FE News

Integrating Social Value into Tenders
2025-06-25 10:00 - 11:00 (Europe/London)
Overview

The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 has become a key component in public sector tendering. It requires contracting authorities to consider how procurement can improve economic, social, and environmental well-being in their communities.

This practical session will explain how to understand and apply the Act in your tendering process—helping you improve your Social Value scores and win more contracts.

You’ll leave with:

A clear understanding of the Act and its relevance to bids

Insight into identifying and demonstrating your Social Value offer

Proven strategies to answer Social Value questions effectively

Objectives

This session is designed to help you meet the following learning objectives:

Understand the Social Value Act and its implications for bidding

Identify their own Social Value contributions in education and skills

Respond confidently and effectively to Social Value tender question

Facilitator

Steve O’Hare, SCLO Consulting LTD

Effectively Self-Assessing Quality of Provision Under Ofsted’s New Framework
2025-06-23 10:30 - 12:00
Join us for an insightful webinar with Peter Nelson, former HMI, as he explores the pros and cons of self-assessing this year against Ofsted’s new inspection framework.

During this session, Peter will:

• Consider several options of how you might approach self-assessment and the structure of your self-assessment report (SAR) and quality improvement plan (QIP)• Introduce Ofsted’s new inspection framework, and how that might have a bearing on this year’s SAR• Explore how you might approach grading of your SAR• Introduce the toolkits, and summarise the main points of each of the key judgements contained in the new inspection framework• Provide practical insights on how to self-assess objectively and identify areas for improvement.

This is an invaluable opportunity for education providers to gain expert guidance and help ensure the rigour of your quality improvement process.

Please contact info@fin-online.org.uk for any support with booking.

Event Booking (sphr.uk)

Open Education Conference (OER25)
2025-06-23 08:00 - 2025-06-24 17:00 | Resource for London, 356 Holloway Road, London, N7 6PA
Mark your calendars. The 16th annual Open Education Conference (OER25) is set to take place on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 June 2025 in London at the Resource for London conference centre. This year’s conference promises to be an inspiring gathering, to share the latest research, practices, and approaches in open education.

The OER25 Conference is a pinnacle event for the Association for Learning Technology, bringing together a dynamic community of educators, researchers, and practitioners. This is your chance to explore a world of innovation, exchange ideas, and contribute to the ever-evolving landscape of open education.

What to Expect:

Engaging keynote sessions from leaders in the field

Insightful presentations and workshops

Opportunities to network with like-minded professionals

Exciting social events and much more

We will be sharing the theme and inviting papers for OER25 shortly.

Building Confidence and Tackling the “Anti-Maths Mindset”
2025-06-17 10:00 - 11:00 | Online
Overview
This webinar focuses on general strategies (rather than specific maths content) to engage students and improve maths outcomes. It encourages maths-related delivery across vocational areas and tutorials based around topical and contextualised material.

Objectives
This webinar will help delegates to:

Recognise the key principles of the maths mastery approach and identify how these can be translated into a delivery strategy at your organisation;
Develop a strategy for raising the profile of maths across college and increase collaboration between departments;
Identify the causes and symptoms of maths anxiety, and plan and deliver lessons that support learners with maths anxiety.
The session will suggest some strategies for streamlining maths delivery and signpost resources and schemes of work. It will highlight the importance of cross-college collaboration, and consider how to address the challenges of maths anxiety in the classroom.

It is intended that learners receive a consistent message regarding the importance of maths, and a fresh approach that presents a contrast to previous negative experiences. Learners with maths anxiety will be given support to achieve and ultimately to reduce their anxiety.

Facilitator
Sam Edwards, Pick ME Consulting

Click here to register or to find out more information.

EdTechX Summit
2025-06-17 08:00 - 18:00 | ect. venues County Hall, County Hall, Belvedere Rd,, London, SE1 7PB
We’re thrilled to announce the return of the EdTechX Summit in 2025, where the future of education, training and work takes centre stage!
Set within the vibrant London EdTech Week programme, this exclusive headline event is limited to 400 senior industry leaders, ensuring an intimate and dynamic experience between founders, CEOs, policymakers, senior executives, and investors.
EdTechX will provide a whirlwind of visionary insights, high-impact networking and thought-provoking discussions, all designed to connect industry with innovation and to foster collaboration. This one-day summit is your gateway to connecting with a global network of stakeholders shaping the future of the education, training and workplace landscape.
The EdTechX Summit 2025 will take place on Tuesday 17th June at County Hall, Westminster. Located on London’s Southbank, with breathtaking views of the River Thames, The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye; this is the perfect setting for igniting ideas and forming new connections.

