Drawing together the findings from a literature review, and student-led focus group work on staff perceptions, the project has confirmed the differences in learning and teaching experienced by college students transitioning to university. It has also confirmed that this is a major source of the ‘deficit model’ of the perceived shortcomings of college students that require to be remediated by universities upon these students joining an existing cohort.

However, the project has also considered that, given the diverse nature of the college student body, their varying educational experiences and the differing outcomes that these students can achieve, whether differences in the teaching models across the sector are justifiable and whether it is realistic or desirable to move towards a unified tertiary model. In both college and universities, a more nuanced and flexible approach which recognises learner differences may support student transitions more effectively but would be difficult to reproduce at scale.

This collaborative cluster was led by the City of Glasgow College, with Glasgow Caledonian University and Edinburgh Napier University as joint partners. Since the 2014-17 Student Transitions Enhancement Theme, a focus on activities to support student transition has continued across colleges and universities.