From education to employment

Every Week in FE News – The Leading FE Digital Publishing Platform

About Us

Welcome to FE News – the online news site and digital publishing platform dedicated exclusively to the world of further education, apprenticeship/work-based learning, and employability. We’ve been around longer than any other news and online publishing platforms in the FE space, making us a pioneering force in the industry, with almost two decades of experience under our belt.

20 years of FE News!

While we may not have been around as long as the pyramids, we’ve been in the game longer than Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, and we’ve aged like a fine wine! This year, we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary as a premium publisher platform and planning some exciting stuff for our audience and clients, so keep your eyes peeled for more updates on this.

So, what sets our digital publishing platform apart?

We’ve got a team of Digital Project Managers who curate exclusive features, long-term campaigns, and work alongside our AI and automation. But we’re not just a tech-run news site – our team of humans work hard to help curate and shape the thought leadership content for our audience, to ensure it is relevant and engaging.

We don’t believe in being just another newspaper (we’re not Citizen Kane, after all). Instead, we bring together the Skills and Employability Eco-system, giving everyone a voice to shape the future of further education, apprenticeships, EdTech, lifelong learning, and skills for future jobs.

As one of the leading content publishing platforms in the FE space, we publish over 250 pieces of content every week – from influential thought leadership articles to livestreams, podcasts, award-winning radio shows, press releases, and our famous Sector Reaction pieces.

FE News was founded in 2003 as a platform for positive sector-building news and is a knowledge transfer platform for thought leaders and influencers. We’re still going strong today – the longest-standing FE news site around!

FE News is a digital publishing platform where your voice and ideas are important

FE News is a platform to share your voice and ideas. Unlike traditional newspapers or news sites, we have over 7,000 Newsrooms with diverse contributors from across the Skills Eco-system. Our content is varied and offers different perspectives and views on the future of skills and education.

In fact, we’ve never operated on the outdated newspaper model since our founding in 2003 – we’ve always been ahead of the game as a premium publisher platform!

Our contributors come from a range of backgrounds, including individual thought leaders and influencers, FE colleges, independent training providers, awarding organisations, EdTech firms, think tanks, charities, and government bodies. This diverse range of voices is what makes FE News such a dynamic digital publishing platform for sharing best practices and innovations within the FE and Skills Eco-system.

We value and celebrate our influencers and thought leaders who contribute to FE News. In fact, we recently launched FE News Unwrapped to celebrate the top 10 FE influencers and thought leaders of 2022 from over 450 exclusive articles! At FE News, your voice matters, and we want to hear what you have to say.

To continue this celebration, we launched FE News Top Three! Each month, we celebrate our top three most popular exclusive articles. Check out our previous month’s winners here.

FE News is a Knowledge Exchange Platform

FE News is the ultimate knowledge exchange platform for the FE and Skills sector. Our focus is on bringing the entire sector together, covering news and new ideas to support and strengthen the FE and Skills eco-system.

As a specialist news site, we publish over 250 pieces of curated content every week, providing our readers with up-to-date news and insights on the latest trends, challenges, and solutions facing the industry.

We also have exclusive thought leadership articles in our FE Voices section from influencers, sharing new ideas, strategies, and solutions to tackle challenges such as the skills needed for the jobs of the future, qualification reform, making the most of the Apprenticeship Levy, and joining up Employability and Skills.

At FE News, we’re dedicated to fostering a community of knowledge exchange and collaboration, a digital publishing platform bringing together a diverse range of voices to share their experiences and insights. Whether you’re an individual thought leader or part of an FE College, independent training provider, awarding organisation, EdTech firm, think tank, charity, or government body, we welcome your contributions to our platform. Together, we can build a stronger and more innovative FE and Skills eco-system.

Who are the Contributors on FE News?

