Committee summons leaders for ‘new ways of doing FE’ hearing

A principal, a union leader and members of education think tanks will next week answer questions on ‘new ways of doing FE’.

MPs on the education select committee will quiz experts for the first time on Tuesday for its wide-ranging inquiry on further education and skills. 

The inquiry, which launched in January, covers 21 areas of interest, including teachers, funding, qualifications, attainment gaps and student mental health. 

Appearing first next week will be Darren Hankey, the principal and chief executive of Hartlepool College, Rob Nitsch, the chief executive of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, Alice Gardner of the Edge Foundation and David Robinson, director of post-16 and skills at the Education Policy Institute. 

They will be followed by Bill Watkin, the chief executive at the Sixth Form Colleges Association, Jo Grady, the general secretary of the University and College Union, David Hughes, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges and Imran Tahir, a research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies. 

Committee members are likely to ask about T Levels, teacher pay and retention, SEND reforms and attainment gaps. 

Launching the inquiry, committee chair Helen Hayes said the government was “a long way off” delivering parity of esteem between technical and academic education. 

“In this inquiry, we will listen to both the education sector and figures from industry and public services to investigate how the DfE could design a new way of doing FE that helps young people into the careers they desire, serves vital sectors that struggle to recruit, and catalyses growth across the country.”