Let’s celebrate skills training for what it is, not what it isn’t

It was joyful to hear King Charles and Jay Blades commending the importance and value of skills education and apprenticeships when they appeared in a recent episode of the BBC’s The Repair Shop.

Those of us working on technical education hear such comments almost daily; apprenticeships and technical qualifications are increasingly widely recognised as a great way for individuals to set themselves up for rewarding careers.

Whenever I tell people what I do for a living, the response is almost always a wish for more apprenticeship and training opportunities, better promoted to school leavers.

But despite overwhelming enthusiasm, something strange happens when people define the skills system. Instead of unpacking the benefits of learning employer-specified knowledge, skills and behaviours as a preparation for working life, the implicit message seems to be that no one who could follow a high-prestige “academic” pathway would choose vocational education and training instead.

Indeed, the King mentioned on The Repair Shop that technical education is vital because “not everybody is designed for the academic”. It’s a familiar refrain, often emanating from government sources themselves. And it worries me, because what people hear is that there’s a hierarchy of educational pathways in which technical education is second-rate.

Likewise for T level qualifications. They cover the knowledge and skills employers say are necessary, and provide learners with a much-loved substantial industry placement to build workplace know-how. But it’s rare for T levels to be promoted on the basis of these characteristics. Rather, we are told that they are “equivalent to 3 A levels”. Similarly, degree apprenticeships are described as “equivalent to” a full bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Apprentices are not refugees from an academically straitjacketed alternative

We must call time on this tendency to spotlight what apprenticeships and technical qualifications are not when seeking to explain what they are. Nearly 90 per cent of 2,000 apprentices surveyed by IfATE are confident that what they are learning will benefit their career. There’s no need to trade on the borrowed prestige of other pathways to convey the allure of what’s on offer.

Besides, the comparisons don’t stand up. Degree apprenticeships aren’t “equivalent to” bachelor’s or master’s degrees: they combine a very real, full bachelor’s or master’s degrees with the additional benefit of workplace experience and accountability, and a salary for each apprentice. Likewise, T levels give students access to real, sustained workplace experience that sets them apart from their peers – something no A Level replicates.

So it’s not asking too much of those considering these qualifications to appreciate the additionality – not the equivalence – of what’s on offer.

The whole range of technical qualifications and apprenticeships approved by IfATE aren’t merely for those for whom the “academic” pathway is not a good fit. They are for anyone whose aspiration is to train confidently for a rewarding career in any of more than 650 occupations.

Consider the range of pre-apprenticeship experience in IfATE’s apprentice panel, who published the results and recommendations from its national apprentice survey last week. They include a national handball player who earned straight grade 9s at GCSE and moved straight into a civil engineering apprenticeship, a former Paralympian, now apprentice solicitor…

What connects them is not that they are all refugees from an academically-straitjacketed alternative pathway. Rather, it’s that they were driven and ready enough to get out into the workplace to achieve their ambitions. They’ll have learned alongside experienced colleagues, earned a wage and developed workplace know-how that will form the basis of flourishing careers.

I don’t think anyone needs reminding that “the academic route is not for everyone” to discern the deeper wisdom of their choice.

The apprentice minimum wage must be reviewed

There is increasing evidence that the apprentice minimum wage is acting as a barrier to the qualifications acting as powerful engine of social mobility they can be. With the success and growth of apprenticeships in recent years, this raises important questions.

Apprenticeships and technical education play a special role in our education system, often offering a second chance, a route back into training or retraining to get back into employment. Given they are a critical rung on the ‘ladder of opportunity’ (in Rob Halfon’s words), we need to take this evidence seriously, avoiding the sort of social media outrage that accompanied Jonathan Gullis, MP’s  advertisement for an apprentice communications officer.

Twitter thundered its indignation at a salary of £12,285 a year and yes, it feels very low, especially as the median average income in Stoke-on-Trent where the role is based is about £24,000. However, the apprentice minimum wage of £4.81 per hour means Gullis is actually paying about £4,000 a year more than required.

That doesn’t excuse that the salary is too low. If the apprenticeship was in more expensive cities like Manchester or London, it would be unliveable without independent wealth or the bank of mum and dad, ruling out low-income families, adults wanting to do an apprenticeship, and many of the very people who would benefit most from an apprenticeship. So yes, apprentices aren’t the finished article and are still training, but we can’t make quality training inaccessible for the less-well off.

