College staff should be awarded a 4 per cent pay rise this year, but the Association of Colleges had admitted “many” of its members will be unable to afford it.
Following negotiations with five trade unions representing college workers yesterday, the Association of Colleges (AoC) announced its delayed 4 per cent pay award recommendation for 2025-26, a rise from last year’s 2.5 per cent proposal.
While the pay award matches the School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB) 4 per cent pay recommendation for school teachers, the AoC admitted it will “barely” maintain the pay gap between college and school teachers rather than close it.
The college membership body also acknowledged that many of its members will not be able to afford its recommendation this year. While 16-19 education funding has risen this year, funding for adult education has been cut by up to 6 per cent.
The AoC urged unions to join its “united” campaign to the government this autumn for “sustained investment” in adult education funding.
Gerry McDonald, CEO of New City College and chair of AoC’s employment policy committee, said: “We understand that many colleges will find it challenging to meet our recommendation, particularly where they have large numbers of adult learners and apprentices.
“That is why we are also making a recommendation to the government to acknowledge the barriers the sector faces in raising pay. Sustained investment, especially in adult learning, is essential if we are to meet our aspiration for an appropriately rewarded workforce.”
Unlike schools, colleges decide staff pay awards themselves. The AoC’s annual pay proposal is non-binding, so colleges can award pay rises above or below the recommendation.
The University and College Union (UCU) polled its FE members in the summer and found 86 per cent were prepared to take strike action to secure an “above inflation pay rise, binding national bargaining and a national workload agreement”.
“We know many colleges will ignore the AoC recommendation,” Jo Grady, general secretary of UCU, said.
“To truly deliver a new deal for FE, the AoC needs to come forward with a package of measures that begins to close the gap with school teachers, addresses the excessive workloads causing staff to burn out and helps create a new national bargaining framework. UCU members demanding fundamental change are prepared to take action to achieve our aims.”
Unison said the 4 per cent offer will “do little to improve the lot of support staff” in colleges.
Head of education Mike Short said: “Colleges must do more to protect their lowest paid staff from the cost of living crisis. Bills continue to rise, but wages simply aren’t keeping pace.
“Until there’s a fully funded sector that can set national pay deals, staff and students will continue to suffer.”
Andy Murray, Unite’s head of education, said: “As the joint claim emphasised we need a new, fully funded, national bargaining framework to reach binding agreements with further education employers and to raise the profile of further education with government to ensure a sustainable level of funding for the sector which enables the sector to recruit and retain valued staff.”
FE will remain severely constrained
Today’s pay award is lower than the 5.4 per cent increase to 16-19 funding rates for 2025-26 and is only very slightly higher than the current rate of inflation, 3.8 per cent.
The funding rate boost was funded by a £190m injection announced by education secretary Bridget Phillipson in May, £160m of which will go to colleges and FE providers with 16-19 cohorts.
Phillipson advised the extra cash should be used for “strategic priorities, including [staff] recruitment and retention”.
Representatives of the AoC and the National Joint Forum, made up of five trade unions representing FE teachers and staff, met in June to negotiate staff pay following the STRB pay recommendation.
But the AoC delayed making its own proposal as it had not fully considered the recent funding announcements, such as an extra £155 million to cover national insurance hikes.
At the time, colleges were estimating the national insurance cash boost would cover between 50 to 85 per cent of costs but were also unsure of in-year student growth in September.
Hughes told FE Week in June that more work needed to be done with colleges who had low 16-19 numbers.
There are a reported 35 colleges with over 20 per cent of income from adult education funding, as well as colleges with large apprenticeship funding.
AoC’s analysis today said even for the colleges that can afford to offer a 4 per cent pay award, it will “barely maintain” the pay gap with schoolteachers rather than close it.
FE lecturers earn, on average, around £10,000 less than school teachers.
The recommendation is also lower than the 10 per cent pay rise (or £3,000 increase) demanded by unions in their annual pay claim made back in April.
The pay claim also called for the AoC to take action to close the pay gap FE and school teachers’ pay within three years.
UCU said it was “nonsensical” make a recommendation that keeps FE pay lower than the school sector amid a teacher recruitment crisis.
“A pay recommendation of just 4 per cent does not deliver for staff, students and the communities that rely on good quality college education,” Grady said.
David Hughes, chief executive of AoC agreed: “The 4 per cent recommendation is the right benchmark for us to set nationally, but we recognise that for many colleges it simply will not be possible.
“It is crystal clear that even with a 4 per cent increase, college pay remains uncompetitive.”
“What we need is a planned and fully-funded approach over the coming years to bring college pay to the level we all know it needs to be, at least in line with schools and much more competitive with industry.
“We are also urging the unions to join us in a united campaign this autumn for better adult education funding. Without it, the sector will remain severely constrained in addressing the unacceptable pay gap with schools and industry.”
When the Prime Minister asked me to take on the role of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions our vision was clear: to build a department of opportunity with skills at its heart.
