ETF wins contract to support leadership and governance in the FE sector

The Education and Training Foundation (ETF) is delighted to announce the award of a contract – up to the value of £9.55m – from the Department for Education (DfE) to deliver an enhanced programme of support to strengthen leadership and governance capability and capacity within the FE sector in England until 2025.  

This contract award builds on the ETF’s highly successful leadership and governance programmes that since 2017, have been helping to build a cadre of experienced leaders and governors for the sector. These include the highly respected Further Education Strategic Leadership and Preparing for CEO Programmes. The ETF, alongside our partners including the Association of Colleges (AoC), will lead the development of a suite of programmes to support the pipeline of future leaders and governors for the FE and Training sector.  

The ETF, working in partnership with the sector, will develop new, and build on its existing portfolio of, leadership programmes to support the career progression of individuals from aspiring to strategic leaders. In addition, the updated governance offer, aimed at board chairs, governors – including staff and student governors – and governance professionals, will strengthen governance expertise and skills within the sector. The programme will be accessible on a national basis, with a mix of face-to-face and online delivery.  

Dr Katerina Kolyva, CEO of the Education and Training Foundation, said: 

“We are delighted to continue the growth of professionalism across the FE sector by working alongside our partners to offer highly impactful development opportunities.  

Effective leadership and governance are crucial to enable the sector to thrive and we welcome the opportunity to work closely with our sector partners to deliver this ambitious programme of support to existing and aspiring leaders and governors across the sector. 

With our expanded offer and building on our strong track record, we look forward to exciting opportunities to support the growth of a cadre of inspiring future leaders and governors.” 

David Hughes CBE, Chief Executive of the Association (AoC) added: “The award of this funding is an endorsement of the new relationship AoC and ETF are forging, working more in partnership to meet college workforce and governors’ needs. Leadership and governance are strong in colleges, but for that to remain the case and be further strengthened, effective training programmes are essential. AoC, as the representative body for FE colleges, is ideally placed to support this work and we look forward to working with ETF on this.”