EPA – Maximising the opportunity of Policy Changes
2025-06-13 14:00 - 15:00 | Online
Overview
Recent announcements are set to reshape how End-Point Assessment (EPA) is approached, with a stronger emphasis on embedding specific EPA principles into the design process from the outset.

Join us for this insightful webinar as we unpack these changes and explore what they mean in practice. Gain a deeper understanding of the updated principles and how they will impact EPA design moving forward.

Objectives
By attending this session, you will:

• Gain a clear understanding of the proposed changes and implementation timelines
• Learn what the new EPA principles entail and how they will impact current EPA arrangements
• Explore key considerations for your sector, including how on-programme delivery and assessment may evolve

Facilitator
Charlotte Bosworth, Managing Director, Innovate Awarding

Innovate North 2025
2025-06-12 15:00 - 19:00 | David Hockney Building, Great Horton Rd, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1AY, United Kingdom
Do you work in Education? Come and join us at Bradford College for an exciting FREE afternoon where we’ll showcase how we’ve embraced technology to transform teaching and learning. From mind-blowing VR experiences to AI tools that save hours of planning time and enhance students’ learning – you’ll get to see it all in action.

We’ll have hands-on sessions, testimonials from our staff, and some fantastic partners like Microsoft, i-Immersive, Bodyswaps, TeacherMatic, and more. Plus, we’re excited to welcome guests from JISC and AoC—it’s going to be a brilliant opportunity to learn, share, and get inspired together!

Choose your Top 3 Session Choices to attend – purchase 1 ticket per session (3 in total pp)

🕶️ Immersive Learning in Action (Experience the i-Immersive Room in action)

🤖 AI in Education: Bradford College’s Success Story (Learn how Bradford College embraced AI, plus insights from Microsoft representatives on their latest educational AI tools)

🛠️ VR Marketplace (Hands-on with the latest virtual reality tools)

📚 TeacherMatic: Smarter Lesson Planning (AI-powered lesson planning demo)

🎥 Interactive Learning with Edpuzzle (Explore engaging, interactive videos)

Escape from Dracula! (showcasing digital innovation within a library setting) 20 per session

Itinerary

3-4pm – Welcome / intros4-4:45pm – Session 1 4:45-5:30pm – Session 2 5:30-6:15pm – Session 3 6:15-7:15pm – Networking & close

Apprenticeship curriculum design
2025-06-11 09:30 - 13:00 | Online
Whether you’ve been on our curriculum webinar series, or are new to SDN, this Masterclass will help you hone your skills as a curriculum developer.

Developing a curriculum for apprenticeship standards is challenging. In many cases, it is less prescribed, employers have greater input into the content and sequencing, and the prior learning of the apprentice needs to be taken into account.

It’s something the ESFA and Ofsted are looking at closely too.

Over a 3.5-hour interactive online session, Chris Cherry will take you through a step-by-step example of how to deconstruct a standard and build the curriculum from the top down.

During the session, you’ll work on short activities at each stage to develop your understanding and skill and come away with a clear model you can use for the apprenticeship standards you deliver.

Here’s what we’ll cover during the session:

The principles of good-quality curriculum design
A practical step-by-step worked example:

Deconstructing the standard and amplifying the KSBs
Articulating the learning outcomes, deciding on the learning methods and building in other components
Shaping this into ‘episodes of learning’ as part of a Scheme of Work
Translating the Scheme of Work into an Individual Learning Plan which takes both the apprentice’s prior learning and employer requirements into account

Practical tips on how to adjust the curriculum and training plan “mid-flight” during the programme, to meet the needs of the apprentice and employer

About your session

The session will be facilitated by Chris Cherry an SDN expert in apprenticeship on-programme training and end-point assessment. Chris has supported hundreds of apprenticeship organisations to develop their curriculum against the new standards and has lots of insights to share.

This masterclass is designed for those involved in the design and development of your apprenticeship curriculum and materials.

Before the session, you’ll be sent a 1-hr webinar, giving you an overview of the curriculum planning process for apprenticeship standards.

“Breaking down the KSB’s and how the curriculum forms the ILP was a key learning point. Excellent session and also enjoyed the pre-training recording.”

– Orange Moon Training

“I’ve been trawling the internet and asked FE colleagues about curriculum design and found nothing useful. This is just the ticket. Very engaging, informative and fun to listen to. I’ve learned more in the first 15 minutes than the previous 15 years.”

“Very informative and helpful”

– Previous event attendees

Booking and payment:

You can either attend the live session or be sent the recording and materials if you prefer to go through it in your own time but we highly reccommend attending live to get the most out of this interactive session.

If you have several staff who would benefit, let us know and we’ll send you details of the most cost-effective way of accessing the session.

If you’re a public sector body (e.g. Local Authority), and unable to book via card, please email us. When you make a booking, you agree to these Terms and Conditions (including those who request a booking via email and invoice)

Any questions, please email us.

