Further Education an Alternative Route Reviewed

Summary

This paper reports a small scale research at a single technical college. It places the research against the background of opinions which see the colleges of further education as providing an alternative and more egalitarian route to professional employment for the failures of the selective system of secondary education. This view argues for the existence of a number of alternative routes to white collar employment through the colleges of further education. As part of an empirical examination of the existence of these hypothesized routes and their sociological significance, the authors undertake an analysis of the relationship between social and educational background and achievement among 101 students taking full‐time GCE Advanced level Social Science and Arts courses at a South Lancashire technical college. The general finding, within the limited framework of the research, was that, although the college in question appeared to be offering to some students a temporary alternative route to higher education and professional employment, there seemed little evidence that this route was characterized by remedial or egalitarian features of any consequence.