I’ve heard the phrase “bums on seats” a lot in colleges. It comes up in conversations when staff are faced with something so unworkable that the only explanation could be the single-minded pursuit of enrolment and retention - and the funding it brings.
It’s why a face that started in childcare, moved on to IT and took a quick jaunt over to drama is now back in childcare again. And why learners who are highly disruptive continue to be so because of a behaviour policy that has 43 steps before removal - to give them a chance so that moolah doesn’t disappear.
It’s one of those codified phrases that’s unique to the sector’s unenviable position, where funding and an institution’s existence is reliant on footfall.
The phrase was also picked up by Paul Joyce, Ofsted’s deputy director for FE and skills, when commenting on the lack of integrity regarding recruitment in some corners.
But it seems there’s been a bit of air-brushing over one of the root causes of this issue.
Why is it that colleges have even had to consider such tactics? Chronic underfunding. That’s the real problem that needs addressing.
Tom Starkey teaches English at a college in the North of England
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