This means not just supporting people when they’re out of work but giving them the tools they need to benefit from the security of good jobs.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has always had ‘work’ in its title but adding skills to our responsibilities gives us a renewed energy and focus.
It allows us to move beyond providing a safety net and allows us to be a springboard to better futures.
This is critical to building a workforce fit for the future, critical for our economy and critical for our young people who have been written off for too long.
The statistics are stark – one in eight young people are not in education, employment or training, every one of them representing lost opportunity, unused talent and wasted potential.
We cannot afford to give up on this generation. We need to be ambitious which means creating pathways that lead directly from skills development to sustainable employment.
That is why, in my first week in the job, I visited Waltham Forest College, where I witnessed this in action.
The college has a brilliant partnership with the local jobcentre.
Work coaches are on-site with students, creating seamless pathways from learning to earning.
The jobcentre works with employers and the college to deliver tailored training for roles in the local community – including the nurses, builders and rail engineers who power our economy.
On the Rail Engineering programme alone, 97 percent of students progress into employment after completing their training.
This is the innovation I want to see replicated across the country.
Our approach recognises that the challenges of economic inactivity, youth unemployment, and skills gaps are interconnected.
We cannot effectively tackle one without addressing the others.
So, by bringing apprenticeships, adult further education, skills training, careers guidance, and Skills England under DWP’s remit, we’re creating strong pathways to support the millions of people across the country.
When someone walks into a jobcentre, we want to offer them more than just support or help with their job search. We want to assess their skills, identify gaps, and provide clear routes to training that leads to employment.
The timing is crucial as we are already delivering the biggest overhaul of jobcentres in a generation, backed by £240 million investment to boost employment.
This is not just about helping people to find a job, but equipping them with skills for sustainable, well-paid employment in growing sectors.
Skills and work are natural partners. By adding skills to DWP’s job description we are building a department that truly serves opportunity, ambition, and Britain’s future economic success.
Working for the King’s Foundation is no ordinary job. To do it, explains the charity’s media spokesperson Alex Schweitzer-Thompson, you have to “buy into” His Majesty’s lofty mission to “promote harmony with nature, to improve the well-being of people and the planet”, as its financial accounts describe it.
The foundation does this by teaching traditional heritage skills that have been cut from many further education and training budgets elsewhere.
Since being established 35 years ago, the charity has taught more than 115,000 students, mainly at the King’s heritage estates of Highgrove House in Gloucestershire and Dumfries House and the Castle of Mey in Scotland, with courses ranging from lacemaking and millinery to furniture-making and farming.
It’s easy to be cynical about its utopian vision of ‘harmony’, which seems a far cry from the world we live in.
“A lot of people would say that it’s very idealistic,” Schweitzer-Thompson admits. “Until you see it in practice, it’s easy to think it’s pie in the sky – that an educator can’t do that and get the results that industry needs.
“But a lot of what we do is almost disproving other people and showing that there is another way.”
The King’s Foundation’s building craft students working out what to build for their live project
Fanciful creations
We’re sitting in Schweitzer-Thompson’s car, driving across the sprawling 2,000-acre Dumfries House estate in Ayrshire that is the foundation’s headquarters, to meet students on its latest building crafts programme.
The group of eight have been tasked with designing and building an ornamental nature observation tower (“they’re not allowed to call it a bird hide, as the estate already has one”) during the course of their eight-month programme. The design they settle on will need to be approved by King Charles himself.
As they discuss what it could look like, each student suggests ideas based on their skill sets: some have basic experience as stonemasons, one is a thatcher and another a timber framer. The beauty of the collaboration is that they learn from one another’s disciplines, explains their teacher Charles, as “quite often, one skill feeds into another”.
Seeing them in action provides a poignant reminder of what construction training might have looked like before industrialisation. The grounds of Dumfries House and Highgrove are graced with dozens of fanciful follies, dovecotes, temples, belvederes, treehouses and bridges – legacies of past students’ achievements.
A shelter at Dumfries House created by former building craft students
On a group tour I joined that morning of Dumfries House’s grounds (along with American fashion designer Jeff Garner and TV show This Morning’s resident baker Juliet Sear), our guide introduced us to its “star” Tamworth pig called Hilda, who has featured in Vogue and Countryfile and “cooked with Raymond Blanc”. She is housed in a bespoke slate-shingled and thatched-roof structure that more closely resembles a swimming pool cabana than a pigsty.
The current crop of building crafts students have recently returned from placements at some of the country’s most renowned heritage sites.
Stephen, 47, a former special needs teacher who suffered “burnout” two years ago and retrained as a stonemason, was sent to the Tower of London for his. Within a fortnight, he had been offered a job there when he finishes the course, which underlines how in-demand his niche skills are.
“People were investing their time to help me, which was really kind… it makes me feel as though I’m in the right place,” he says.