I’ve heard personally from apprentices (prior to the cost-of-living crisis) about the financial pressures they feel. One was an inspiring young carer who loved her apprenticeship but struggled financially as a result of doing it. She told stories of fellow apprentices who had dropped out of their apprenticeship as they couldn’t rely on family financial support. Just travelling to their place of work was proving financially crippling, let alone affording food and somewhere to live.

Many employers already pay above the apprentice minimum wage

The case for change is clear. It cannot be right that a single parent in their thirties looking to get back into employment is presented with living on £4.81 an hour if they train, or £9.50 if they just get even the lowest-skill job. Getting rid of the apprentice minimum wage and instead aligning apprentice wages from the start with the government’s national minimum wage (while keeping £4.81 for under-18s) would strip out red tape for businesses and see apprenticeships remain a rung on the ladder of opportunity.

The social mobility commission is already picking up warning signs that apprenticeships are becoming inaccessible to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. And the new education secretary and former apprentice, Gillian Keegan already expressed concern about those from disadvantaged backgrounds being “squeezed out” when she was skills minister a few years ago.

Some will say that the UK already tends to pay apprentices higher than other countries – and there is evidence to suggest this is true. They then argue that giving apprentices a living wage would create too much of a burden on employers, and that’s where we differ.

Employers I meet worry about not being able to spend enough of their apprenticeship levy, and they’re desperate to fill their skills gaps. It doesn’t strike me that they are looking to cut corners on investing in talent – quite the opposite. Indeed, many forward-thinking employers already pay above the apprentice minimum wage.

For smaller firms where cash flow is a real issue and wage bills tend to be a greater proportion of a firm’s cost base, bringing back the £3,000 government cash incentive Rishi Sunak rolled out as Chancellor during the pandemic would address this immediately. The incentive was hugely effective and a cost-effective intervention with 195,590 claims made over nearly two years, nearly 80 per cent of them for apprentices aged 16 to 24.

With such incentives in place, the case to pay apprentices a living wage is powerful. If we want apprenticeships to be prestigious and sought after, sticking with such a low minimum wage sends the wrong signal – especially considering higher education has easy access to student finance, maintenance support, and often subsidised accommodation too.

If employers and government want to fill skills gaps, why quibble over a few thousand pounds per year for an apprentice given the huge impact a liveable wage would have?

Keegan: The 3 ‘gamechangers’ for FE

Gillian Keegan delivered her first speech to the FE sector in her new role as the education secretary at today’s Association of Colleges conference.

Predictably, Keegan, who was appointed three weeks ago, did not announce anything new ahead of tomorrow’s autumn statement from the chancellor, and she could not shed any further light on the Office for National Statistics’ review of college classification other than to say the government will work to manage any change “as smoothly as possible”.

But she did tell delegates of her desire to ensure apprenticeships, especially those at higher and degree level, are going to “enjoy more than just a moment in the sun” under hers and skills minister Robert Halfon’s leadership in the Department for Education.

Keegan then shared three things that she thinks are “gamechangers” for post-16 education:

  1. Local skills improvement plans ‘will work’

The Department for Education has set aside £20.9 million to create and implement local skills improvement plans in 38 areas over the next three years.

First proposed in the FE white paper, the plans aim to make colleges and training providers align the courses they offer to local employers’ needs. They are led by an employer representative body, mostly chambers of commerce, in each area.

Keegan said the local element of the plans are “crucial”.

“The plan brings together employers and further education colleges and universities and other providers to come up with skills priorities for a particular area. Skills businesses needs in Cumbria are not always going to be the same as they are in Kent. And we know collaboration is key and there are incredible examples of this underway.”

FE Week has however heard of tension in some LSIP areas in the early stages of the plans, and AoC chief executive David Hughes told Keegan after her speech that college leaders’ experience to date of working with the employer representative bodies is “varied”.

Keegan firmly told conference that the plans “have to work” and “will work”.

  1. Institutes of Technology

Keegan said the second gamechanger is Institutes of Technology (IoTs), which are collaborations between FE providers, universities and employers, and aim to deliver higher technical qualifications in areas like STEM and digital, as well as industries with skills shortages.

The education secretary said the first of these to open, since 2019, are “shaping the way we train people in critical areas such as zero carbon energy production, electric vehicles, and clean, sustainable manufacturing”.

