Dayle Bayliss and John Cope appointed to serve on the IfATE board

Two exciting new board appointments have been unveiled by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (@IfATEched). 

Dayle Bayliss and John Cope will serve as non-executive board members for three years starting from next month.

Dayle is a chartered surveyor, director, and project manager for Dayle Bayliss Ltd construction consultancy, based in Ipswich. She has worked as a surveyor, lecturer, project manager and director in the construction sector for over 20 years.

She is a board member of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Skills Advisory Panel and a member of the Suffolk Chamber Business Women Board.

Dayle is also a former member of the Institute’s construction route panel, which oversees approvals of new apprenticeships, and was chair of our construction: design, surveying and planning T Level development panel.  

Speaking about joining the Institute board, Dayle said:

“I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to do a lot of really positive and exciting work with developing a first class technical education system for this country.

“I have been involved with the skills landscape for many years and after working extensively with the Institute already on the development of apprenticeships and T Levels, this feels like a natural progression.

“I’m very proud of the Institute and have seen how we are fantastic at listening to employers and taking on board their insights to help shape training programmes in a way that works for everyone. I fully intend to ensure that this continues and that we keep on improving how we serve everyone involved with skills training for years to come.”

John is a former head of education and skills policy at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), and deputy director of education practice at the thinktank and polling company Public First. He assumed his current role as director of strategy, policy and public affairs at the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) in September this year.

He is also a non-executive director of the Activate Learning Group and an advisory member of the board of the Education Policy Institute.

John said: “Apprenticeships and technical education are high on the government’s agenda, meaning there has never been a more exciting or crucial time to join the Institute’s board. We can never take for granted the progress on apprenticeships and T Levels over the last few years – we must keep up momentum, however difficult the pandemic makes this. 

“I want to use my experience at the CBI to help engage employers more effectively. My day job at UCAS will help better link the two organisations to ensure all education options are promoted, not just higher education.

“We have not done anywhere near enough as a country over many years to put technical and academic routes on an equal footing. The Institute is key to righting this and I feel immensely fortunate to have the opportunity to play my part.”

Antony Jenkins, chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, said:

“I am delighted to welcome both Dayle and John to the Institute’s board and very much look forward to working with them.
“They will play an important role in the Institute’s future and will certainly help to strengthen our work with employers, improving and delivering opportunities right across the skills landscape.”