FE Commissioner warns colleges over early learner dropouts

Colleges are losing too many learners in the first six weeks of the academic year, the FE Commissioner has warned, as she prioritises student experience in keeping colleges out of intervention.

Ellen Thinnesen told the Association of Colleges annual conference today that early dropouts were “just simply much too high” at some institutions her team is working with.

In her first speech to the conference as FE Commissioner, she announced new apprenticeship improvement packages, qualification reform planning support and new training programmes for finance leaders and governors.

“We are seeing a number of colleges with pre-42-day attrition that is just simply much too high,” she said, with “several hundred” learners dropping out before the milestone.

With the current focus on reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), this should be “an area of interest and reflection” for college bosses, Thinnesen said.

The 42-day point is an important funding milestone for colleges. Learners aged 16 to 19 on full-time study programmes who leave before then do not count as a funded start.

Thinnesen also urged colleges to sharpen safeguarding processes when vulnerable learners miss classes.

Preventative measures

Outlining her plans for the next year, Thinnesen said she would continue to prioritise keeping colleges out of intervention and would increasingly focus on “the student experience”, curriculum, quality and student protection.

Prevention activity forms part of the commissioner’s “targeted support” offer.

She said this would involve more tools to help colleges improve learner attendance, inclusive practice, qualification achievement and improvement planning.

College corporate services, including HR, management information systems and estates, will also be included in pre-intervention support.

“Fundamentally, if an HR department doesn’t succeed, it impacts the student experience,” she said.

Thinnesen said five colleges had entered intervention since she took up post in January.

Her team had also carried out 10 health checks and five improvement reviews, and its national leaders had supported more than 30 colleges.

She said the number of colleges in intervention “remains thankfully low” and the sector was “in good shape”, with around 10 per cent of colleges forecast to have ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ financial health in 2025-26.

Governance gaps and reform risks

Thinnesen warned that weak board oversight, poor financial forecasting and unresolved staffing problems could undermine colleges’ ability to manage major reforms.

Her powerpoint slides highlighted cash reporting and restricted cash use among recurring risks, while she said some boards were not receiving information that gave them sufficient “grip” on their colleges.

“Too often we are seeing colleges rich in data but struggling with effective insight and analytics,” she said.

She said qualification reform would bring “considerable workforce and curriculum priorities”, while devolution would require stronger relationships with local authorities.

Colleges should also begin planning progression routes with schools as technical pathways extend to younger learners, she added.

Thinnesen stressed that the concerns were not universal, but warned against allowing persistent problems to drift.

“Even the strongest colleges can be faced with these risks,” she said. “The strongest colleges are often the ones that spot the issues early and tackle them at pace before they become entrenched.”

New support packages and leadership programmes

A newly developed apprenticeship support programme will allow governors and leaders to “pick and mix dedicated support packages” to improve training quality, funding compliance and income.

From early 2027, support will also expand to cover back-office efficiency, estates utilisation, and qualification reform planning and implementation.

Six colleges are already working with the commissioner’s team to model the financial impact of qualification reform three and five years after implementation.

The colleges will be named in early 2027, and their work will inform support to help other colleges forecast finances and mitigate risks. Thinnesen said she hoped participants would share their experiences through a national webinar.

Thinnesen’s team is developing its first financial leadership programme for chief financial officers and senior finance staff who are new to FE or in their first senior role.

Governance professionals from FE and higher education are also helping to develop resources covering governor induction, risk, succession planning and strategic oversight.

A new programme of regional symposiums will run over the next three years, led by colleges sharing effective practice. More institutions are being sought to take leading roles.