Their course includes a business skills week in which students meet a solicitor, an accountant and a surveyor to build up their business acumen. Some past students have carved decorative stones to thank the King for providing their fully funded courses (each gets a £1,500-a-month bursary for living expenses too). The stones now form part of a “wall of gifts” in His Majesty’s stumpery.
King’s Foundation’s building crafts student Stephen
A new chapter
Such architectural gems are reaping financial rewards for the foundation by drawing in tourists. In the year to March 2024, its trading income exceeded donations for the first time, boosting overall income 12 per cent to £26.1 million.
A farming and rural skills training centre opened last year at Dumfries House, and the foundation is also expanding overseas. Offshoots of its School of Traditional Arts operate as far afield as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and China, while the King’s Foundation Australia is restoring a derelict estate in New South Wales to train locals in heritage crafts, modelled on Dumfries House.
But the charity has not been immune from scandal. In January, the Scottish Charity Regulator found that Michael Fawcett, the former chief executive of what was then the Prince’s Foundation, had made unauthorised payments, and that governance failed to meet standards. Procedures have since been overhauled.
The foundation is determined to turn a new leaf and is becoming more vocal about its core ‘harmony’ mission. In July, indigenous tribesmen and craftspeople from across the world were invited to an inaugural Harmony Summit the King held at Highgrove House. And Amazon is putting the finishing touches on a documentary about his harmony ideals, including how they can be implemented in education.
A beautifully designed bridge at Dumfries House provides inspiration for an artist
Sustainability focus
The emphasis on harmony means learners are made familiar with the entire lifecycle of the materials they work with.
Nick Wright, manager of the foundation’s Snowdon School of Furniture (Lord Snowdon is the foundation’s vice president), explains how before working on timber, his students are first taken for a tour of the arboretum to learn “which trees are good for timber and what diseases they have to contend with,” then to a sawmill to “think about how the wood is cut and how much waste there is”. “Nowhere else really does that, it’s quite a unique programme,” he adds.
Similarly, each year 3,000 schoolchildren go through a “farm to fork” programme developed in partnership with chef Jamie Oliver and farmer Jimmy Doherty. They sow seeds in Dumfries House’s education garden, return to harvest the vegetables and then prepare healthy meals, helping “fill the huge knowledge gap among kids of where their food comes from,” says Schweitzer-Thompson.
The foundation’s adult learners tend to stay in accommodation on the estate where their course is taught, fostering a community of makers who bounce ideas off each other and use the picturesque grounds as inspiration. One Highgrove furniture maker recently made a wooden hat block for a milliner – reviving another endangered craft, as such blocks are now “very hard to come across,” says education director Daniel McAuliffe.
Nick Wright, manager of the foundation’s Snowdon School of Furniture
A model to replicate
In an old sawmill now converted into a textile training centre, a “first of its kind in the UK” course is starting in conjunction with Amazon MGM Studios in movie and TV costume crafts. Fifty-nine applications have been received for six places to work on Amazon’s historic and fantasy productions, including Rings of Power.
Unlike standard costume-making courses, this one will put “a huge emphasis” on reducing the waste “that industry is famous for”, Schweitzer-Thompson explains. On the TV, film and magazine shoots that take place on the King’s estates, “90 per cent” of what is used is “discarded” afterwards.
The training is a good example of how the foundation runs courses as “a model for others to replicate… to show them what really can be done if you road test an idea”.
A gardener in Dumfries House education garden
Endangered crafts
The King’s Foundation has taught some of the niche skills on the Heritage Craft Association’s ‘endangered’ list, meaning that without its support they could die out. One is pargeting, a decorative plastering technique from East Anglia that has only six practitioners left. Another is traditional kilt making, taught by a villager near Dumfries House. Schweitzer-Thompson bemoans that most kilts sold on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh are mass-produced in China.
Alas, some skills like hand-stitched cricket ball making and mouth-blown sheet glass production have already died out. Plans are afoot to create a new heritage crafts centre at Dumfries House to ensure more can survive.
Saving such skills is dear to the King’s heart. At a foundation event he remarked that some “timeless skills, which are always needed really, whatever age we’re in”, were “all rather disappearing. The battle is trying to keep all the special ones”.
Milliner Emily and one of her straw hats
Hat-trick for the King
Millinery used to be big business in the UK, particularly in Luton, where over 70 million hats a year were produced. Now Highgrove is the only place still teaching straw hat-making. The programme started last year is one of two the foundation runs with Chanel, which provides discarded stock for students to revive.
The milliners use rare century-old sewing machines to plait straw into hats. One student, Sophie, who handmakes biodegradable sequins for her hats, is working on costumes for a new Disney+ series. Communications director Izzy Stephenson reveals King Charles “always makes a point of coming to meet the students” on heritage craft programmes; the recent crop of milliners met him four times.