Our authors and contributors range from the current Prime Minister (and former Prime Ministers) to large international organisations like the think tank for the G20, G7, OECD, ILO, through to Education Think Tanks in the UK and internationally (like WISE and GAN). We also have individual influencers, FE Colleges, ITPs, Awarding Organisations, End Point Assessment Organisations, Government Departments, Charities and Corporations interested in the future of skills and employability.

Some other top FE Influencers and Thought Leaders include:

All of our contributors can set up a Newsroom to publish on FE News, where you can upload press releases, exclusives, events, podcasts and more! It is also home to all of their content so you can publish, edit and schedule everything in one place.

To help you learn the FE News system, we even have our Content Creator Academy. With your publisher newsroom, you will have access to all of our courses, including one on SEO!

We also use innovative technology to help our contributors reach a wider audience. From helpful tools like AI to assist our contributors in uploading content, to automation and bots to distribute and give wider impact on articles and provide a larger reach.

Who reads FE News?

Our audience at FE News is united by a shared interest in the future of skills and employability, regardless of their location. While 70% of our audience is from the UK, the remaining 30% is international, reflecting our global reach as a premium publisher platform.

In March 2023, we had 105.5k unique visitors on FE News, demonstrating the impact and popularity of our digital publishing platform. Recent stats also show that over 70% of our audience holds senior leadership positions, equivalent to 73,850 senior leaders following and engaging with FE News.

As one of the most popular digital publishing platforms, we provide a valuable resource for decision-makers and influencers looking to stay up-to-date with the latest news and trends in the industry, and we’re proud to serve such an engaged and influential audience.

FE News is free

At FE News, we believe that access to the latest news, ideas, and solutions should be free for all. That’s why our content is available to view without any subscription fees. But that’s not the only way we’re committed to making a positive impact.

As a “green” news provider, we’re conscious of our environmental impact and do our best to be as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible. Unlike paper-based publications that use up precious resources, we don’t produce any physical copies of our news.

We’re also committed to sustainability in other areas, such as our job advertising site, FE Careers. This site is free to view the latest job vacancies, with more than 250 live vacancies available every day. By making this resource available to all, we’re helping to create a more equal and accessible job market for everyone in the industry.

Why is FE News 100% Digital?

At FE News, we’ve been pioneers of digital publishing platforms since our founding in 2003, long before social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok came into existence. As mentioned above, we believe that everyone in the Further Education and Skills sector should have free and equal access to our content. This approach also enables anyone to get involved and contribute to the platform, democratising the news and empowering individuals to share their ideas, solutions, and vision for the future of skills.

Over the years, we’ve had some interesting working environments… When we first launched in 2003, FE News operated on a work-from-home model. Our first HQ was a recycled sea container office complex in Trinity Buoy Wharf, aptly named Container City.

Later, we moved our HQ from East London to rural Devon, where we were based in the Forestry Commission Offices in a working woodland. While the natural surroundings were amazing, we often saw the woodland being felled, which further reinforced our commitment to remaining a 100% digital publishing platform.

Today, we’re based in Exeter and have recently expanded our team to include three apprentices and a platform growth manager, bringing our total team size to five! Our commitment to being a digital publishing platform has allowed us to grow and evolve, providing valuable content and resources to everyone in the Further Education and Skills sector.

The FE News Ethos

At FE News, our strap line perfectly captures our ethos, values, and purpose: From Education to Employment, joined-up thinking for social impact. We’ve been the digital channel for the future of education since 2003, and we’re committed to fostering a knowledge exchange that encourages a wide range of views and opinions.

With over 250 pieces of content per week on FE News, we’re able to provide a digital publishing platform for influencers and thought leaders from across the FE and Skills eco-system to share their perspectives and insights. We believe that no opinion should be censored, and we strive to ensure that all of our news is fair, balanced, and sector-building. By promoting best practices and innovation in the FE sector, we aim to improve the learner and employer experience, ultimately enabling greater opportunities for all.

