESOL, and ASN.
Bringing Principals’ pay under public sector pay policy, controls and strengthening transparency in governance.
Ending outsourcing and privatisation, ensuring colleges remain publicly accountable.
Protecting the distinct role of FE as a community-based sector within the tertiary landscape.
Funding education through progressive taxation, not student debt or commercial income.
Investing in fair work and professional autonomy for qualified lecturers.
EIS-FELA’s report stresses FE colleges are essential to Scotland’s social fabric, helping communities build resilience, inclusion, and democratic literacy. Cuts to community learning, ESOL, and ASN provision, the union warns, risk deepening inequality and alienation.
“Education is not a commodity — it’s a public right,” added Anne-Marie Harley. “Scotland’s colleges must once again be publicly funded, democratically governed, and rooted in their communities. That’s the only way to ensure fair access to education, fair work for staff, and a fair future for all.”
A copy of the pre-release summary of the report is on the EIS website. The full report will be launched with roundtable invites to MSPs and members of college Boards in week commencing 17th November.