SDN CPD is designed for Government funded Training Providers. If you’re not a Government funded Training Provider but are still interested in attending please email events@strategicdevelopmentnetwork.co.uk to discuss your attendance in more detail before booking.

Understanding the Changing Adult Social Care Sector - Northern Skills Network
2025-06-04 14:00 - 16:00
The adult social care sector is undergoing significant transformation. With changes in policy, evolving workforce needs, and the introduction of new national strategies, it’s never been more crucial for training providers to stay informed and proactive. In response to this, the Northern Skills Network is proud to partner with Skills for Care to deliver an insightful and interactive webinar.

This free online event is specifically designed for training and learning providers who are currently working with—or are looking to expand into—the adult social care sector. Attendees will gain valuable insights into current sector trends, key policy developments, and future workforce requirements, directly from those helping shape the strategy.

What to Expect:

During this two-hour session, our expert speakers will:

Present regional workforce data to help providers better understand the size, structure, and dynamics of the adult social care workforce in the North of England.

Explore key policy changes introduced by the government, including the reform agenda for adult social care and its direct implications on skills development and training provision.

Introduce the national Workforce Strategy for Social Care, a cornerstone document that sets out the vision and framework for supporting the workforce of the future. Learn how this strategy is influencing the sector and what it means for those delivering training.

Discuss opportunities for training providers to adapt, evolve, and expand their services to better meet the changing needs of social care employers and staff. This is a chance to identify where your offer fits and how you can contribute to a more skilled and resilient care workforce.

About Skills for Care

Skills for Care is a trusted sector leader, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Our mission is to support the adult social care sector in developing a workforce that is capable, confident, and well-equipped for the demands of today and tomorrow. We collaborate closely with employers, training providers, local authorities, and strategic partners to ensure quality outcomes for the people who draw on care services. Learn more at Skills for Care.

How to practically implement the new 2025-26 Apprenticeship Funding Rules
2025-06-02 10:00 - 2025-07-28 11:00 | Online
With an early release of the new apprenticeship funding rules (2025/26) due to be published in May, join us for our annual business-critical webinar series – now in three parts to help you plan for the changes and understand the practical actions you will need to take across your organisation.

That’s where we do a lot of thinking for you. Using the stages of the learner journey, this 3-part webinar series will walk through the updates, what it means operationally for different teams along the way, where new risks might arise and practical ways you can mitigate them. It will also include the latest critical changes to the functional skills implementation, new minimum durations as well as clarifications to 25/26 rules.

We’ll also give you a detailed “Changes Action Plan”, setting out all the key changes and actions you need to take across different teams.

Session 1 – Laying the ground (2nd June, 10.00am-10.45am)

After the DfE’s announcement that there will be no draft funding rules this year, we have added this additional webinar to our funding rules series – at no extra charge – to help you lay the best foundations for August implementation

Following the first release of the first version of the funding rules in May, this session will cover the headline changes and start the process of preparing for change.

Break down each of the funding rule changes
Explore the impact for independent providers, universities, colleges, and employer providers
Identify key risks across your organisation

Session 2 – Detailed implementation (3 July, 10.00am-1pm)

Having consolidated the rules and developed models of best practice, for change this session will explore:

How the funding rule changes will impact on the learner journey:
o Pre-entry
o Entry
o On-programme
o Gateway and end-point assessment
o Progression
Specific changes you will need to make to your ILR and funding administration and management
Practical adaptions you will need to make to your systems, processes and templates
Q&A
We will issue a detailed implementation action plan to work through with this session

Session 3 – Supporting change (28th July, 10.00am-11.00am)

Taking account of any further clarifications and further examples of best practice, this Q&A session will include quality perspectives on the changes as well as the opportunity to get best practice answers to your questions

Updates and clarifications
Quality perspectives
Q&A

About your session

The session will be facilitated by David Lockhart-Hawkins, SDN’s compliance and funding expert who has supported hundreds of providers in their apprenticeship journey including some of the UK’s largest, highest quality, specialist and new providers.
David’s in-depth understanding of curriculum design and quality, as well as funding, gives him a unique insight into the practical implications of funding rule changes.

This session is designed for apprenticeship providers – compliance and operational staff, quality managers, and leaders overseeing the impact on the apprenticeship delivery journey.

“This was excellent. You feel that an awful lot of work has gone into producing this, packed with helpful content, guidance and experience. Thank you so much!”

“I will be recommending colleagues to sign up to training alerts. Really looking forward to attending other sessions.”

“Very useful – as always. Thorough and detailed, with great slides to support.”

“It was very clear that a large amount of time and effort has gone into the preparation of today’s event – and that is why SDN is my first choice for webinars.”

