So, what do you think of the course?

Students are being asked for their opinions as part of a review of further education By Neil Merrick

Thanks partly to the efforts of the National Union of Students, 500 people completed a questionnaire using a Department for Education and Skills (DfES) website and their responses are now being analysed. Sir Andrew and his team also intend to carry out in-depth interviews with 100 students before a final report is published in October.

Among other questions, students are being asked whether they were pleased with their choice of course and whether it provided them with necessary skills.

"I'm very keen that this review takes on a learner focus," says Sir Andrew, for whom this is the second major review of further education in two years. "I'm absolutely determined to be objective. We want to hold up a mirror to the sector and say 'this is what works well.'" The president of the NUS, Kat Fletcher, says that she is delighted Sir Andrew is taking the opinions of students seriously. She says that the impact of student unions and other student bodies varies considerably, with some colleges taking far more notice of them than others.

Among the issues students are likely to raise as part of the review is the pressure of having to learn in an environment dominated by examinations. "They are not learning knowledge. They learn how to pass an exam," says Fletcher. "Students don't get enough say over course content and structure."

A year ago, Sir Andrew delivered a report to the DfES criticising the level of bureaucracy and regulation in further education. This time the former chief executive of the Audit Commission wants colleges to be self-critical as well as to consider how they can raise the reputation of the sector.

The latest review follows a series of government initiatives that has left colleges with a wide range of responsibilities: from persuading disillusioned teenagers to remain in education beyond the age of 16, to improving literacy and numeracy among adults.

Sir Andrew, who was impressed by the motivation shown by staff and students in the colleges he visited, says: "Most people have a fairly clear idea of what a school or university does. A large part of the population is not that clear about what FE colleges do."

Colleges have had more publicity than usual during the past few months following widespread cuts in adult education. But Kat Fletcher, who studied at Sheffield College, says that much of the misunderstanding surrounding further education lies in the fact that most government ministers have not experienced it themselves.

John Brennan, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges, acknowledges that there is a lack of clarity caused by the fact that colleges serve a wide range of students with different needs. Colleges, he claims, are generally better than schools at testing the opinion of learners and are normally well appreciated locally. But while the DfES promotes schemes such as modern apprenticeships, ministers are less willing to highlight the sector as a whole. "Maybe their worry is that if they promote FE, more people will want it and they can't afford to pay for it," says Brennan.

Ian Pryce, principal of Bedford College, says that the sector's "under developed" national voice is partly due to the fact that it is accountable to two or three different government departments as well as regional development agencies and the Learning and Skills Council. "In the past, we have probably fallen over ourselves to address every single new initiative," he says.

Bedford has a student council and surveys students on each course three times a year. Pryce welcomes the Foster Review as a further opportunity for reflection: "He is a positive figure for the sector and sees that we have a vital social and economic purpose."

Andrew Thomson, chief executive of the Learning and Skills Development Agency and a former college principal, says that student surveys and focus groups provide important feedback. "Teachers want to do a good job and are interested in how to do it better," he says.

Most teenagers who leave school aged 16 prefer to learn in an adult environment prior to entering higher education. In addition to A-level students and adult returners, colleges run vocational courses that are generally supported by employers. "Everywhere you go at local and regional level there is a lot of goodwill towards FE," adds Thomson. "At national level we need to gather together a coherent message about what FE does for the country."