In the past year many colleges have collaborated on a level not seen before – embracing partnerships rather than competition in a challenging financial landscape.
One catalyst for this has undoubtedly been the Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF).
LSIF has driven innovation across the sector and is delivering opportunities for both learners and employers. It has enabled colleges to invest in cutting-edge infrastructure and capabilities in expanding industries with rapidly growing skills gaps.
In London, our colleges (LSEC and Newham) have worked together to lead the LSIF project on behalf of 23 education partners. Uniquely, this collaboration includes adult education and private training providers alongside FE colleges – encompassing expertise from every part of the skills delivery landscape.
Together we secured £6.5 million of capital funding to accelerate progress in two critical growth areas: digital and green skills. As a result we’ve seen the creation of 21 immersive digital suites and eight green skills hubs in colleges across the region.
One aim of this game-changing network has been tackling teaching skills shortages in these specialist areas. Through these high-quality immersive suites, a single tutor can now deliver lessons to student groups in multiple locations across the capital simultaneously. This is a truly innovative way to share limited resources and expert knowledge.
This future-forward approach aligns with the themes that the government is building its post-16 strategy around, specifically the ‘competition to co-ordination’ and ‘fragmented to coherent’ strands. By joining up education and training we can strengthen industry links by helping employers more easily address their skills needs.
Our high-tech facilities are paying dividends. Over 4,000 learners will benefit from learning in these new environments, with teaching staff undertaking CPD and cascading this training across teams. Employers are engaged too – with 23 recently reporting that LSIF-enabled training is equipping learners with the skills their businesses need.
But what makes this project different is the shared vision behind it.
From the outset, every local London LSIF partner made a conscious decision to work together rather than compete.
We’ve developed joint action plans, hosted peer-to-peer learning events and designed facilities with shared use in mind. These efforts are broadening the student offer and sharing often-limited teaching expertise in specialist areas.
We can now deliver curriculum in AI, solar panel technologies and higher-level construction methods via our immersive hubs.
The result is a more relevant and increasingly resilient education and skills ecosystem, aligned with local employer needs and capable of responding to shifting economic priorities.
Across the country, other colleges have collaborated on LSIF in equally inspiring ways. From boosting manufacturing and engineering facilities at South Tyneside College to establishing low-carbon construction hubs at Rugby College and a cyber resilience simulation suite at South Devon College, this funding is helping to address a variety of regional economic challenges head-on.
The benefits of collaboration have been significant, with networks of providers developing innovative and lasting solutions to shared challenges such as workforce skills and staff retention.
We are committed to sustaining these partnerships beyond the lifespan of the LSIF capital funding as they have proven to be as valuable as the capital investment itself.
Yet as this first phase of LSIF funding concludes, there is a critical point we must make to policymakers: capital investment alone is not enough.
We now need follow-up funding to ensure continued partnership, coordination and collaboration – leveraging these resources to their full potential.
Maintaining cutting-edge technology, recruiting and retaining skilled staff and expanding employer engagement all require revenue support, especially in a sector already facing significant financial pressures.
A second round of LSIF is welcomed. But it must be accompanied by longer-term revenue funding and incentives to support the sustainability of what we’ve built. Without it, we risk these incredible facilities becoming under-utilised assets.
The sector’s collective success here and around the country shows what’s possible when colleges work as a system – not a set of isolated institutions. Our own immersive suites and green skills hubs are testament to what can be achieved through trust, collaboration and a shared mission to support both learners and employers locally.
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