Emily, a recent graduate, spoke to the King about the challenge of sourcing the heritage straw they need. He offered to grow it on spare land at Sandringham. Next year will see the first harvest of Sandringham wheat, to be used for breadmaking, thatching and straw hats, which will then be sold at Highgrove House.
The century-old 17 Guinea sewing machines that King’s Foundation milliners use at Highgrove House
Reviving building crafts
Foundation student Tobias has been busy reviving traditions of a different kind. Before starting his programme at Dumfries House, he travelled across France and Germany for seven months as a wandering journeyman apprentice stonemason. It is a medieval custom still practised in parts of Europe. He ventured from town to town with other journeymen in traditional clothes, taking ad-hoc work and visiting colleges, and believes he benefited greatly.
“You’re learning more of your craft, but you’re also seeing other cultures,” he says.
His teacher, Charles, was taught stonemasonry by masons from Portland in Dorset, a county once famous for stonemasonry, at courses at Weymouth College. It no longer provides them, which Charles believes is a “great shame”. “There was this great heritage there, and that’s gone and won’t come back.”
The foundation also offers a fine art foundation course in London, but McAuliffe says it is “battling against the culture of all the FE courses in fine and applied arts closing down”.
“It’s the thing that the King’s Foundation often does – when other people close things down, we open them up because we see the need,” adds McAuliffe. “The creative industry is huge.”
Buildings craft student Tobias and his teacher, Peter
Lack of assessment
The building crafts course runs alongside an NVQ, depending on specialism, but “it’s not really about the qualification”, says Charles. What matters is what students learn and who they meet. He claims their completion rate is an enviable 99.9 per cent.
The lack of assessment makes the King’s Foundation’s programmes unusual in an era when assessment is so central in FE. McAuliffe believes not getting “bogged down by assessment criteria” makes it a “fascinating place to work if you’re interested in education”.
“No one fails” on its courses, because “it’s just not possible – if they don’t perform, they’re asked to leave”, but that rarely happens. The bursary puts “an expectation on the student”, and also “breaks down barriers” for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, who McAuliffe estimates make up around half of each cohort.
Education director Daniel McAuliffe
The future
Nobody is sure whether Prince William will continue his father’s legacy and take over the King’s Foundation when he becomes monarch, although the charity would be able to stand on its own two feet if he chooses not to.
But what of the wider prospects for the heritage skills it teaches? McAuliffe believes there is a “shift” happening in society that could spell a golden age for heritage crafts, with people “understanding that luxury isn’t a pair of expensive plastic sunglasses with a logo on, but a hand-plated beaded hat that took 54 hours to make”.
Similarly, Schweitzer-Thompson points out that none of the skills taught can ever be replaced by AI, so they will “stand the test of time”.
“Maybe when everyone else has had to adapt their curriculums and totally rethink their education programmes, we might be the last one standing, still doing what we did 10 years previously.”
A flower binding session at Dumfries HouseA group of young people woodcarving at Highgrove House
Further education colleges and specialist providers are set to lose the ability to opt out of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) under plans from the Office for Students (OfS) to overhaul its higher education quality assessment regime.
A consultation launched today proposes bringing every registered higher education provider into scope for a reformed “integrated” TEF from 2027. Until now, colleges and specialist providers with fewer than 500 undergraduate students have been able to opt out.
According to the OfS register, 45 colleges took part in the last TEF assessment round in 2023, while 90 chose not to. Several principals told FE Week the process was considered too bureaucratically burdensome for the scale of their higher education offer, with little perceived benefit.
The Association of Colleges (AoC) said a new quality assessment model for higher education must be “proportionate and cost-effective” for colleges.
Arti Saraswat, senior policy manager for higher education at the AoC, said: “We are concerned that the requirement for all colleges to participate in technical excellence frameworks will add to the burden and cost of regulation for colleges, particularly those with small volumes of higher education.
“We look forward to working with the OfS to establish a proportionate and cost-effective approach to regulating the quality of HE taught in FE colleges.”
The changes follow last year’s independent review of the OfS, which recommended integrating the TEF with the regulator’s category B conditions of registration to create a more coherent and transparent system.
Under the plans, evidence requirements for student outcomes would be “simplified” and folded into TEF assessments, using an “expanded” set of post-study indicators.
Measures for student experience will also be broadened and “aligned” with the existing B condition criteria, which are currently assessed separately.
Unlike Ofsted, which has dropped overall effectiveness grades, the OfS intends to retain an overall TEF rating alongside separate judgments on student experience and student outcomes.
Providers will continue to be judged gold, silver, bronze or ‘requires improvement’. But the OfS has set out a tougher package of incentives and interventions.
A ‘requires improvement’ judgment could see a provider stripped of degree-awarding powers or restricted in the number of students it can recruit. Bronze providers may also face student number limits and be barred from some kinds of public funding, while gold institutions could benefit from reduced regulatory scrutiny through longer TEF awards and potential access to new funding streams.
