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4 June 2026

Author: Jess Staufenberg

Diary: Behind the scenes at the AoC conference

Diversity and climate change were the big topics of the event in Birmingham, writes Philippa Alway After two years of Zoom meetings, being able to come together in person for Association of College’s annual conference was pretty special. In the time apart, colleges have shown the vital role they play in their communities and truly stepped […]

The FE Week Podcast: Association of Colleges Conference Special

This special episode comes straight from the Association of Colleges annual conference in Birmingham, one of the biggest FE events of the year! Shane is joined by two leading principals: Sally Dicketts, chief executive at Activate Learning, and Jo Maher, chief executive at Loughborough College. Together they take a closer look at Nadhim Zahawi’s speech […]

Interview: Tom Richmond

His name, and the name of his think tank, gets everywhere. How is one man who left teaching twice so influential in the busy world of education policy? You have to admire Tom Richmond’s nerve. There aren’t many teachers who, after three years in the classroom, decided the Department for Education was messing up, thought […]

Building a sense of community can be hard in FE

Graduation day is one of the rituals that can help students feel they belong, writes Daniel Phillips “She worked so hard. We’re so proud.”  It’s in that moment that graduation is no longer about daft hats, but glistening eyes and proud smiles. That’s when you find out what it means to your students.  The weight […]

The immigration system is blocking FE learners from reaching HE

Colleges need to appoint a member of staff who understands migrant status issues, writes Vanessa Joshua “I came out with the second highest grade in my whole sixth-form cohort. So imagine not being able to go to university and everybody asking you, ‘Oh! What uni are you going to?’… Mentally, it has a big impact […]

Five ways Michelle Donelan can grow degree apprenticeships without a cheque book

Remove a ton of restrictions and stop focusing on 18-19-year-olds, writes Mandy Crawford-Lee In her recent evidence to the education select committee, Michelle Donelan was clear that the government wants more degree apprenticeships.   The minister for higher and further education even went so far as to say she was looking at financial incentives to encourage […]

Levelling up will only happen if maths and English improve

The country is still not getting the basics right on literacy and numeracy, writes Fiona Aldridge Getting the basics right is fundamental, but as recent research from the Learning and Work Institute shows, we are clearly not doing well enough.  An estimated nine million working-age adults in England have low basic skills in literacy or […]

We are at a critical juncture on lifelong learning

The lifelong education commission is calling for changes – including a rule that needs abolishing, writes David Latchman You may not have thought it applies to you, in the relatively stable, professionalised career of teaching, but “lifelong learning” is something we will soon all have to think about.   The fourth industrial revolution, characterised by […]