FE Cannot Prepare Students for a Digital Future Without Being Digitally Enabled Itself

As a nation looking to establish itself as a global leader in the tech race, Britain certainly has a long way to go to achieve success. In fact, with more than half our enterprises lacking the digital skills they need to remain competitive and move forward, it’s not just our dominance but also our economy that’s under threat – with many looking to further education to remedy the gap and equip future generations with much-needed competences. The issue is, you can’t teach what you don’t preach – a huge problem considering that, digitally speaking, most of the UK’s further education (FE) institutions have also fallen behind.

A Nation Held Back

The UK’s skill shortage reached a critical point last year, when 62% of organisations reported lacking the abilities and expertise they needed to succeed, according to the latest Business Barometer from the Open University. 

Whilst there has been a slight improvement from the 73% skills gap reported in 2023, the persistent distance between industry needs and workforce capabilities continues to stifle productivity and slow the adoption of emerging technologies in compounded ways. Without the right experience and training, staff are simply ill-equipped to integrate tools like AI and intelligent automation into their workflows and routines effectively, leaving 64% of businesses uncertain about how to implement these tools – according to the same OU study. 

The economic cost of this shortfall is stark, with Multiverse Skills revealing that a lack of data skills alone costs the UK economy an annual £57.2 billion. Without urgent intervention, this problem will only get worse – and FE institutions are the only ones who have the power – at least potentially – to turn things around, playing a leading role in resolving the crisis. In order to do so, however, they must first ensure they are digitally enabled themselves. 

FE Must Evolve

Further education equips students for jobs across all kinds of industries, from healthcare and engineering to the arts and law. Increasingly, however, it’s preparing them for roles that demand digital, data and AI proficiency – with one critical flaw. How can FE train students in AI and automation if many of its institutions and staff are not equipped to use these tools themselves? You can’t pass something on if you haven’t yet mastered it yourself. 

Whilst the UK is home to some of the best FE institutions in the world, the truth is that most still rely on legacy systems, outdated curricula and inefficient administrative processes that hinder their ability to keep pace with external industries. Yet, according to the Office for Students (OfS), over 7600 students have already enrolled in AI and data science postgraduate conversion courses across the UK, with 950 scholarships awarded to underprivileged groups. Expanding such initiatives throughout FE – through AI-focussed vocational training, apprenticeships and partnerships with tech employers – could naturally provide a vital boost to the UK’s talent pipeline, provided universities and colleges themselves are ready for such opportunities in training. 

For initiatives to succeed, FE educators and leaders must also upskill, building a solid grasp of AI, automation and digital transformation throughout all layers of the institution. This is the only way FE can truly provide students with the knowledge and experiences now demanded by employers. 

A Future-Ready FE

To teach cutting-edge skills, FE institutions themselves must be ahead of the curve, overcoming persistent barriers such as the lack of training, tools and infrastructure to integrate tech effectively that has held them back over the years. The OECD reports that whilst many employers are prioritising AI-related upskilling, FE institutions are lagging behind, with limited investment in digital capabilities for their staff or themselves. 

This lack of internal readiness is a major barrier, as FE cannot prepare its students for AI-driven workplaces with leaders and educators who are unfamiliar with such technologies. Likewise, institutions burdened by outdated, manual processes will struggle to provide efficient and effective learning environments, losing students to the better-equipped competition. The only way to overcome such hurdles is through intelligent automation, which has the capability not only to turn internal tech capacity around but also to free up critical staff time by processing mundane tasks and giving teaching members more time to focus on face-to-face time and teaching new skills to students both creatively and strategically. 

How Automation Helps

Contrary to popular belief, automation is not about replacing educators but freeing them to focus on high-value teaching and mentoring, by reducing administrative burdens – a move that will also allow institutions to welcome higher numbers of students onto digital courses with reduced risk of complaints. FE organisations already face tight budgets, rising student numbers and complex regulatory requirements such as HEPA data reporting. AI-driven automation can help them to overcome these challenges, giving staff more time to dedicate to real education. 

AI-powered student management systems can handle scheduling, marking and feedback, for instance, guaranteeing that students receive timely and personalised support before there’s a risk of them dropping out after slipping under the radar. Predictive analytics in such contexts can be huge, identifying at-risk students early on and allowing institutions to intervene as appropriate, successfully putting more skilled people into the workforce. Automation in admissions and enrolment equally streamlines processes, reducing workloads and improving student experiences. 

Data management is another critical area where AI can drive efficiency, with FE institutions generating vast amounts of student performance, attendance and engagement data. AI can process this data in real time, offering unparalleled insights that help organisations to refine their teaching methods and improve student outcomes. 

By embedding such automative solutions into daily operations, FE will not only become more efficient but also serve as a real-world model of how tools like AI and intelligent automation can be used effectively – something that benefits students and employers in the long run. 

Lead By Example

The skills crisis won’t solve itself – but if FE ensures that its own institutions and educators are digitally capable, it will be much better positioned to train the workforce of tomorrow. By embracing AI and automation, institutions can become both a leader in and provider of critical digital skills – closing the skills gap before it shuts everything down. 

By Alistair Sergeant, Founder and CEO of Niico