Further education (FE) colleges in the UK, Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions in Australia, and Community Colleges in the US offer a wide range of programmes that enable young people and adults to develop and realise their aspirations, and in doing so they are rightly recognised for their critical role in fostering social mobility. Far less acknowledged is the importance of these place-based institutions for promoting inclusive social and economic growth that meets the needs of students, communities, businesses and industries.

The goal of this special issue is to bring together and showcase high-quality papers on how colleges internationally act as anchor institutions within their local and regional communities to support inclusive economic, social and educational growth.

Publication date: From August - November 2022. 

Guest Editor

Dr Lynne Rogers, IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society, UCL, UK.

Article list 

Research article

The bachelor’s degree in college systems: history, evidence and argument from England

Jennifer Allen and Gareth Parry

2022-08-10 Volume 20 • Issue 1 • 2022

Also a part of:

Special feature: Colleges as Anchor Institutions in their Local Community

‘Employers at the heart of the system’: whose system is it anyway?

Prue Huddleston and Suzie Branch-Haddow

2022-08-17 Volume 20 • Issue 1 • 2022

Also a part of:

Special feature: Colleges as Anchor Institutions in their Local Community

Developing English VET through social partnership in further education

Norman Crowther, Mark Addis and Christopher Winch

2022-09-21 Volume 20 • Issue 1 • 2022

Also a part of:

Special feature: Colleges as Anchor Institutions in their Local Community

Unpacking the tensions between local and national skills policy: employers, colleges and Local Enterprise Partnerships as collaborative anchors

Susan James Relly and James Robson

2022-11-30 Volume 20 • Issue 1 • 2022

Also a part of:

Special feature: Colleges as Anchor Institutions in their Local Community

Are our further education colleges still an anchor in our society?

Lynn Senior and Neil Barnes

2023-03-08 Volume 21 • Issue 1 • 2023

Also a part of:

Special feature: Colleges as Anchor Institutions in their Local Community

Leading undergraduate provision in further education colleges: the experiences of BA Education programme leaders

Ross M. Purves, Mark Pulsford and Rebecca Morris

2023-03-15 Volume 21 • Issue 1 • 2023

Also a part of:

Special feature: Colleges as Anchor Institutions in their Local Community