Jean Arnold, deputy director of quality at the OfS, said the new approach was designed to give students “a clear view of the quality of teaching and learning delivered by every registered university and college” and to “incentivise institutions to push for the highest level of quality.”
She added: “We know most universities and colleges in England are already delivering high quality education. It’s important that we minimise the burden on those institutions and recognise their good work, while responding more quickly when quality falls short or students are not being properly supported to succeed in their studies.”
The OfS also said it would recruit more academic and student assessors with college-based HE experience to evaluate providers.
The consultation outlines a “consideration” to include apprenticeships, which are currently optional, in new-style TEF assessments, and flags a “double regulation” risk with Ofsted.
“Including apprenticeships in the assessment of the student experience could constitute double regulation of this provision, given the responsibilities of Ofsted in this area. We would welcome feedback on the extent to which apprenticeships should be included in the future TEF.”
The consultation is open until December 11, 2025. The OfS plans to publish decisions in spring 2026 and launch a more detailed consultation in autumn 2026 ahead of the first new-style TEF cycle in 2027-28.
MPs have criticised an “absence of information” about a planned merger of the National Careers Service (NCS) with Jobcentres, almost a year after plans to reform the government services were first announced.
In November last year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced that it would create a more “personalised” jobs and careers service for jobseekers by combining the two services.
This was part of a promised “groundbreaking new approach” to the services Jobcentres provide, designed to improve links with local employers and support people who want to progress at work or retrain.
But a report by the MPs on the work and pensions select committee has called for a more “ambitious and energetic approach” to the merger, after the DWP only provided “an outline sketch” of its plans.
The committee praised the merger as an “exciting opportunity” to change Jobcentres’ culture of employment support to a longer-term focus that tries to build people’s “sustainable careers” with a greater emphasis on “aspirations and development”.
However, it warned that the merger risks being “little more than a rebranding exercise” if the DWP fails to resolve issues such as contract changes for NCS staff, accountability structures and devolution arrangements.
Committee chair Debbie Abrahams also called on the DWP and DfE to draw up a joint national strategy for adult careers services, which are currently a “hodgepodge arrangement” due to shared responsibility between the DWP, the DfE, local government, private providers and FE colleges.
NCS providers also told the committee they are “operating under uncertainty” due to a lack of clarity about how their services will be integrated into the new service.
The National Careers Service is a Department for Education (DfE)-funded service for adults run by nine regional “prime contractors”, who manage a network of “sub-contractors” with a total annual budget of about £55 million.
In June, the DWP announced a single “pathfinder” pilot of an improved jobs and careers service in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, with a budget of up to £15 million, but “did not set out details” of changes it is testing, the committee said.
A government announcement said the pathfinder Jobcentre will offer careers events, more personalised appointments and extra training for staff, but did not set out how or whether National Careers Service staff would be involved.
In their recommendations, the committee said the DWP and DfE should work together to develop a national strategy for careers advice to guide the objectives of England’s “confusing and fragmented system”.
The government should also review funding for the “under-valued and under-utilised” NCS, to fund additional sessions with people with the greatest need.
Other recommendations include protecting the “distinct role and skills” of careers advisers who move into the new jobs and careers service, confirming how it will measure its success, and publishing a transition plan for integrating the NCS with Jobcentres.
The committee has also published a separate report calling for “more detail and ambition” from the government on its plans to shift the work Jobcentres do “away from monitoring benefit conditions and towards employment support”.
A government spokesperson said: “As the committee recognises, we are already delivering ambitious reforms through the new Jobs and Careers Service, helping people to find good jobs with lasting career progression.
“We are determined to build a workforce equipped with the skills for the future economy and are working hand in hand with employers to deliver tailored recruitment support to more than 8,000 of Britain’s biggest businesses.
“Alongside the biggest overhaul of jobcentres in a generation, we are investing £240 million to get Britain working and grow the economy by guaranteeing every young person the chance to earn or learn, tackling inactivity and joining up work and health support as we deliver on our plan for change.”
SEND students are being “overlooked” by further education policymakers and local authorities, leaving “significant gaps” in provision, staff shortages and vulnerable learners “locked out” of education.
The government have been told to create a ringfenced funding stream for special educational needs in FE after a damning parliamentary inquiry found post-16 SEND students were “rarely seen” as a funding priority.
In their ‘solving the SEND crisis’ report, the education select committee found young people with SEND experience a “sudden drop” in support when they leave school causing a very low likelihood of them passing maths and English qualifications and accessing vital specialist transport.
Committee chair Helen Hayes said her recommendations will require government investment, such as equipping front-line staff with training and resources, and a universal free bus pass for under-22s.
“Any piecemeal alternative would mean that we later look back at this period as the moment the government failed to finally solve the SEND crisis,” she said.
But FE experts had a mixed response to the report with some saying it “barely scratches the surface” of what post-16 SEND learners need.
Clare Howard, CEO of specialist colleges organisation Natspec, said the report missed calling for a clear designation for specialist FE, statutory access to transport and action on the pay gap between colleges and schools.
