5. Current provision 5.1 Although it may not be definitive, the Basic Skills Agency (BSA) collects information from about 500 organisations managing ESOL programmes each year, which probably represents the bulk of ESOL provision in England. During 1997-98 just over 95,000 people were reported to be attending ESOL programmes. FE colleges and Local Education Authority (LEA) adult education were the main providers, with respectively just under two thirds and just under one third of all enrolments. Table 2 shows the BSA breakdown by organisation type for 1997-98. Table 2 ENGLAND: FE Sector College 56,415 Training Organisation 1,628 LEA 28,033 Voluntary Organisation 497 Employer 60 Prisons (estimated) 5,000 Other 3,966 TOTAL 95,599 Figures for all providers are not available for 1998-99 but Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) figures for 1998-99 show that FEFC funded providers' enrolments have increased by 20 per cent to over 74,000. 5.2 The majority of people are still in courses where the primary purpose is to learn ESOL, although the introduction of the additional support mechanism in FEFC funding has clearly helped improve the language support position. In 1996-97 around one in five ESOL students was getting language support on mainstream courses whereas information from the Individual Student Records from FE Colleges for 1998-99 show that 37 per cent were learning ESOL as part of a broader programme. It is to be hoped that this trend will continue under the Learning and Skills Council. 5.3 In many places, particularly inner city areas, there is insufficient provision and this has led to long waiting lists. Some localities have had to deal with unexpected surges in numbers of recently arrived refugees and this has reduced the availability of provision for local long-established minority ethnic communities. 5.4 Much important outreach work is carried out by Local Education Authorities and by voluntary sector and community organisations. This area of work is crucial in reaching those individuals and groups who are likely to resist more traditional provision. However, coverage is very patchy and the quality of teaching very variable, due primarily to the lack of any coherent and permanent funding system which recognises the support functions that are necessary for effective delivery. 5.5 There is little provision in the workplace and language support is only just starting to feature in mainstream Government programmes such as Training for Work and New Deal. The report5 of research into the extent to which lack of fluency in English acts as a barrier to employment has not yet been finalised but we expect it to recommend, broadly, that there is scope for a greater proportion of ESOL to be work-focused in order to broaden its appeal to a wider group of unemployed people and particularly men (who are under-represented currently). The recommendations of the report together with the results of pilots undertaken in 1999 with the Refugee Council should inform thinking on how to better package vocational language support to meet the needs of unemployed ESOL learners. 5.6 Support for students has an important impact on learning outcomes. BSA research into progression and drop out in ESOL programmes6 indicated that about one in four students dropped out in any one year for a range of reasons, including change of accommodation, childcare and dissatisfaction with the lack of progress they were making on the course. 5.7 Lack of progress may often be linked to the quality of courses on offer. The FEFC Inspectorate issued a Report on Basic Education 1998-99 including ESOL provision which found that "the standard of much of the provision in this area is a cause for concern when compared with the standards in other programme areas". Inspection grades awarded to colleges' basic education provision between 1994 and 1997 were consistently lower than for other provision and there has been little sign of improvement. 5.8 The BSA survey also revealed the inadequacy of advice and guidance with large numbers of students dropping out or transferred to other classes in the first few weeks of joining a programme because they were in an inappropriate class. Footnote 5. Dr Philida Schellekens op cit 6. Where Next? Drop Out and Progression from ESOL. Kambouri, Toutounji and Francis, The Basic Skills Agency, 1966.

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