A multi-million pound fund to help boost standards of
further education across the country has been launched by
Education Secretary today (Thursday 27th February).
Almost £14 million will be invested to help improve
leadership and governance across the further education
sector so more people receive the best education and
training possible. This latest move forms part of the
government’s commitment to build the skilled workforce that
businesses and the country needs to thrive by unlocking
talent and levelling up skills and opportunities.
The investment announced today includes:
- A £9 million College Collaboration Fund to support
colleges to work together to share their knowledge,
expertise and best practice to boost the quality of
education and training on offer. The fund builds on the
successes of The Strategic College Improvement Fund which
has already helped over 80 colleges to improve the
quality of teaching, strengthened their partnership
working approaches and supported college-wide
improvements in culture and leadership.
- Up to £4.5 million will be invested in Continuous
Professional Development (CPD) programmes to support
improved leadership and governance - developed by The
Education and Training Foundation in partnership with the
Oxford Said Business School, The Chartered Institute of
Accountants in England and Wales and The Association of
Colleges. The programmes will provide FE leaders and
governors with tailored support in a range of areas
including strategic planning, finance and working with
employers to address local and national skills needs.
- £200,000 to support two Governance pilots that will
test new and innovative approaches to boost the skills and
improve the governance of college boards to make sure they
achieve the best outcomes for students.
Education Secretary said:
Good leadership and governance are vital if we want the
further education sector to continue to thrive and grow.
The FE sector is already doing amazing work to unlock
talent and opportunity up and down the country.
This multi-million pound investment will empower even
more FE leaders and governors to drive up standards so
more students receive the high quality education and
training they deserve.
Richard Atkins, FE Commissioner said:
I welcome the launch of this support offer to the
governors and leaders of our FE Colleges. In order to be
successful, colleges require excellent governance and
leadership provided by well trained and well supported
Chairs, governors, Principals, Clerks and leaders, so
that learners can benefit from enrolling at great
colleges. I am delighted that this offer will enable
governors and leaders at all levels to access and share
high quality training, development and support.
The College Collaboration Fund will be key to helping
colleges to work together to develop and improve further.
This expanded development programme will build upon what
we already know works well in the sector. The governance
review and recruitment pilots will help college governing
bodies to operate, challenge and support as effectively
as possible. My team and I see examples of excellent
practice during our visits across the country, but we
also see examples of where support is needed if standards
of governance and leadership are to improve. I am pleased
that we will now have this expanded range of development
opportunities to offer to colleges where we see this as
necessary.
, Chief Executive
of the Education and Training Foundation said:
Investing in the leadership of the Further Education and
training sector is a vital aspect of the professional
development support that helps it thrive. The
announcement of these new programmes recognises that
leadership comes from a number of places within
institutions, from senior leaders to middle managers and
from the governors to governance professionals. In doing
so, it builds on the successful programmes already
developed by the ETF with Department for Education
funding in recent years, strengthening leadership
capacity across the sector and, ultimately, delivering
improved outcomes for learners.
David Hughes, Chief Executive of The Association of
Colleges said:
This investment into the further education sector is
welcome news and another good sign that DfE wants to
invest in and back colleges. This package will help
colleges help themselves and each other - proper peer to
peer support, developing the skills and knowledge of
leaders and governors across the country to strengthen
the great education colleges already provide. Well-run
and effective colleges rely on staff at all levels, which
is why it is great to see targeted funds for continuous
professional development opportunities as well. This is
an important part of a wider systems reform programme
which will see colleges thrive and college leaders work
to a bold and compelling vision for the future of FE.
Bill Watkin, Chief Executive of Sixth Form Colleges
Association said:
The first two waves of the Strategic College Improvement
initiative showed just how committed colleges are to
helping other institutions – and how effective they are
in doing so. The Sixth Form Colleges Association welcomes
the announcement that there will be a second iteration of
this government-funded programme which will see
high-performing colleges continuing to share their
strengths and strategies for success.
The National Leaders of
Further Education (NLFEs) and National Leaders of
Governance (NLGs) programmes will continue to
provide peer-to-peer support to further education and sixth
form colleges where governance and leadership can be
improved.
This funding builds on the government’s ongoing work to
help colleges to be well-run and resilient, so they offer
the best possible education and training.
The first round of the application window for The College
Collaboration Fund is open from today until 8th April 2020
We expect to announce the successful colleges from May
2020. For more information on the application process,
visit here.
Further information about the governance pilots are
available here and here.
