This report was funded by the HE Academy to examine the literature, research and scholarly activity relating to the provision of higher education from within the further education sector. Its primary aim was to gauge the breadth and depth of activity. The report is intended to contribute to scholarly activity in HE in FE and to provide an overview of key literature, publications and policies.

The methodology involved a desk study of material supplemented with discussions with members of HE in FE working groups.

The most frequent issues identified were:
• Policy issue: franchise and consortia arrangements; (separate) inspection frameworks; complexity and how to address overlapping education sectors
• Widening participation: the role of foundation degrees and whether access is too narrow; problems of transition in sub-degree provision.
• Research concerns: the need to support learning and teaching; the scope of scholarly activity; the expansion of research culture; the need to fully research the context of HE in FE
• Learning and teaching: staff see themselves primarily as teachers not researchers; teaching hours inhibiting research; switching between teaching at further and higher levels; isolation of HE teachers from FE colleagues; the need to work closely with HEI colleagues.

It proved difficult to locate published and ‘grey’ literature (the latter is partially explained by the lack of material on FEI websites and the reluctance of authors to share their work). There is a lack of research in HE in FE and therefore a lack of theoretical frameworks with which to view HE in FE.

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