“We urge ministers to ensure that the SEND reforms in the upcoming white paper fully embrace further education, building on the committee’s recommendations,” she said.
“We want to see bold measures that give every learner, whatever their needs and ambitions, the chance to thrive during and beyond education.”
Government never fully costed SEND support
The report slammed the government after finding FE receives “insufficient attention” within SEND policy.
In the Children and Families Act 2014, policymakers extended the age range for young people to have the right to an educational, health and care (EHC) plan to 25 years old.
But Natspec told the committee this extension was “never fully costed”, ultimately leaving FE “disproportionately underfunded” and providers’ stretched with the support they can provide.
The report said 26.3 per cent of EHC plan holders are aged 16–25, but less than 10 per cent of the high needs budget goes to this age group.
“Despite this, these students are ‘rarely seen as a priority for funding’ by either local authorities or the government across SEND and FE policy,” the committee added.
MPs said their recommendation of ringfenced funding would enable FE providers to recruit and retain specialist staff, provide tailored learning resources, and make the reasonable adjustments necessary to ensure mainstream post-16 education is “genuinely inclusive”.
MPs also urged DfE to work across government to develop a “clear” strategy to address rising SEND-related deficits, which have been suspended from local authorities’ accounts until March 2028.
Catherine Sezen, director of education policy at the Association of Colleges, welcomed the inquiry’s conclusions.
“Current funding pressures are undermining the ability of colleges to deliver the high-quality, personalised support these learners deserve,” she said. “Without targeted investment, we risk failing a generation of young people at a pivotal stage in their development.”
Creating ‘genuinely inclusive’ support
The report said more than a decade after major SEND reform, the system was not delivering “as intended”.
“Gaps in provision and capacity are creating barriers to timely support, limiting progress, and preventing improved outcomes for children and young people with SEND,” the committee said.
The committee recommended the Department for Education establish a national standardised framework offering evidence-led guidance and real-world SEN support examples for educators, “providing a consistent baseline to help education settings become more inclusive”.
“In the long term, a genuinely inclusive, well-resourced mainstream education system will bring down the desperate struggle to obtain an EHC plan,” Hayes said. “This will also help stabilise the sector financially.”
Howard added: “Crucially, the report recognises that we need to raise the floor of provision, not lower the ceiling of entitlement, and that reforms must be introduced gradually and carefully so that inclusion is built on strong foundations rather than quick fixes.”
Review home-to-school transport
MPs also heard nearly 60 per cent of SEND learners face changes to their transport arrangements when they turn 16, with one in seven losing it altogether.
Councils are not obliged to fund transport for learners over 16, but some continue to provide it with the addition of a financial contribution from families.
“No young person should be locked out of education because of a transport need,” they said.
An FE Week investigation last year found instances of young learners neglected from poor council transport provision.
The committee advised the government review home to school transport and force councils to provide travel training programmes so young people can learn to travel independently.
MPs also supported the transport select committee’s call in August for a universal free bus pass for under-22s to ensure access to education and training.
English and maths
The report urged reform to the post-16 condition of funding, requiring maths and English GCSE students to resit the qualification if they don’t achieve a grade 4 or above.
SEND learners are around 40 per cent less likely to pass English and maths GCSEs, even with resits.
Additionally, only 30 per cent of young people with EHC plans achieved level 2 qualifications by age 19 in 2021-22, compared to nearly 37 per cent in 2014-15.
“We also agree that the current English and maths condition of funding policy should be reviewed as a matter of urgency,” Sezen added. “We would like to see a system which ensures that more young people achieve a solid foundation on these crucial skills at both 16 and post-16.’’
Students without the grade 4 pass at age 16 should be placed on one of three pathways, the committee recommended. Those with a “realistic prospect” of achievement should be supported to do, alternative qualifications should be offered to students who are “very unlikely” to achieve and students on vocational courses should be “considered for exemption” if employers are assured English and maths skills are embedded in the curriculum.
The committee also raised concerns about the extent to which the apprenticeship pathway is genuinely inclusive for young people with SEND.
“The reduction in young people with SEND remaining in apprenticeships risks limiting career prospects, undermining efforts to improve inclusion in the labour market, and increasing the likelihood of poorer long-term outcomes,” it said.
Workforce shortages
The report outlined concerns with shortages of specialist staff such as speech and language therapists and occupational therapists.
A 2024 workforce survey of speech and language therapists found a vacancy rate of 19 per cent and only 58 per cent of occupational therapists said they provide enough support to children and young people with SEND.
Consequently, the committee urged DfE to publish statutory requirements detailing the minimum resources, specialist expertise, and equipment that every educational setting must have access to.
“This would establish a clear, enforceable baseline covering staffing, training, physical materials, and assistive technologies,” the report said.