“Excellent coverage, well planned and organised with clear expertise in the funding rules”

– Event attendees

Booking and payment:

You can either attend the live sessions or be sent the recording and materials if you prefer to review them in your own time.

If you’re a public sector body (e.g. Local Authority), and unable to book via card, please email us. When you make a booking, you agree to these Terms and Conditions (including those who request a booking via email and invoice)

SDN CPD is designed for Government funded Training Providers. If you’re not a Government funded Training Provider but are still interested in attending please email events@strategicdevelopmentnetwork.co.uk to discuss your attendance in more detail before booking.

Level 3 award in undertaking end-point assessment
2025-05-13 08:00 - 2025-07-03 17:00 | Online
Are you looking to conduct end-point assessment in the future, or prepare apprentices for it? End-point assessment is different and high stakes.

This Level 3 course will provide you with the building blocks to carry out end-point assessment in future and help you to get ahead of the game. If you’re preparing apprentices for end-point assessment on-programme, the course will give you a useful insight into what apprentices will face.

SDN has helped many of the first EPAOs (and their assessor teams) currently delivering end-point assessment and have a cutting-edge insight into what end-point assessment looks like in practice.

Here’s what the course covers:

Understand the principles and practices of end-point assessment as part of an apprenticeship standard

The role and responsibilities of an end-point assessor
The function of end-point assessment as part of an apprenticeship standard
The requirements of apprenticeship standards and end-point assessments
The difference between ongoing assessments and end-point assessments
Grading requirements of end-point assessments and the differences between each grade

Understand different types and methods of end-point assessment

The different types and methods of end-point assessments that form part of apprenticeship standards
The strengths and limitations of a range of end-point assessment types and methods

Know how to plan end-point assessments in line with the apprenticeship standard and assessment plan

Key factors to consider when planning end-point assessments.
Risks that may be involved in conducting end-point assessments within own area of responsibility
Planning how to conduct end-point assessments in line with the requirements of an apprenticeship standard and assessment plan
Communicating planned end-point assessments to relevant stakeholders

Be able to make end-point assessment decisions

Assessing the vocational knowledge, skills and behaviours of an apprentice to meet end-point assessment requirements
Recording the end-point assessment decision
Justifying end-point assessment and grading decisions in line with the apprenticeship requirements.
Following procedures to maintain the confidentiality of end-point assessment information
Following relevant policies, procedures and legislation when conducting, recording and reporting end-point assessments
Providing end-point assessment feedback to stakeholders

Understand quality assurance of the end-point assessment process

Quality assurance and standardisation policies and procedures that apply to end-point assessments
Procedures to follow when there are disputes concerning end-point assessments decisions
Planning and logging professional development opportunities relevant to own role

About your session

The course will be taught by Emily Hughes, SDN expert in apprenticeship on-programme training and end-point assessment.

Our team have been heavily involved in the development of new standards and assessment plans, as well as supporting many EPAOs and hundreds of individuals to prepare to deliver end-point assessment.

This course is designed for those conducting, planning to deliver, or those preparing apprentices for end-point assessment and is applicable to all industries.

This qualification is accredited by Highfield Qualifications, with whom SDN is an approved centre. If you successfully complete the course, you will receive a Level 3 Award in Undertaking End-Point Assessment

“I absolutely loved the course and will be recommending the course to others.”

“You were so positive & friendly – this allowed the cohort to cope with the 20+ criteria on the observation. Your over-riding personality made us all feel welcome & encouraged us to face all of the challenges head-on. This positivity & can-do approach helped the cohort immensely as I think that most of us probably felt out of our depth initially. By giving the cohort, the feeling that we ‘were all in it together’ boosted our overall confidence.”

“The course has been outstanding. Very high standard of training from highly experienced and credible practitioners”

“Vital course for anyone who is considering a career as an end-point assessor”

– Attendees from the Level 3 course

Before you book:

Entry requirements:

Age 18 or over
Proficiency in literacy and numeracy
Proven occupational experience in your EPA sector area

Documentation:

Copy of your CV
Professional statement
Relevant certificates
Proof of ID

You’ll need:

Headphones/earphones set to reduce background noise
Microphone – you’ll need to participate in the session
Webcam – to verify identity and allow assessor to observe activity

Booking and payment:

If you’re a Local Authority, and unable to book via card, please email us. When you make a booking, you agree to these Terms and Conditions (including those who request a booking via email and invoice)

Any questions, or to request an invoice, please email: events@strategicdevelopmentnetwork.co.uk

SDN CPD is designed for Government funded Training Providers. If you’re not a Government funded Training Provider but are still interested in attending please email events@strategicdevelopmentnetwork.co.uk to discuss your attendance in more detail before booking.
