More colleges will benefit from a multi-million pound initiative
to drive improvements across further education as the second
round of the Strategic College Improvement Fund
(SCIF) launches today (6
November).
The Government is transforming technical education in this
country, introducing new, gold standard T Levels from 2020 - the
technical equivalent to A Levels - and supporting the creation of
more high quality apprenticeships.
The SCIF was launched in June 2018 following calls from the
sector for a peer-to-peer support programme where stronger
colleges help weaker ones to improve. It follows a successful
pilot phase, which saw fourteen colleges receive grants totaling
over £2million. Outcomes from the pilot showed strong support for
the partnership model, and led to colleges reporting that the
fund helped build awareness of good practice, fostered mutual
learning and enabled rapid action to improve quality.
Alongside the National Leaders of Further Education and National
Leaders of Governance programmes, the £15 million SCIF is playing
a vital role helping to share best practice, expertise and boost
standards so more people can access high quality education and
training. Colleges in need of support can apply for funding to
work with a stronger ‘partnering’ college to tackle the issues
they face and improve quality.
Apprenticeships and Skills Minister said:
Colleges are an extremely important part of our education
system, and are absolutely central to our technical education
reforms. They play an essential role in making sure people of
all ages and backgrounds have the skills they need to get on in
life.
I’m thrilled to invite even more colleges to apply for funding
from the SCIF. By working together with top colleges, they will
get the support they need to make sure their learners get the
very best education and training. This will mean more
opportunities for people right across the country to access
high-quality education and training.
David Corke, Director of Policy at the Association of Colleges,
said:
We’ve been working closely with the Government on this
initiative and it’s now great to see the development of a peer
improvement programme from a sector capacity and capability
point of view. It is important to continue to share best
practice and look at ways we can continually drive up quality
within the sector.
Sixth Form Colleges Association Chief Executive Bill Watkin said:
The Strategic College Improvement Fund has already made a
difference to several colleges and the students who attend
them, with its focus on identifying where needs are and how
those needs can best be met. The SCIF is a valuable framework
that supports the sharing of good practice, ensuring that areas
for development can be addressed through collaborative
approaches with well-matched partners.
We are delighted that Round 2 has been launched and highly
recommend that colleges take this opportunity to work with each
other to raise, and sustain, standards across the sector.
Deputy Further Education Commissioner SCIF Lead Teresa Kelly
said:
It is very exciting that the SCIF has been taken up so
positively by the sector and is proving to be a significant
tool for quality improvement in colleges. Through the SCIF many
colleges are now harnessing the best practice that exists
within the sector and applying proven best practice in order to
improve the quality of their offer and provision.
The SCIF is enabling colleges to deep dive into developing and
improving practical classroom based teaching techniques that
will improve the student experience and ultimately the overall
performance of the sector.
The list of successful colleges and their partners from the first
application round will be published later this month.