Her mention of IoTs comes a week after Halfon suggested there are no plans for new “elite” technical colleges, as had been reported, and instead the government is banking on IoTs to help address the country’s skills gap.

The first 12 IoTs comprise more than 40 FE providers, 60 employers and 18 universities, backed by £170 million of government funding to provide industry-standard facilities.

A fresh wave of nine further IoTs, backed by a further £120 million, was announced by the DfE in December last year.

  1. Excellent teaching in FE

Keegan claimed that government has been increasing the level of investment in FE so that colleges can “get the staff they need”.

She reminded leaders of the £1.6 billion additional investment by 2024-25 promised at last year’s spending review, and highlighted the DfE’s new recruitment campaign to attract industry professionals in FE teaching.

But college leaders are still suffering from severe underfunding which is well below 2010 levels, combined with huge inflation and budgetary pressures which are preventing them from offering competitive salaries compared to industry.

Colleges are also battling to retain staff as most cannot offer the pay rises needed amid the cost of living crisis, which has led to the biggest wave of strike action colleges have ever seen this year.

Phillipson: Labour can’t commit to increasing FE funding rates

Labour cannot commit to boosting FE funding levels in a future government until it has seen the “scale of the damage” to the economy, the party’s shadow education secretary has said.

Bridget Phillipson warned that “some very difficult choices” lie ahead, saying she would only make funding commitments she could deliver.

An uplift in FE funding had been a pillar of the party’s last general election manifesto in 2019 when Jeremy Corbyn was leader.

Phillipson told delegates at the Association of Colleges conference in Birmingham today that “colleges are central to the ambition Labour has in education”, and stressed that she recognised that college leaders were worried about cash, staff, energy prises and uncertainty of government support. But she did not make any funding pledges during her speech.

Speaking to FE Week following her address, the MP for Houghton and Sunderland South said the economic landscape had changed significantly and could not pledge any uplift in cash for further education or address the disparity between FE and higher education funding until the economic outlook was clearer.

“Because the Conservatives have crashed the economy we don’t know the scale of the damage we will inherit,” she said.

“Until Thursday we still don’t have even the OBR [Office for Budget Responsibility] report as to exactly the shape of the public finances, it makes it very difficult to arrive at the definitive conclusions until we have really got that picture in front of us.

“But the reality is we will face a very tough situation, that next Labour government, and that will force us to make some very difficult choices.”

Despite the bleak picture, Phillipson said that investing in skills would be a part of the party’s economic growth plan.

Institute for Fiscal Studies data shows government spending on adult education will 25 per cent lower by 2024-25 than in 2010-11.

And for 16-to-18-year-olds, per student spending in further education and sixth form colleges is set to be 10 per cent lower by 2023-24 than when the Conservatives entered government.

Phillipson referenced her own local college in Sunderland and its work with local schools, businesses and the university.

“That is the kind of model that is so effective and has such a brilliant impact in delivering change,” she said.

“Thinking about the different parts of our system in isolation isn’t the approach we would take, and I think sometimes the government seeks to pit one part of the sector against the other, when actually we will be more successful if we work as one with a wider understanding about the importance of education.”

She also used her AoC speech to reiterate her party’s commitments to widening the apprenticeship levy, increasing devolution and launching a new national taskforce called Skills England.

Colleges to retain reserves if reclassified

Further education colleges will retain their reserves and continue to operate subsidiaries in the event they’re reclassified to the public sector as widely expected, FE Week understands. 

As the Office for National Statistics (ONS) comes to the end of its six-month long classification review, fears that a move to the public sector could result in a raid on reserves appear to have not materialised.

Due to report later this month, the statistics body is expected to reclassify colleges from the private sector – a change which will trigger the need for decisions on a range of issues including tax, staff pay, accounting, and borrowing. 

Possible reclassification of colleges to the public sector was first reported by FE Week two years ago when the government’s further education white paper was being developed.

The very same white paper, Skills for Jobs, and its resulting legislation, the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, triggered the ONS’ current assessment of colleges’ classification status.

The ONS regularly carries out classification reviews to check that various parts of the economy are properly accounted for on the government’s books. Reviews are independent of government and follow a strict set of criteria and international standards on government finances.

Neither the Department for Education nor the Treasury will comment on the ONS’ review while its ongoing. However, both departments have been negotiating on new rules for colleges following reclassification to the public sector, according to sources.

