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11 May 2026

Author: Jessica Hill

Seema Malhotra, Labour’s shadow skills minister

Seema Malhotra claims that if Labour wins power, she will unleash a “skills revolution”. So far, the opposition’s headline post-16 policy offer includes, controversially, replacing the apprenticeship levy, creating newly badged “technical excellence colleges” and a national skills quango. But little is known about the shadow skills minister, appointed by Keir Starmer in September, and […]

Dr Fazal Dad: principal, Ofsted inspector and ex special constable

Dr Fazal Dad lives in a terraced house just 174 steps from his office at Blackburn College. The proximity reflects just how important it is for this chief executive to be at the heart of his campus community. In his last job, as Walsall College’s deputy principal, he would get the bus to and from […]

Oli de Botton, The Careers & Enterprise Company

A champion of oracy in schools and colleges, Careers & Enterprise Company chief Oli de Botton tells of his battle to improve work experience for young people As well as leading national careers education as chief executive of the Careers & Enterprise Company, Oli de Botton’s work championing oracy skills appears to be paying dividends. […]

Keith Smith, Harrow, Richmond & Uxbridge Colleges

Keith Smith has a unique perspective on the FE sector’s challenges, having viewed them at bird’s eye level as one of the Department for Education’s top policy masterminds, and now on the campus frontline as chief executive of Harrow, Richmond & Uxbridge Colleges (HRUC). Smith’s fingerprints are all over many of the policies that have […]

Sue Pittock and Rob Foulston, the duo with a remit for excellence

The formidable duo leading Remit Training, chief executive Sue Pittock and her chair Rob Foulston, are currently riding high after what Pittock sees as the best year of her career in 2023. Pittock scooped an OBE in January, Remit got top ‘outstanding’ marks from Ofsted for the first time in the summer, then the company […]

AI’s threat to the essence of learning is far bigger than we realise

FE Week has uncovered significant evidence of the harm that generative AI is doing to the integrity of assessment, as educators and regulators are left struggling to catch up with the rapid pace of technological change Students are now armed with the means to ‘cheat’ their way through almost any non-exam assignment by putting questions […]

Ellisha Soanes, the AoC’s EDI guru

The AoC’s consultant on equality, diversity and inclusion believes many colleges still need to put their words into action when it comes to really championing diversity. Ellisha Soanes, the Association of College’s consultant on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), believes that many colleges are “just paying lip service” to the issue with their policies, and […]

Prison Education unlocked: The system that’s failing its learners

The prison population is estimated to pass 100,000 by 2030. With re-offending rates starting to increase and new prison education contracts out to tender, Jessica Hill and Sophie Carlin explore this hidden world – and find out what needs to change After prisoners at HMP Warren Hill in Suffolk have been unlocked from their cells, […]