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15 April 2026

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The New Zealand experience

Successful changes to how FE institutions are governed in New Zealand should prompt scrutiny of governance in British institutions, says Janice Shiner New Challenges, New Chances completes what was started in 1993, when colleges were taken out of local education authority control and given a degree of independence. The sector is now in a very […]

In charge of their own destinies

Incorporation may have been a challenge too far for many, but it has left colleges free to meet the needs of their local areas, says Matthew Hancock I must admit that Incorporation was an event that rather passed me by in 1993 — I was rather more occupied preparing to take GCSEs. It was, nevertheless, […]

Fair funding leads to focus on learners

Incorporation in 1993 gave colleges the welcome ability to respond quickly and flexibly to changing circumstances. Colleges became legally free to adjust their staffing, to reshape delivery methods and remodel their estates as needed, without unnecessary restraint from local bureaucracy. By itself however, this operational autonomy would have been insufficient to guarantee responsiveness to the […]

Seeking solutions in testing times

It’s not just a lack of government cash that is bringing about a redefinition of the relationship between learner, state and employer One thing’s for certain: there will be no money for immediate initiatives in FE for the next five years. Colleges will have to find new roles to ensure they are a central part […]

The day a cheque for £1.8m arrived

Julian Gravatt remembers the first week of Incorporation. The reforms may be a distant memory, but they still pack a punch to this day For someone like me, who joined a college in 1992 to help it with self-government, Incorporation was a big deal. All the staff at Lewisham College had a letter to tell […]

Twenty years of freedoms and constraints

The government announcement of a new FE commissioner to reform inadequate provision in the latest skills strategy Rigour and Responsiveness had mixed responses. Sector leaders saw it as a necessary evil, while employers, notably the CBI, see it strengthening their hand as a counterweight to college freedoms in New Challenges, New Chances. The timing of […]

Keeping our eyes on the prize

What did Incorporation do for sixth-form colleges? Well, says David Igoe, few principals and governing bodies would choose to go back to local authority control In 1992, sixth-form colleges came under schools regulations and were funded and administered through the local authority. Incorporation in 1993 came, therefore, as both a surprise and a shock, not […]

Plans for the ideal estate

The state-of-the-art Gordon Banks Sports Centre helped win Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) the West Midlands Sports College of the Year award while its new music technology centre has also won plaudits nationally. The college building strategy is credited with helping more than double the number of 16 to 19-year-old students, from 1,500 to 3,700 (3,300 FTE), […]

Bruised but never battered

Adult education has faced constant batterings in the past 20 years, says Alan Tuckett. But, like ground elder, it will continue to pop up through cracks in the system. “There’s no such thing as adult education – it is all further education,” the civil servant charged with the legislation that incorporated colleges once told me. […]