Staffing Statistics for Further Education Colleges in Scotland: 2008-09
Introduction
The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collects information on staffing from Further Education (FE), colleges in Scotland. The data is used to monitor corporate plan targets, staffing age profiles, equal opportunities, and to inform national statistics publications.
The collection provides details on:
- numbers of full time and part time staff;
- numbers of permanent and temporary staff;
- numbers of teaching and non-teaching (support) staff;
- numbers of staff working in academic departments or working as cross college staff; and
- numbers of staff by teaching qualification, grade, gender, age band and ethnic group.
Key Points
All information relates to college payroll staff.
Summary of College Payroll Staff (see table 1) [PDF]
The total staff headcount in Scotland's colleges in 2008-09 was 21,748. A decrease of 77 since 2007-08.
66% (14,315) of the total staff headcount accounts for permanent staff, an increase from 65% last year.
The majority of FTEs (73%) were for full-time staff, a decrease from 74% last year.
Teaching Qualifications of College Payroll Staff (see table 2) [PDF]
For the first time, the 2008-09 staffing return asked for data on new teaching qualifications 'advanced diploma: introduction to teaching in FE', and 'advanced diploma: teaching in FE'. Only 3% of all teaching staff with teaching qualifications held such qualifications.
Of the total headcount of all teaching staff (12,647), 69% (8,789) held a teaching qualification. This varies slightly from the previous year where 68% (8,763) of all teaching staff (12,877) held a teaching qualification.
Grade of Post of College Payroll Staff (see table 3) [PDF]
42% of the FTEs for all college payroll staff account for male staff with the majority, 58% accounting for female staff, roughly the same as 2007-08.
Just over half the FTEs for all staff (56%) were for staff in academic departments. This was the case in 2007-08.
Most staff in academic departments (85%) were in a lecturer/instructor/senior lecturer post. This was the case in 2007-08 where 84% of the total FTEs for staff in academic departments were for lecturers/instructors/senior lecturers.
Age of College Payroll Staff (see table 4) [PDF]
The total FTEs for all college payroll staff in 2008-09 stands at 12,892. 9% (1,145) of this total were aged under 29. This was also the case in 2007-08 where 9% (1,170) of the total 12,653 FTEs were for staff aged under 29.
Ethnic Group of College Payroll Staff (see table 5) [PDF]
83% of all college payroll staff (teaching and non-teaching) were Scottish, the same as 2007-08.
Differences since 2005-06:
- since 2005-06, the total number of staff in Scotland's colleges has increased from 21,504 to 21,748;
- teaching staff with a teaching qualification has increased from 65% of all teaching staff in 2005-06 to 69% of all teaching staffin 2008-09;
- the split of staff in academic departments and cross college staff is roughly the same in 2008-09 (56% in academic departments, 44% cross college staff) as 2005-06 (57% in academic departments, 43% cross college staff);
- the number of FTEs for staff aged over 60 has increased from 808 in 2005-06 to 1,123 in 2008-09. This works out as a 39% increase; and
- the number of FTEs for staff aged 30 to 49 has slightly decreased from 6,507 in 2005-06 to 6,476 in 2008-09.
Tables
The five tables from above can also be downloaded in one Microsoft Excel sheet here: Staffing Return 2008-09 [XLS 52KB]
Definitions
College Payroll Staff - All members of staff on the college payroll are included in this category.
Headcount - The number of staff/headcount covers the total number of staff employed in the college during the academic year. Each member of staff is counted once regardless of the amount of time for which they are employed. The only exception to this is a member of staff with two separate contracts at any one time (for example, a lecturer with a full-time contract and a separate evening class contract).
FTE - The number of staff covers the number of full-time equivalent staff employed by the college. A full-time member of staff employed for the year normally has an FTE of 1. Does not include overtime and holidays.
Teaching Staff - Teaching staff are defined as all staff involved in the direct provision of learning which is related to the course/programme on which students are registered, for at least 10% of their contracted time (for example, lecturer).
Non-Teaching Staff - Senior management and support staff are defined as 'non-teaching (support)' if they are NOT directly involved in teaching for at least 10% of their time.
Staff in Academic Departments - All staff assigned to a specific academic department/school/faculty for the majority of their time are defined as 'staff in academic departments.' This includes teaching staff and other staff who provide direct support to teaching staff in specific academic departments.
Cross College Staff - All staff that perform a central function and cannot be assigned to a specific academic department/school/faculty for the majority of the time are classified as cross college staff (for example, central management administrative staff). Cross college staff includes staff not assigned to a specific academic department (senior management, central support, librarians, janitors and teaching staff not in any specific department).
TQ (FE) Or Other Equivalent - This includes teaching staff who hold the TQ Further Education (FE), the TQ Secondary Education (SE) and the TQ Primary Education (PE) and any other teaching qualification that is considered to be equivalent to the TQ(FE) according to any further guidance issued by SFC.
TQ Other - Teaching staff with a teaching qualification other than those listed in table 2. Other teaching qualifications currently counted as 'TQ Other,' include Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), D32/33 or C/D Units/Qualifications and Certificate for Skills Trainers and Assessors.
Unqualified - All teaching staff holding a TQ or equivalent and without the minimum entry requirements to train for a TQ are classed as unqualified.
Further Information
For further information contact Hazel Macdonald, Tel: 0131 313 6601,
email: hmacdonald@sfc.ac.uk.