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14 May 2026

Author: FE Week Reporter

Mentoring is about more than staff development

An award-winning programme to support race equality and career development should become part of the mainstream, not just an add-on, says Rajinder Mann Whether you are a high-achieving lecturer with your sights set on being a college principal or a young offender with a determination to quit crime, you share a number of basic needs […]

Poor proxy for real skills

The success of a college needs to be measured in broader terms than success rates alone, says Daniel Khan When I was a principal of a large college of FE and HE, my managers, governors and I looked at the chief inspector’s annual report  to give us a qualitative position of the sector and one […]

Local Enterprise Partnerships: the future or not? Part 2

Partnerships are the right groups to bind together local employers and FE, says David Frost The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement makes it clear that local enterprise partnerships are being positioned as the body to drive forward local economic growth. There is a growing understanding at the heart of government that while it has a responsibility to […]

Peter Davies, project leader, FE Guild consultation

The project leader for the FE Guild consultation talks to FE Week  Peter Davies got his land legs back eight years ago after 35 years in the Royal Navy. He also learned sign language, moved into FE to steer adult education college City Lit to an outstanding Ofsted grade — and now is at the […]

Local Enterprise Partnerships: the future or not? Part 1

The Autumn Statement proposals for skills policies and strategies may turn out to be less benign than they appear, says Steve Sawbridge Colleges must adapt to a new landscape following the Chancellor’s implicit support for local employer partnerships (LEPs). The Independent Commission on Colleges in their Communities noted with concern that the pace of development […]

What journalists really want

What do journalists look for? How do we make further education stories hit the headlines? These were two questions that colleges, government agencies and PR professionals from across country wanted answers to when they descended on King’s College, London, late last month. What Journalists Want, organised by The Last Word,  is a one-day conference that […]

Learner voices at heart of 157 Group report

Politicians, principals and experts gathered in Westminster to hear how a Gloucestershire college helped to transform the life of a student with autism. Charlie Avent, 24, told the audience how no one seemed to understand his autism at school, but when he joined Ruskin Mill College a teacher introduced him to her horse, sparking a […]

The UK’s first WorldSkills competitor shares his story

Who would have thought a careers event attracting thousands of young people to Birmingham would have roots leading to a Spanish dictator’s palace? As organisers of this year’s Skills Show UK revealed 70,000 people attended the three-day event, the UK’s first WorldSkills competitor told FE Week of the show’s beginnings. Doug Hill, now aged 77, […]

Campaign helps learners ‘discover reading’

A Northampton college has been given a trophy for helping improve adult literacy. Learning adviser Joanna Aynsworth at Moulton College was presented with the bronze award by bestselling novelist Adele Parks at the Six Book Challenge in recognition of her work helping 64 adults get back into reading. “I’ve met hundreds of emergent adult readers in […]