The Motivations and Outcomes of Studying for Part-time Mature Students Completing Higher Education Programmes at Further Education Colleges

Part-time students account for 31% of higher education students in the UK and 56% of part-time undergraduate students are over the age of 30 on entry (UniversityUK 2013). Whilst the motivations and successes of part-time mature students have been previously considered (Swain and Hammond 2011, Jamieson et al 2009, Feinstein et al. 2007) these studies have focussed on students who are either studying at university or by distance learning, and did not consider students on higher education courses at further education colleges. Parry et al (2012) identify that 7% of UK undergraduates study at a further education college and that 283 colleges offer courses at this level. However the literature relating to higher education students at further education colleges is very limited (Wood 2012), and there are no studies on the experiences and successes of part-time mature students in higher education at further education colleges. This research addresses the gap in the literature by considering the motivations and successes of part-time mature students at a sample of further education colleges in the West Midlands. It adapts approaches from Jackson and Jamieson (2009) relating data on age, gender and qualifications on entry to student achievement and retention, and uses interviews to explore the reasons for studying, barriers to study and the experience of part-time studying. Thus the research seeks to develop understanding of the experience of part-time study for mature students in a format that allows some comparison with existing studies of part-time mature students at university and by distance learning.