One fear of reclassification to the public sector was around whether colleges would be able to retain their reserves. 

According to David Hughes, chief executive at the Association of Colleges, colleges have been approached by firms telling them to “hide their reserves” in charitable trusts in case DfE “decides to take them away. Which they could,” he told us in a recent interview.

Multiple sources have told FE Week that colleges will be able to keep their reserves.

While this might come as some relief to colleges, further questions remain unanswered. 

One of those is on tax, where the AoC believes over £200 million could be reclaimed by colleges in VAT if they are be made exempt in the same way as schools and academies.

Others will remain fearful that a return to public sector accounting rules will come with more red tape and a loss of autonomy.

Colleges were last reclassified, as private sector, by the ONS in 2012. Since then, colleges have found themselves treated as private sector organisations, for example by not receiving public sector grant funding for the recent rise in national insurance, public sector organisations, because of their requirements to offer staff particular pensions right, and exempt charities, by not being allowed to make a profit. 

The ONS are due to reveal their classification on November 29.

AoC conference: A new era of diversity dawns

Much has rightly been made that the Prime Minister is of Indian heritage and Hindu belief – the first British Asian to hold the highest political office in the land. A significant and historic moment for all of us who believe in diversity, inclusivity, and aspiration. A role model surely for all citizens of colour, giving encouragement to young people in the skills and education system that they can aim high – even if their skin is not white.

What has not caught the media’s attention in the same way (and yet is, I believe, just as powerful a testament to the changing cultural faces and social structures of contemporary Britain is that we have, for the first time ever, two women simultaneously holding the roles of education secretary and shadow education secretary. We have had women at the helm before at the Department of Education – in Conservative and Labour governments alike – but none has held office at the same time as a woman in the shadow counterpart role.

Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Gillian Keegan and Bridget Phillipson are both northern and working class – and as it happens both from Catholic heritage, whether practicing that faith or not. Their voices retain the unmistakable intonations of Liverpool and Sunderland respectively. A Scouser and a Georgie both wielding considerable power and influence in their political parties, in the country, and crucially in the education and skills system.

Both are role models for girls and young women from schools and communities across the north west and north east. Both come from working class backgrounds similar to thousands of young women in today’s schools, colleges, and training providers. They look and sound like our pupils, students, and apprentices – living examples of how education is a route out of poverty to prosperity, the road to self-improvement, career advancement and positions of significant national political authority.

They look and sound like our pupils, students, and apprentices

Here’s the thing. Who was the apprentice? Stereotypically, and in ignorance of their different educational journeys, you might be inclined to think that the Conservative MP would have followed the Oxbridge path, while the Labour MP went through the traditionally working-class apprenticeship route. And you’d be wrong. Ever since her first outing on the post-16 education and skills scene as a junior minister, Keegan has made much of her comprehensive school credentials, apprenticeship, and real-life business experience, in contrast to the Oxbridge-educated Phillipson.

This is a happenstance to be lauded. We now have two high-profile, relatively young women leaders in education, defying old fashioned pigeon-holing – exemplars of social mobility in action, regardless, and in defiance of their familial affiliations. I welcome this because I think it gives hope to girls and young women that people that look and sound like them can make it to the top.

It is also good for post-16 educational practice. Although Keegan and Phillipson have different personal experiences of education, we can expect both to place post-16 skills investment at the heart of their policy implementation. I believe that apprenticeship reform, investment in technical skills and workforce development in FE Colleges and ITPs, and greater devolution of skills funding to local communities and devolved regions form the core of the agenda for post-16 skills over the next decade and that this is an agenda to which both are committed.

Both will address the Association of Colleges conference this week, so let’s see, and let’s welcome them as trailblazers for women, for the working classes, and for skills.

Sixth form college teachers vote for strike action

Teachers in sixth form colleges across England have voted to strike over pay, and will likely walk out for the first time in six years later this month.

The National Education Union announced today that a formal ballot of over 4,000 staff in 77 sixth form colleges had yielded a ‘yes’ vote of 88.5 per cent, on a turnout of 63 per cent. The ‘yes’ vote was similar to that seen in an indicative ballot in October.

This more than meets the thresholds needed to make strike action legal. The first planned day of strike action is November 30, though the union today appealed to the education secretary to make the case for larger pay rises.

