During the past year, the education system has faced significant disruption as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Further Education Institutions (FEI), learners in academy and sport programmes have been severely affected by the loss of practical opportunities to apply their learning and to participate, volunteer, coach, lead, and compete in their chosen disciplines. ColegauCymru commissioned BlwBo Limited to review the impact of the last 15 months on further education (FE) sports learners.
Between April and June 2021, online focus groups took place with learners from 12 FEIs in Wales, providing an important opportunity to capture learner voice. We analysed learners’ feedback in relation to the loss of sport on their social, emotional, and physical wellbeing, and the connections between this and their personal development and employability prospects. We heard from a mixture of male and female first and second year representatives, plus their tutors and/or Active Wellbeing Officers. In total, 93 learners contributed to the research.
