The Association of Colleges was created in 1996 as the single voice to promote the interests of further education colleges in England and Wales. www.aoc.co.uk

The ASC is the policy and representative voice of Scotland's Colleges. There are 43 further education colleges across Scotland, providing education and training to around 500,000 students each year. The college sector is the largest provider of lifelong learning in Scotland. www.ascol.org.uk

BUBL is an Internet link collection for the UK library and higher education communities, run by the Centre for Digital Library Research at the University of Strathclyde. A list of all further education colleges is available on the BUBL website. www.bubl.ac.uk

The BAC is a registered charity (non-profit-making organisation) which acts as the national accrediting body for independent further and higher education. It is independent both of government and of the colleges with which it accredits. Their website lists over 100 accredited independent colleges. www.the-bac.org