THE number of students at Scotland’s colleges fell by almost 26,000 last year, according to figures released by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
There were 239,004 students enrolled at a college for the 2019-20 academic year, down from 264,858 the previous year.
Since the start of the decade, the number of college students has fallen by more than a fifth, a decrease of 66,965 from the 305,969 who were studying in 2010-11.
The SFC said student numbers dropped most significantly during April and May last year when Scotland was put into lockdown in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Its latest college statistics report also cites a 13.6% decrease in the number of 18 and 19-year-olds in the Scottish population but suggests attendances have “remained stable”, with 20.9% of them studying at college full-time.
Enrolments on short courses – those under 10 hours – decreased by 37.8% since 2018-19.
Responding to the figures, Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: “It’s all too clear that the SNP has failed colleges over 14 years in power and limited the future prospects of thousands of Scots as a result.
“On top of those 14 years of neglect, the pandemic has hit colleges hard, and if the sector is to survive this crisis and continue to provide the high-quality education and training vital to post-pandemic recovery, it is time for the SNP to start delivering sustainable funding for the sector.
“To rebuild from this pandemic we will need a high-skilled workforce.
“If the SNP is serious about our economic recovery, it must invest in our future workforce by supporting colleges now.”
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