Full-time 16–18 students at Highlands College

WQ.196/2026

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND LIFELONG LEARNING

BY DEPUTY V. LI OF ST. HELIER NORTH

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 5th OCTOBER 2026

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 12th OCTOBER 2026

Question

"Will the Minister state, for full-time students aged 16–18 at Highlands College in the current academic year –

1. the minimum number of timetabled hours per week required for a programme to count as full-time, and who sets that requirement;
2. the average number of timetabled hours per week, on site and online respectively, by qualification level;
3. the number of days per week full-time students are typically required to attend on site; and
4. how the Department monitors contact time and attendance as part of its funding and oversight of the College?"

Answer

1. The length of time allocated for courses at Highlands college is governed by the guided learning hours required by the oversight authority for each qualification in England. In addition to course specific guided hours, there is an expectation that there will be age and stage appropriate pastoral and life-skills provision, designed by the College to align with the core programme.

There is no designated minimum number of timetabled hours that applies for post 16 provision on Island, as this would restrict the College in their flexibility of course design to combine taught hours, work placements and work experience, private study on site and pastoral and life skills provision appropriately for different types of course and different learner needs and requirements.

2. The average number of timetabled hours can be found as follows:

Sixth Form: Entry Level / Level 1 13-18 hours per week, L2 13-18 hours per week, L3 15-20 hours per week across 36 weeks.

Note: study programme components based on prior attainment (e.g. technical & vocational/English/maths) and is in line with GFE College national averages.

3. The number of days per week vary depending on curriculum needs (e.g. workshop resources, proportion of industry/work experience etc), typically this is a minimum of 3 but can be up to 5.
4. Attendance at the College is managed internally and the census of students on roll is monitored by the informatics team termly.

Performance across all courses, including attendance, achievement and destinations, is reviewed through the annual Quality Assurance Improvement Planning Cycle at the college, which is then monitored by the Governing Body and the Chief Officer or his delegate at the Annual Quality Review meeting. Annual achievement results for 16-18 aged students undertaking level 2 or level 3 qualifications is collected, validated and reported annually – contributing to Island GCSE and level 2 grade data, and average point scores for level 3 qualifications.