Jessica Hill | FE Week

I’m squinting at the future but my vision remains out of focus

We teachers need to admit we don’t know what upheaval AI will unleash – will the subjects that we teach even survive?

Leader wellbeing is central to the success of our college students

Technical CPD alone won’t sustain a workforce navigating funding pressures, safeguarding complexities and rising SEND. Colleges must rebuild leadership culture around flourishing

Without real teeth, Skills England risks drifting off course

It has a capable chair and a credible start. But unless ministers give it teeth, funding and genuine employer ownership, Skills England risks becoming yet another cautionary tale in our long history of skills churn

For Skills England to succeed, the sector must lead

Skills England is already on borrowed time, because no quango survives the churn of Westminster. If the sector wants stability, it must stop waiting for a political fix and build the solution itself

To lead on inclusion, FE needs more neurodiverse thinkers at its top tables

If the sector wants innovation, empathy and resilience, it must open the door to the leaders who think differently

We’re training brilliant digital talent only for employers to overlook them

While ITPs race ahead on AI, skills and retraining, hiring practices remain stuck in the past

A volunteer-led approach could break the resit failure cycle

The new 100-hour rule for English and maths may increase teaching time, but without personalised support, it won’t shift outcomes. Volunteer tutoring could be the missing piece

The NEET crisis won’t be solved by fashionable theories

Billions in piecemeal initiatives won’t reverse youth inactivity, and claims of ‘deficit thinking’ risk obscuring what’s actually happening. Only a coherent national strategy, backed by real research into young people’s lived experience, can deliver lasting change

I was NEET for 2 years. Developing soft skills saved my future

My journey from automated rejections to an RSC apprenticeship shows why soft-skills programmes aren’t a ‘nice to have’, they’re life-changing