The report urges the need for a clear and ambitious workforce strategy to attract a new and inspiring generation of technical lecturers and offer the continuing development and connection to industry they need to remain at the forefront of their fields.
The quality of the skills system is only as good as the quality of its workforce. Ingrained funding challenges have left FE Principals strapped, unable to recruit the staff they need, particularly from growing industries where they simply cannot match pay in the sector.
The further education sector is well known for its complexity. It is commonly labelled as the ‘everything else’ of the education sector due to the sheer breadth of provision it offers. FE comprises all post-compulsory education and training for 16 to 18-year-olds and adults. It does not fit neatly in the standard stages of primary, secondary, tertiary or post-tertiary education.
This report is framed with an understanding that the FE sector is fragmented, complex and difficult to understand. In this report, Edge has attempted to acknowledge the variety of provision the FE sector offers. The continuous changes the sector has endured, alongside a high level of policy churn has led to less clarity on the way forward for the FE sector. The lack of a clear definition for FE has been a resultof the top-down influence of constant policy reform. This has been a contributing factor to the 35% decrease in the overall number of learners in FE between 2003 and 2018 in England. It suggests time for greater consistency from education departments across the four nations on the future of FE policy.
The Edge Foundation encourages the further education sector to become more:
- Defined– in setting a clear purpose and direction for its own future.
- Career and skills focused – by continuing developing close links with local industry to ensure colleges address the skill shortages in the labour market.
- Collaborative– by taking on anchor roles within the heart of their local community, and sharing practice with the wider FE community across the UK.
Recommendations: