: Topic: Social inclusion in further education. Educational establishments are now legally bound to create inclusive learning environments. However, successful implementation will depend on changes in the culture and ethos of these institutions. These changes include shifts in the attitudes and practices of lecturing staff who in the past have been mainly concerned with improving their vocational subject expertise rather than the inclusiveness of their teaching methodology. The focus on inclusiveness requires all teaching staff, regardless of their vocational specialism, to develop a different set of professional qualities in order to assist an increasingly diverse body of students engage effectively and confidently in lifelong learning. This paper reports on the findings of an evaluation of staff development sessions led by the Access & Inclusion Team of the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU) aimed at supporting the process of embedding inclusiveness.The social model of disability developed by disabled people (Oliver, 1996; Barnes, 1996) is used to analyse the barriers to inclusiveness highlighted by staff and students. More detailed consideration is then given to the types of connections, and the durability of these, that participants at SFEU staff development made during the events, through the concept of social capital, which focuses on the networks, norms and trust between individuals. The origins of the term, and its various interpretations by the three main social theorists connected with the concept (Bourdieu, Coleman and Putnam) are explained. Distinctions are also made between the different types of social capital, such as 'bonding', 'bridging' and 'linking' social capital.A mixture of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were employed in order to assess the extent to which SFEU staff development activities had led to more inclusive practice. One staff development event was observed. Participants on a range of SFEU Access & Inclusion events were asked to complete a questionnaire by email. The responses of these informed the design of the semi-structured telephone interviews held with a selected number of the participants. A focus group discussion with a group of students was also held.The analysis identified structural, environmental and attitudinal barriers to inclusiveness. Students focused on attitudinal barriers but staff cited additional structural and environmental barriers. The researchers also observed that structural factors inhibited the durability of the social capital established at events. Whilst all participants highly valued the opportunity for networking it was found that mainly those in promoted posts had maintained professional links with the contacts made over a period of time. Conversely, a number of colleges had surmounted environmental barriers and formed consortia with other institutions of a similar nature across Scotland. Despite these various forms of bridging capital formed it was clear, however, that colleges are still some way off with regard to embedding inclusiveness. For this to happen, more linking capital needs to be established, particularly between students and mainstream teaching staff. Online questionnaires and follow-up telephone interviews with college managers and college staff who had participated at SFEU Access & Inclusion events, face-to-face interviews with SFEU staff, observation of one staff development event, focus group interview with studentsEmbedding inclusiveness in vocational educational institutions is probably one of the most difficult challenges facing educational managers. Researching the effectiveness of staff development activities aimed at supporting the process of embedding inclusive practices thus forms an important part in understanding the changing pedagogic expertise required of vocational specialists in post-compulsory education. The innovative measures adopted by the Access & Inclusion Team at SFEU to build social capital between college staff and across FE establishments have been shown to be effective in helping to reduce structural and environmental barriers to embedding inclusive practices. 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