FE Experts Writing Peer To Peer About The Future Of Education
FE News Feature Articles - Exclusive Peer to Peer thought leadership articles written by leading experts about the future of education and the future of work. #futureofeducation #futureofwork.

Supporting young people today and tomorr…
Feb 26, 2021 / Featured Article
We can’t ignore the significant impact the coronavirus pandemic continues to have on education and skills provision in the UK. Even with the much welcome news this week that young...

Cutting through the fog: EpAO Collaborat…
Feb 26, 2021 / Featured Article
In my article last week “Cutting through the fog: Ofqual for EpAOs”, I said I would write a more detailed article on end-point assessment organisation (#EpAO) collaboration. Collaboration between EpAOs has...

Putting skills at the heart of our Plan …
Feb 25, 2021 / Featured Article
In her exclusive article, Employment Minister @MimsDavies explains how DWP is putting skills at the heart of our Plan for Jobs Through our Plan for Jobs, my department is set to...

Education catch-up: is online tuition th…
Feb 25, 2021 / Featured Article
Earlier this month, news broke that the Government appointed its own ‘education recovery tsar’. Sir Kevan Collins, previously Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), will oversee a programme of...

Blueprint for recovery and renewal in yo…
Feb 24, 2021 / Featured Article
This isn’t just about recovery from recession, it’s about a higher ambition for the future too After a year like no other, the success of the vaccine programme means we’re now...

Remote learning is here to stay, but dig…
Feb 24, 2021 / Featured Article
Over the last year, remote learning has become a necessity for education across the country, and indeed across much of the world. Those without strong online access have been at...

Five ways to maximise flexibility for th…
Feb 23, 2021 / Featured Article
Employers now need to re-focus on their long-term strategies for remote working More so than any other year in recent memory, 2020 presented challenge after challenge for businesses in every industry...

How to support neurodiverse learners: #1…
Feb 23, 2021 / Featured Article
Verbal memory is a type of long-term memory involved in remembering and recalling spoken or written information. It also includes our internal spoken thoughts. “Although the word long-term frequently carries with...

Can Elephants Gallop? The Imperative for…
Feb 22, 2021 / Featured Article
As the covid 19 pandemic arrived in the UK the incumbent providers of post-compulsory education in further and higher education were faced with a set of challenges unlike anything they...

Why the passing of Sir William McPherson…
Feb 19, 2021 / Featured Article
Sir William McPherson, the judge who presided over the inquiry into Stephen Lawrence’s murder, passed away on 14th February. The sad news, announced by his family, came almost precisely 22...

Increased screen time doesn’t mean dec…
Feb 19, 2021 / Featured Article
Until the pandemic forced the government to take a good hard look at remote learning, the edtech sector was largely left as a sleeping giant – let’s not send it...

It’s not about apprenticeships vs univ…
Feb 18, 2021 / Featured Article
Throughout my career, I’ve witnessed the power of lifelong learning many times over, whether that’s been in a classroom, in a work environment, or just life in general. The deep...

Cutting through the fog: Ofqual for EpAO…
Feb 17, 2021 / Featured Article
Having worked within and with EpAOs for the past 6 years, I have seen a number of areas where there is confusion, but none more so than in the past...

Essential Skills for Jobs: how investing…
Feb 17, 2021 / Featured Article
The transition of young people from education into employment between the ages of 16 and 25 is always a challenging one. The pandemic has once again had a disproportionate impact...

How can we make higher education more re…
Feb 16, 2021 / Featured Article
As we rebuild our economy post-pandemic, new approaches to education will be key. Higher Education (HE) is expected to play a profound role, begging an important question: how can we...

Turning Government policy into action……
Feb 16, 2021 / Featured Article
Whenever Government publishes a White Paper, much analysis and discussion invariably follows. This has certainly been the case for the long-awaited Skills for Jobs publication. This White paper emphatically places core...

“But what about the apprentice?” The…
Feb 15, 2021 / Featured Article
Friday the 13th of March 2020, a date I think that will stick in my memory. I, as so many colleagues from the sector, attended the ESFA’s annual EPAO conference...

Green construction apprenticeships can b…
Feb 13, 2021 / Featured Article
The UK Government has pledged a zero carbon Britain by 2050. Reaching this goal demands the upgrading of over a million buildings a year, potentially creating hundreds of thousands of...

Equity Within Education - A Complex Prob…
Feb 12, 2021 / Featured Article
I was recently invited by the European Access Network - the only European-wide, non-governmental organisation for widening participation in higher education - to host and facilitate a keynote discussion at...

Apprenticeship and Neurodiversity – re…
Feb 12, 2021 / Featured Article
There are apprentice placements to match the strengths and talents of all. There is something for everyone –for those with analytical, caring, science, practical or creative skills and for those...

Apprenticeships are key to tackling the …
Feb 11, 2021 / Featured Article
The energy sector is experiencing a transformative era. Our research shows that in order to tackle climate change and reach the net zero by 2050 goal, we will need to...