School staff in the NEU are also currently being balloted for strike action over pay, though the result will not be known until January as that ballot started later.

The union has said school staff strikes are “likely” to take place from the end of January if they are approved in the ballot.

It comes as college staff who are University and College Union (UCU) members also held industrial action over the autumn over a separate pay offer from the Association of Colleges.

Most staff in schools and sixth form colleges have been offered pay rises of 5 per cent, though starting salaries are due to rise by 8.9 per cent this year. Inflation is currently at 10.1 per cent.

The NEU warned today that sixth form college teachers had seen a “20 per cent cut in real terms pay since 2010”.

Dr Mary Bousted, the union’s joint general secretary, said the close of the ballot was “well-timed”, coming just before the autumn statement on Thursday.

“It is hoped that Gillian Keegan will quickly use her influence as education secretary to make the case for sixth form colleges. 

Below-inflation pay rises ‘unacceptable’

“Further below inflation pay increases are simply unacceptable to our members. Strike action is always taken with great regret, but the sentiment of this ballot result is clear: enough is enough.”

She said the government must “listen and take notice of the effect real-terms pay cuts are having on our members, and, if we continue down this unsustainable path, the consequences that their leaving the profession will have on both the sector and the young people they teach”.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, acknowledged staff salaries were “being eroded, as energy costs and other inflationary pressures increase”.

But he said the government funded sixth form colleges “at a lower level than schools, universities and other colleges”, and warned they “simply do not have the resources to meet demands for such a high pay rise”.

“It is disappointing that a generation of young people, who had their education so disrupted by Covid, now risks losing yet more time in the classroom, on the sports field and with staff whose job is to support their mental health and emotional well-being.”

Sixth form colleges are standalone 16 to 19 institutions that offer similar provision to school sixth forms. Most are now academies and some are in multi-academy trusts with schools.

Ballots are also currently being held by the NAHT school leaders’ union and the NASUWT teachers’ union. ASCL, the country’s other headteacters’ union, has said it will run a consultative ballot to test the mood of its members following this week’s autumn statement.

UTC chief eyes new institutions and wants ‘sleeves’ in schools

Closures, recruitment struggles and low performance: even Michael Gove who gave university technical colleges the green light while education secretary said they haven’t worked. But, Baker Dearing Trust chief executive Simon Connell tells Billy Camden things are looking up – with new ones on the horizon and plans afoot for new ‘UTC sleeves’…

Since their introduction in 2010, university technical colleges have struggled – so much so that Michael Gove, the then education secretary who gave them the green light, said the schools for 14- to 19-year-olds had just not worked out.

The evidence backed that up. In 2017, when Gove delivered his verdict, more than half of UTCs inspected by Ofsted were rated ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’.

Low student recruitment left some financially unviable. The National Audit Office found that deficits had doubled across UTCs in an investigation report published in 2019. Almost £800 million of public money had been spent on the programme.

Twelve have closed, leaving just 47 open.

The latest evidence points to us going in the right direction

But the Baker Dearing Trust – the organisation that promotes UTCs – takes a different view.

“It would be nice if we [the sector] could all get along because actually, we’ve got more in common than that which divides us, but that’s life,” chief executive Simon Connell says. He adds that the views that are important to him are from the 40,000-odd students who have gone through UTCs rather than detractors, such as Association of Colleges chief executive David Hughes.

Last month, Hughes told FE Week: “The government’s track record on establishing new institutions to deliver is not a good one, with many UTCs not faring well.”

Connell hits back: “Undoubtedly the latest evidence points to us going in the right direction. That’s not to say it’s perfect, but if you look at current Ofsted outcomes, student recruitment, if you look at destinations, broadly things are positive.”

He says UTC aggregate enrolment rose 8 per cent to 18,736 students this year. And latest Ofsted data shows 78 per cent of the colleges are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ with none ‘inadequate’.

What he doesn’t point out is most poor-performing UTCs were given a fresh start with their Ofsted grades wiped after joining a multi-academy trust.

He wants every UTC to be Ofsted ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by 2025, saying there is “no excuse for that not happening”.

But the picture on recruitment is still worrying. FE Week analysis found while five are oversubscribed, more than half are still less than two-thirds full (the capacity that Connell says is needed to be financially viable).

Four UTCs even have less than 20 per cent full, according to the latest data published on the government’s Get Information About Schools website.

