Scotland’s 24 colleges operate in 13 regions across the country, allowing them to plan locally, regionally, and nationally for the benefit of individuals, communities, the economy, and wider society.  View the Colleges in Scotland.

College Funding 2024/25

Total SFC Revenue Funding £632.3m
including
Student Support £123.0m

Total SFC Capital Funding £84.9m
including
Estates Maintenance £33.0m

70% of college funding goes towards staffing costs

A quarter of colleges’ income does not come directly from the Scottish Funding Council

College Revenue Funding Trend

2024/25 £632.3m
2023/24 £675.7m
2022/23 £696.3m
2021/22 £732.8m
2020/21 £685.3m
2019/20 £615.3m
2018/19 £588.9m
2017/18 £559.2m
2016/17 £542.5m

Funding Per Student

Secondary School £7,657
College £5,054
University £7,558

College Estates

Colleges should have great learning and working environments for students and staff, which foster collaboration, innovation, and success, and help to meet net zero ambitions.

Although some colleges have recently received investments for building improvements, digital tools, and classroom equipment, others urgently require repairs and upgrades, including seven colleges currently addressing issues with RAAC.

For 2024/25, the sector received £84.9m in Capital funding, with £33m of that allocated for estates maintenance.

As recognised by Audit Scotland, the estimated backlog maintenance and lifecycle maintenance requirements for the sector’s estates was approximately £473m over the last five years to 2022/23, however there has been a shortfall of £321m of the amount required during this period.

College Staff

There are 14,147 staff in colleges (10,957 FTEs)

Full-time/Part-time

Full-time 69%
Part-time 31%

Gender

Men 39%
Women 61%

Teaching Staff/Support Staff

Teaching Staff 49%
Support Staff 51%

88% of full-time staff have a recognised teaching qualification

3% of staff are from minority ethnic groups

8% of staff have a declared disability

47% of staff are aged 51 and over

4% of staff are from the EU

2% of staff are from overseas outwith the EU

Management and Governance

College Chairs

Female 33%
Male 67%

College Boards

Female 47%
Male 53%

College Principals

Female 48%
Male 52%

Senior Management

Female 53%
Male 47%