Assessment – Time for a rethink?
Feb 11, 2021 / Featured Article
The cancellation of GCSEs and A-Levels for a second year running has increased the pressure on the UK government to re-evaluate its approach to assessment. For all its challenges, Covid offers...

Mental health crisis in the wake of Covi…
Feb 10, 2021 / Featured Article
This is the first in a series of pieces on how further education and skills can be the cure for the societal impact of Covid-19. We examine the impact that...

#VirtualCoffee with Jennifer Coupland du…
Feb 10, 2021 / Featured Article
In the latest edition of the #VirtualCoffee podcast, Jennifer Coupland, Chief Executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education joins Gavin O’Meara, CEO and Founder of FE News for...

#VirtualCoffee with Kirstie Donnelly - N…
Feb 09, 2021 / Featured Article
Welcome to the launch of this new podcast series, and join me, Gavin O'Meara, and Kirstie Donnelly, CEO of City & Guilds for a #VirtualCoffee and chat. In this episode we...

For early professionals and apprentices…
Feb 08, 2021 / Featured Article
@IBM's @JennyTaylor369 reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on recruitment and onboarding, and suggests some ways businesses can evolve to fulfil the changing needs of young professionals and apprentices. Long-standing skills shortage...

Covid-19 and the future of Education
Feb 08, 2021 / Featured Article
According to the old proverb, “Necessity is the mother of invention”, and we have seen this become reality during the Covid-19 pandemic in so many ways, not least in education...

Why digitisation can create more inclusi…
Feb 06, 2021 / Featured Article
In 2020, the inequalities at the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic and the BLM movement put a sharper spotlight on systemic racism, causing societies from across the world to reflect...

A brave new world: How curriculum, pedag…
Feb 05, 2021 / Featured Article
Rethinking assessment's (@RethinkAssessmt) Bill Lucas (@LucasLearn) welcomes @EDSKthinktank’s latest report, and suggests some ways in which it could go further still to value more of the strengths of young people: Valuing the full...

Personal Employment Accounts could provi…
Feb 05, 2021 / Featured Article
Plan for Jobs The government’s response to the unemployment crisis precipitated by Covid19 has been tremendous. There has been timely, significant and economy-saving investment in the furlough scheme and in various...

Rishi Sunak Exclusive: I want the next g…
Feb 04, 2021 / Featured Article
Ahead of National Apprenticeship Week 2021 next week (8-14 Feb) #NAW2021 #BuildTheFuture, @FENews catch up with Chancellor @RishiSunak to find out more about #PlanforJobs and what the new #Kickstart changes...

The White Paper is evolutionary not revo…
Feb 03, 2021 / Featured Article
The much-anticipated Further Education (FE) #WhitePaper has launched. As a Sector we can now start the important work of thinking about, discussing and utilising the #SkillsforJobs publication to further improve...

Our experience proves how successful a …
Feb 03, 2021 / Featured Article
Reading some aspects of the long-awaited FE White Paper held a certain sense of déjà vu for both ourselves and our colleagues. This is not to say we are disappointed...

Laying The Foundations For A Skills Led …
Feb 02, 2021 / Featured Article
In amongst the flurry of policy announcements from @EducationGovUK, including the Teaching Excellence Framework, post qualifications admissions and the post-18 review, there was the very important, and welcome, Skills for...

The Skills for Jobs White Paper only hei…
Feb 01, 2021 / Featured Article
The publication of the Skills for jobs: Lifelong learning for opportunity and growth white paper has led to a flurry of policy analyses and political game playing. As the dust...

Remote learning: Three ways to deal with…
Feb 01, 2021 / Featured Article
Educational institutions are already dealing with the exponential growth of the data they handle. Now, as the national lockdown continues and schools across the country remain closed, they face the...

The Augar Review: What’s missing and w…
Jan 30, 2021 / Featured Article
Over the last three years, there have been enough pivots, swivels and pirouettes in ministers’ attitudes to the #Augar review to fill a series of Strictly Come Dancing. The recommendations scattered...

Process mapping is the essential tool fo…
Jan 29, 2021 / Featured Article
Better Processes - Management is the Key! 2020 is a year I think we will all wish to consign to the bin! But one positive effect of the pandemic for colleges...

Scrapping the 30 person threshold for Ki…
Jan 28, 2021 / Featured Article
We are currently in the midst of one of the greatest health and financial crises the country has ever seen, and yet despite this there is hope that when we...

The importance of qualifications as we l…
Jan 28, 2021 / Featured Article
Five key areas of vital importance for the #YouthJobsGaps Almost a year ago I stood in front of a fairly sizable audience at Park Plaza hotel at Westminster Bridge to launch...

Skills for Jobs White Paper right to put…
Jan 27, 2021 / Featured Article
The Secretary of State @GavinWilliamson calls the long awaited #SkillsforJobs white paper a "blueprint" for the future of further education. Rather than being revolutionary with lots of new announcements, it certainly...