MPs also called for updated cycles of initial teacher training and the early career framework relating to SEND, and for continuing professional development on SEND to be mandatory for all teachers in mainstream education.
Universal’s plans to bring a major theme park to Bedfordshire are generating interest across the region. The scale of the investment, the range of jobs and the visibility it brings all mark this as a moment worth preparing for. But preparation is key.
The development could unlock long-term careers in sectors where local opportunities have been limited. Whether that happens will depend on how quickly and effectively we can respond.
There will be roles in areas such as customer service, retail, hospitality and facilities. These matter and will support the local economy. But the focus can’t stop there. Universal will also rely on advanced construction, engineering, digital infrastructure and AI.
These roles are often harder to recruit for and take longer to train into. Without a plan to develop the right skills locally, employers will look elsewhere.
Colleges such as The Bedford College Group, which has two colleges in Bedfordshire, and Milton Keynes College already offer strong programmes across many of these sectors. They are well placed to lead the response but will need support to grow capacity.
That means developing new curriculum, training tutors, updating facilities and aligning with employers’ expectations. Specialist skills in sustainable construction, automation and AI can’t be delivered overnight. Providers need time and resources.
Independent training providers must also be involved. Their flexibility and specialist offer will help meet demand across areas that colleges may not cover.
Involving both sectors early creates a more responsive and complete skills offer. This will be vital if local people are to access the full range of jobs Universal is expected to bring.
Workforce development within FE also matters. Skilled delivery staff are in short supply. If we want to build high-quality provision in technical areas, we need to invest in those who will deliver it.
That may include upskilling current staff, bringing in external expertise, or investing in collaborative teaching models with industry.
Universal should be encouraged to work directly with colleges, ITPs and awarding organisations to co-design training routes. This approach already works well for apprenticeships and should be extended to other programmes.
The Bedford College Group hosted Universal’s first public consultation in Bedford and continues to facilitate important conversations between students, local leaders – including the mayor of Bedford – and key project stakeholders.
When qualifications and training reflect real roles, learners progress more effectively and employers get staff who are ready for the job.
There is also a wider opportunity to re-engage young people not currently in education, employment or training (NEET). Across Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes, more than 1,200 young people are recorded as NEET.
The visibility of Universal and the appeal of careers in this setting could act as a gateway for some of them. But that will only happen if the right wraparound support is in place and providers are resourced to deliver it.
A further consideration is coordination. Bedfordshire is not part of a devolved skills area. Although there has been interest in forming a South Midlands combined authority, the region missed out on the government’s most recent devolution wave.
For an investment of this scale, there is a strong case for local decision-making on skills funding and strategy. Those closest to the project are better placed to shape the response.
If this project goes ahead as expected, it will reshape the local labour market. That could bring real benefits, particularly for young people who currently have to leave the area for skilled work.
But if we treat the skills response as an afterthought, the best roles will go elsewhere, and the region will be left with only limited gains.
The FE sector is ready to play its part. It has a track record of responding to employer needs and building skills offers around real-world demand. But it can’t do that alone.
If providers are brought into the conversation now and given the tools to deliver, this could mark a turning point for the region. That will take planning, funding, and a clear focus on long-term careers, not just job numbers.
Data subject access requests are formal requests made by an individual asking for a copy of the personal data that an organisation holds about them. A ‘data subject’ can often be a learner or parent, or someone with authorisation to act on their behalf such as a solicitor.
In many cases, a DSAR might be the consequence of a disagreement or disruption to the relationship; for example, a learner might be unhappy about the consequences of a behaviour issue; a staff member may be contesting disciplinary processes or parents could be unhappy about special educational needs provision for their child.
DSARs have long been required under data protection laws, having been established well before the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in 2018. So colleges already have systems in place to manage them within 30 days.
But in recent times, myself and my colleagues have seen a rising number of learners and parents use AI to write these requests. AI makes generating DSARs easier, which is likely to increase their volume and strain college resources.
Another noticeable change is the scope of these requests. AI tools often generate broad, sweeping language such as “all information held about me,” even when the individual is only interested in a specific incident or timeframe. Colleges may not realise they can ask the requestor to refine broad requests.
AI-generated DSARs also include references to legislation, case law or regulatory guidance. While this can make the request appear more formal or urgent, the references are not always accurate; they may misquote laws or cite legal cases that do not exist or are unrelated to data protection.
These requests may also ask for different deadlines such as seven days rather than the 30 days permitted by law.
This legalistic tone can be intimidating for staff. A request filled with jargon may be perceived as a threat or complaint, even when the individual simply wants to understand what data is held about them.
It’s important for colleges to recognise that the use of AI doesn’t necessarily reflect the requestor’s own understanding. They may not realise the implications of the language used or the breadth of the request they’ve submitted, which in turn creates unrealistic expectations of what the data subject is going to receive from the college in response. This is compounded by DSARs frequently being submitted during disputes, often after formal complaints have failed. In these situations, requestors typically seek detailed records and are less likely to be flexible or understanding.