But Connell is not worried about any more going under, claiming that mechanisms are now in place to keep struggling UTCs afloat – because of multi-academy trusts (MATs).

Seven in 10 UTCs are in MATs – a move favoured by ministers and, despite initially resisting it, the Baker Dearing Trust which began to encourage the process in 2019 to enable the colleges to survive.

“I see the value in UTCs being part of MATs, being part of the local education landscape, having the expertise and the credibility of a new offer within an established group of schools,” Connell says.

“It helps shore up their finances. We’ve seen examples of acceleration in student recruitment. I’m confident with some of those that needed to join MATs, that need to improve their recruitment, that that will happen.”

In addition to MAT mergers, almost four in 10 UTCs have lowered their age range from the traditional 14 to 19 model. Six now recruit from year 7 while 12 recruit from year 9.

So are these schools even UTCs anymore?

Connell says the year 9 recruitment model is a “minor tweak” that allows young people to settle in before starting their GCSEs in year 10 and can make “quite a bit of difference”.

But he believes UTCs have “exhausted” the year 7 model and doesn’t think any more will go down this route.

He says because of this, plus the tens of millions of pounds of “transitional funding” from government to clear their debts, the financial picture of UTCs nationally is much healthier than three years ago at the time of the NAO’s report.

While Connell doesn’t go as far as claiming the current crop of UTCs are “among the most successful state schools in the country”, like Lord Baker said in The Times this week, he says the “facts show” they are on an upward trajectory.

Plus, at the encouragement of the Department for Education, bids for three brand new colleges have gone into the latest wave of free school applications.

Connell said the bids will be in “areas that government will be interested in”, hinting at the 55 education investment areas identified in ministers’ levelling up plans. But has few more details.

Lord Baker

He hopes at least one will be successful, but barriers include the government having no money for capital and numbers of pupils in secondary schools set to fall after peaking in 2024.

The last time bids for new UTCs were submitted was 2019, but all three applications were rejected.

One beacon of hope this time around is the reappointment of Robert Halfon as skills minister – a UTC fanboy who has repeatedly spoken of his desire to open one in every town.

Connell also says setting up UTC “sleeves” in schools provides an alternative way to grow – a model first put to ministers last year.

Halfon said at the Conservative Party conference in October they were an “exciting concept”, which would “help mitigate the higher costs of building new facilities” and “firmly embed vocational education alongside traditional academic learning”. 

The model would involve a secondary school offering the technical education curriculum, including T Levels, used in UTCs alongside their usual academic pathway, developed with the help of an employer board. Students would enter the sleeve at age 14 and leave at 19, like a normal UTC.

Connell says 12 schools have contacted him over the past year to express an interest in piloting the sleeves.

One has already opened – but not as originally intended. Struggling Bristol Technology and Engineering Academy was taken over by Abbeywood School, located next door, in September. But Connell says schools would ideally open up mini-UTCs in their schools from scratch.

Over the years, proponents of the UTC movement have heard it all – they’re a fad, a vanity scheme, Lord Baker’s pet project. It’s Connell’s job to be ambitious and optimistic about UTCs. And the “pitch” of sleeves to a new administration at the DfE that are hungry for ideas, but even hungrier for funding, could be compelling.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: EDITION 405

Lyn Bolton

Chief Executive, Alliance Learning

Start date: October 2022

Previous Job: Director of Apprenticeships, SCL Education Group

Interesting fact: Lyn loves holidays and visiting new places but with her beautiful new granddaughter being only 1 week old, she’s plans on going nowhere for a while!

Lloyd Davis

Principal, The London City Institute of Technology

Start date: October 2022

Concurrent Job: Director of Curriculum, Newham College of Further Education

Interesting fact: Lloyd only stopped playing rugby at the age of 50 ending a run of 183 consecutive games for Teddington Rugby Club

Neil Bates

Chair, Educationwise Academy

Start date: November 2022

Concurrent Job: Chair of Edge Foundation

Interesting fact: Neil was the first ever chair of the Association of Learning Providers (now AELP) and led the first ever incorporation of a new further education college


David Warnes

Principal and Chief Executive, Chelmsford College

Start date: October 2022

Previous Job: Deputy Principal, West London College

Interesting fact: David worked at LOCOG on the FE Education programme for the London Olympic Games and sat three desks down from Seb Coe