Closing the gap on UK AI skills
Jan 27, 2021 / Featured Article
The existing digital skills gap sees the UK lose out on £63 billion every year. And, with increased digitalisation across even traditional sectors, this figure is set to rise unless...
Learning Factories: On the route to scie…
Jan 26, 2021 / Featured Article
This week the Gatsby Foundation has published The Opportunity for Learning Factories in the UK, the report I have been working on for them over the past nine months. I am...
Skills for Jobs White Paper: The Case fo…
Jan 25, 2021 / Featured Article
Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth - The Case for Investment in demand-side Careers Support and Incentives The Government’s White Paper, Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity...

Post-Pandemic Learning: A Chance to Re-e…
Jan 25, 2021 / Featured Article
There has been a great deal of apprehension around the recent changes made in education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this next era of education could be...

Five reasons why online and blended lear…
Jan 23, 2021 / Featured Article
Everyone has become more familiar with online learning during the pandemic, but will there be a rush to go back to the old normal if we don’t fully understand its...

FE White Paper marks a sea-change in Gov…
Jan 22, 2021 / Featured Article
#BuildBackBetter clearly means building back a skills nation The proposals from the Prime Minister and Department for Education set out in the FE White Paper marks a sea-change in Government thinking...
COVID-19 has forced all employers to sta…
Jan 22, 2021 / Featured Article
How shifting to a culture of trust will benefit all employees While home working is nothing new, the way businesses all over the world have had to adapt to it overnight...

Technical education is key to success - …
Jan 21, 2021 / Featured Article
@NCFE's @MichaelLemin unpacks the #SkillsforJobs #FEWhitePaper The release of the government’s Skills for Jobs white paper shines a light on the national training landscape and provides some much-needed reassurance amid the Covid-19...

Putting employers at the heart of the sy…
Jan 21, 2021 / Featured Article
Today (21 Jan) we see the launch of the Skills for Jobs White Paper, which presents a critical opportunity to create the kind of policy environment in England that is...

Challenges and opportunities facing the …
Jan 21, 2021 / Featured Article
After the extraordinary upheaval of 2020, the UK’s existing chronic skills shortage has become a critical problem. With the pandemic and economic crisis ongoing, the Edge Foundation’s first Skills Shortage...

Review of Post 16 Qualifications at Leve…
Jan 20, 2021 / Featured Article
The Government’s review of level 3 post 16 qualifications, consultation on the second stage of which closes on 31st January 2021, is likely to mean fundamental change for young people...

Level 4 Apprenticeships and above - we n…
Jan 19, 2021 / Featured Article
In the years prior to the pandemic, even as the overall number of apprenticeships starts were falling, we saw a steady increase in the number of employers offering apprenticeships at...

What do we need from the White Paper?
Jan 18, 2021 / Featured Article
How do we stop further education, feeling like an afterthought? There has been a bit of an echo on my twitter feed over the last few days after I responded to...

The pilot shortage isn’t going away. H…
Jan 16, 2021 / Featured Article
With multiple COVID-19 vaccines on the horizon and the air transportation industry poised for recovery, attention will soon turn once again to the enduring pilot shortage. No government aid program or...

Open Letter from BFELG to the FE Commiss…
Jan 15, 2021 / Featured Article
Next week the Assessment panel convenes to appoint the new FE Commissioner, a post that has become increasingly important in setting the culture of the FE colleges sector, in my...

The impact of the current lockdown on ap…
Jan 14, 2021 / Featured Article
You never know building a system based on trust may just be the way forward. No one could have predicted during the first lockdown in March last year that 10 months...

Why technology will still play a pivotal…
Jan 14, 2021 / Featured Article
2020 saw the education sector forced into an abrupt shift. The move to widespread remote education defied decades of conventional wisdom, and required obligatory changes to the way teaching -...

Maximising digital opportunity for the n…
Jan 13, 2021 / Featured Article
With schools, colleges and universities making a sudden return to online delivery – expectations regarding the quality of remote teaching and learning are high. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson even went as...

The diversity dilemma in cyber security
Jan 12, 2021 / Featured Article
Organisations today are more digital than ever, which has meant that, cybersecurity is now one of the most important ingredients for success. And with the average cost to remediate a...
At FE News the Feature article contributors don’t just cover the latest news, they create it, by sharing expert insights into the latest developments, education strategies and their views on how education policy will impact the education sector.
Find the latest exclusive peer to peer thought leadership and Op-Ed Articles written by experts across Further Education, Work Based Learning, Skills, Employability and Apprenticeships in our featured articles section of FE News. Here you will find expert insights, the latest developments and strategies across Further Education, skills and college news.
FE News are renowned for having the latest views and trending ideas, as well as topics from leading experts from the sector and world of work. Here you can read or listen to experts discussing the latest strategic developments, their views on how the latest education policy will impact the sector, through to sharing best practice and innovation in education delivery and the future of education.
We are always keen to engage with experts who would like to contribute to solution led, peer to peer thought leadership content, sharing best practice, innovation and emerging technology within education. Here at FE News we encourage discussion on the future of education in a thought leadership community, training and employment. We invite authors to get involved in the debate, by becoming a part of the FE Community, to continually improve the FE system.