Our mission has remained the same since our founding in 2003: To unite the wider FE sector and enable us all to work together more effectively. Given the vast and complex nature of the further education sector, this is no small task. From colleges and training providers to awarding organisations, apprenticeships, and adult learning, the list of stakeholders goes on and on.

As one of the go-to content publishing platforms, we strive to provide our audience with insights into the latest developments across the sector. We’re grateful to our column writers, who are the policymakers and innovators of the sector, and we’re proud to share their weekly insights and pearls of wisdom with our audience. By staying informed and engaged, we can all plan how to best deliver future learning for students, driving positive social impact and change.

What Type of Content does FE News Publish Every Week?

We have a range of news styles for you to enjoy. This ranges from column writers who are subject matter specialists across the FE sector, to FE livestreams where the audience can engage live with thought leaders and influencers. We also have FE podcastsexclusive main features, press releases on specialist areas like skills and apprenticeships news to EdTech and FE video interviews with speakers from conferences and events (we have published more than 600 video interviews!). Add to this news analysis of emerging trends across further education, skills and welfare to work and employability news, we cover just about everything in many different formats!

Every FE week, we feature specialist column writers who are experts in their respective areas of further education. The columnists are experts in their field and set the policy for the sector. Every week, FE News column writers provide insight into the latest policy developments so you can keep your finger right on the pulse.

FE News offers a diverse range of news styles to suit your preferences, including exclusive main features, press releases, and news analysis covering emerging trends across the FE landscape. Our subject matter specialists, including thought leaders and influencers, provide expert insights and opinions on the latest developments in the sector.

You can stay up to date with the latest news and trends in further education by tuning in to our FE livestreams and podcasts, or by watching our video interviews with speakers from conferences and events. With over 600 interviews published, you’re sure to find content that piques your interest.

Our weekly newsletter, FE Soundbite, features specialist column writers who are experts in their respective areas. These experts both set and analyse the policy for the sector and provide insights into the latest policy developments, ensuring that you stay informed and ahead of the game.

Whether you’re an educator, employer, training provider, awarding body or industry professional, FE News has everything you need to stay up-to-date and informed in the ever-evolving world of further education.

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About the FE News Audience

According to SimilarWeb (who give us independent data on our traffic and audience) FE News had in excess of 105,500 unique visitors in March 2023 alone! According to data from LinkedIn, 70.9% of our audience on FE News are in Senior Leadership positions too. This means that in March 2023, around 73,850 Senior Leaders were interacting on FE News.

Social Media

FE News has 250,000 monthly tweet impressions, 60,000 followers across social media, 29,000 LinkedIn connections, and over 7,000 Newsrooms registered on FE News.

We also have over 32k followers on X (formerly Twitter) and more than 16k on LinkedIn! Our CEO himself has nearly 30k connections on LinkedIn… This provides our digital publishing platform with a varied and diverse audience who actively engage with our content and create discussions about important topics within the FE Eco-system.

Here is some insight into our social media stats:

  • Twitter: Followers = 32004, Monthly Impressions = 240000
  • LinkedIn: Followers = 16763, Monthly Impressions =88236
  • Facebook: Followers = 1325, Monthly Impressions = 1948

Global Influence

Specialising in peer-to-peer, thought leadership analysis of current affairs and recent developments within the training, skills and employability sector, Onalytica includes FE News in the top 90 most influential STEM publications in the world! With more than 1M visitors over the past year, 70% were from the UK and 30% were international.

We also provide access to event informationpress releases from across the sector and the largest pool of job vacancies across the further education, skills and welfare to work sectors via our job advertising site www.fecareers.co.uk.

Receive FE News Every Week, Subscribe to FE Weekly Soundbite Journal!

We can email you a FE weekly round-up of news from across the sector. Our further education journal “Soundbite” is designed to be a snapshot of the week’s FE News.

We do not charge to send you FE Weekly Soundbite (ISSN 2732-4095), it is totally free!

You can also subscribe to Daily FE News updates, Podcasts and Livestreams, and CPD Updates and Job Alerts via FE Careers!

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