To manage these new style requests, colleges should ensure frontline teams and administrators can identify requests. It’s never helpful for a data protection lead to be sent a request by the reception team with only five days left to respond, because that team hadn’t known who to share it with.
Clear communication with the requestor is also vital. If a request is too broad or contains inaccuracies, the data protection lead should explain the issue and offer guidance on how to refine it.
Colleges cannot prohibit the use of AI or mandate that a data subject complete a specific form, but guidance or a template can assist individuals in submitting requests.
Despite the challenges, it’s important to recognise that the rise of AI-generated DSARs is a positive development in many respects. Students and parents may face barriers such as limited knowledge, language difficulties or lack of confidence in formal writing, and AI tools offer a way to overcome these obstacles.
This is especially valuable for vulnerable groups, such as those with SEND, who may otherwise struggle to submit a request. The growing use of AI means that colleges may need to refresh their governance and responsive processes.
The new Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act which received Royal Assent in April is widely known as Martyn’s Law in memory of Martyn Hett, a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack. The legislation aims to embed proportionate and practical security measures into everyday operations – protecting people without overwhelming existing systems.
For post-16 education providers, it brings new statutory responsibilities. Many host large public-facing spaces such as theatres, sports halls, performance venues and communal learning areas that accommodate more than 800 people, placing them within the enhanced tier of the legislation.
Heightened preparedness
This elevated tier requires comprehensive security planning, appointing senior leads for terrorism protection and ongoing coordination with emergency services and councils.
Martyn’s Law builds on the robust safeguarding, health and safety, and emergency procedures that FE colleges and providers already have in place. By introducing a focused lens on deliberate acts of violence and terrorism, it ensures that institutions specifically address this critical risk.
At the heart lies three core duties: conducting detailed threat and vulnerability assessments related to terrorism risks specific to the site and its activities, implementing proportionate security measures informed by these assessments, and ensuring all staff, particularly those managing public events and premises, receive targeted terrorism awareness training.
Taking immediate action
Before final statutory guidance is published, FE institutions can begin proactive work.
By mapping public access, they can identify when and how their premises are open to the public. This includes graduation ceremonies, off-site events for apprentices and any public performances.
A designated senior staff member, often a campus manager, facilities director or safeguarding lead, can be chosen to oversee compliance. They will coordinate with safeguarding teams and health and safety officers to integrate requirements with existing safety strategies.
For risk assessments, resources such as the ACT Awareness e-learning from Counter Terrorism Policing can help staff identify vulnerabilities, including multiple campus entry points or uncontrolled visitor access. Develop sensible mitigation plans, for example, CCTV, enhanced supervision and temporary bag checks during high-profile events.
Regularly review emergency plans and keep updated lockdown and evacuation procedures so they remain suitable in the event of a hostile attack. Staff and learners should be familiar with these protocols, including communication and safe zones. Terrorism awareness should be prepared to be incorporated into staff training and development, focusing on recognising suspicious behaviour and responding appropriately.
Regulator alignment
Terrorism risk assessments should be aligned with safeguarding and inspection frameworks, with Ofsted inspecting how well institutions safeguard learners and manage site risks. Ensure terrorism preparedness is embedded into your safeguarding policy and self-assessment reports to demonstrate a culture of safety and leadership accountability.
The Health and Safety Executive expects institutions to assess foreseeable risks and update health and safety risk registers accordingly. Terrorism-related scenarios should be included in an overall risk register, particularly where large gatherings, tool-based workshops or visitor access may be factors.
Martyn’s Law mandates engagement with emergency services, but councils and resilience forums should be engaged too. Providers should liaise with regional Prevent coordinators and participate in joint planning exercises where possible, ensuring plans align with local emergency frameworks. And a clear record of staff completion of terrorism awareness training, such as ACT Awareness, should be retained.
It is key to communicate proportionately with learners and parents, to build resilience without causing fear. Proportionate messaging should be prepared to explain that these measures are preventative and similar to fire safety planning.
Statutory guidance and sector updates should also be closely monitored, particularly as Martyn’s Law is in its implementation phase. Assign a senior staff member to monitor updates from DfE, ProtectUK and the Association of Colleges.
Balancing security with an open learning environment
Leaders within FE and vocational settings may worry about introducing anxiety or making campuses feel less welcoming. However, Martyn’s Law is designed to be proportionate and unobtrusive, enhancing preparedness without creating barriers or a fortress-like atmosphere.
Engaging governors, learners, parents and community stakeholders early ensures transparency and builds trust. Clear communication about the law’s purpose reassures everyone that these measures are about safety and resilience, not fear or restriction.
The two-year implementation period offers FE and vocational providers time to embed Martyn’s Law thoughtfully, aligning security with their unique culture and operational needs.
By integrating these measures now, institutions demonstrate leadership in safeguarding their communities, creating safer environments where learners can focus on their training with confidence.
