Maintaining and improving standards of teaching in the FE sector

As a recruitment agency we feel strongly about ensuring the candidates we place in FE colleges are not only teacher qualified, with the right skills and experience, but are also a good fit for each college in terms of their teaching style and methods.

We recently voiced our opinion and position on the removal of the requirement for FE lecturers to have teaching qualifications to teach in FE colleges; our recruitment criteria will not be affected by the change and we will uphold the need for our FE lecturers to hold teaching qualifications.

As echoed by our clients, we believe it’s important to maintain high standards of teaching and to continue to improve the learning experience within the FE sector.

So, we asked ourselves what could be done to further enhance the recruitment and candidate vetting process in the FE sector. The answer was to enrol our further education consultants on a 12-week PTLLS teacher training course – which included intensive theory, several essays and the delivery of their own lesson plan – to obtain teaching qualifications.

Why? To equip them with the hands-on, practical knowledge and understanding of what makes an outstanding FE lecturer.

This latest measure was introduced by Morgan Hunt not only to ensure we provide the highest calibre candidates to the FE colleges we partner with, but to further align our recruitment process to the needs of the FE sector.

Following the completion of the teaching qualifications, Morgan Hunt overhauled the interview and assessment process. Candidates applying for lecturing roles within FE colleges are now put through a more rigorous vetting process and are required to deliver a ‘micro-teach’ assessed by our qualified recruitment consultants.

In the words of our managing director Sue Cooper: “As part of our commitment to support our clients in maintaining and improving standards of teaching in the FE sector, we are continually striving to find new, innovative ways to enhance our service offering. This latest initiative for our consultants to obtain teaching qualifications is yet another way for us to improve our recruitment practices.

“With the recent government decision to remove the requirement for a teaching qualification, this initiative is our way of addressing any potential impact this change might have by ensuring we continue to recruit the highest calibre candidates in the FE sector for our clients.”

Ruth Mathias is web editor at Morgan Hunt Education, the recruitment agency