David Hughes

Another excellent College Alliance meeting - always so much to take away from conversations with our neighbours - to build stronger, adaptive systems.

@aoc-info.bsky.social @lewis-cooper.bsky.social @hughesdavid.bsky.social

📣 The FE commissioner's report into Weston College is 'a must-read for all college leaders on how not to do' governance, says @hughesdavid.bsky.social of @aoc-info.bsky.social

📣 Schools prove pupil premium funding works; so why stop it at 16?
@hughesdavid.bsky.social @aliceeardley.bsky.social @aoc-info.bsky.social @brilliantclub.bsky.social @thefea.bsky.social @ascl-uk.bsky.social @theaccessproject.org.uk @suttontrust.bsky.social

"It will open up thousands of opportunities for young people and adults to get the skills they need and which employers are crying out for." - @hughesdavid.bsky.social welcomes the Chancellor's £625 million college infrastructure investment. Read our full response here: aoc.co.uk/news-campaig...

Great to see this package of measures helping colleges to scale up their construction training, in partnership with employers. Looking forward to working with DfE on making it happen. Pleased that colleges being recognised for how vital they are on this

Graphic which reads: Live Q&A: resources for engaging students in eco-friendly education, 4-5pm Thursday 20 March, online via zoom, Colleges' National Green Week 17-21 March 2025.

Join us from 4pm-5pm on Thursday 20 March for our Colleges' National Green Week live Q&A to hear from South Thames College and London South East Colleges on how they have built sustainable learning environments. #CNGW2025

Register here: t.co/pg1D4ww44q

Register now for our Colleges' National Green Week live Q&A on Thursday 20 March! Watch our on-demand webinar to see how South Thames College and London South East Colleges have built sustainable learning environments and then join us for this interactive session! #CNGW2025
aoc.co.uk/corporate-se...

Congratulations to the newly appointed leadership team at #SkillsEngland. Looking forward to working with them to help establish a better, coherent, inclusive post-16 education and skills system

Lifelong Learning - Hansard - UK Parliament Hansard record of the item : 'Lifelong Learning' on Thursday 6 February 2025.

Cuts in funding for adult education appear to be in the pipeline. With that in mind, it is worth reading yesterday's House of Lords speech by the Skills Minister, Jacqui Smith, who summarises the social and economic value of adult education:
hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2025-0...

Excellent discussion today about skills needs & enormous potential for fair growth in #LiverpoolCityRegion with @darrenpjones.bsky.social & @metromayorsteve.bsky.social at the nearly finished impressive new Everton stadium, a beacon for regenerating the docks over next decade

"Colleges have the facilities to educate and train people for a changing economy but need to work with government to ensure these are suitable, sustainable and sufficient to support national skills priorities" - @hughesdavid.bsky.social.

Read our full response here:
www.aoc.co.uk/news-campaig...

Yes @pmdfoster.bsky.social has made a big effort to understand. As has Branwen Jeffrey's at BBC, but editors still blocking as they have no experience in colleges

Graphic reads "International Holocaust Remembrance Day."

"Teaching about past atrocities can help encourage students to challenge hatred, racism and discrimination in the here and now," says Eddie Playfair, Senior Policy Manager at AoC, in our new blog on #InternationalHolocaustRemembranceDay.

Read more:
www.aoc.co.uk/news-campaig...

yes, it shows how difficult the mainstream media find it to understand the college world @sebschmoller.bsky.social

The Guardian view on teachers’ pay: colleges don’t deserve second-class status | Editorial Editorial: College staff deserve a pay rise along with their peers. Widening the gap with schools would be a serious mistake

Good to see @theguardian.com recognise need to invest more in colleges to address pay gaps with school teachers. General further education college lecturers just as badly affected. Low pay means colleges cannot recruit lecturers in skills vital for growth www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

quote graphic with headshot of David Holloway which reads: Discussions on SEND reform must include colleges, says AoC "Colleges provide inclusive cultures and inclusive curricula, and yet are hampered by a worse deal for SEND funding and by the indefensible £10,000 pay gap between school teachers and college teachers.” David Holloway, Senior Policy Manager - SEND

"We were heartened by the discussion of the role of colleges in the PAC’s evidence session for this inquiry, and it would have been good to see greater recognition of that role in today’s report." - David Holloway responds to new Public Accounts Committee report.
www.aoc.co.uk/news-campaig...

“If the government wants to achieve its missions and ambitions for economic growth and fairness, additional, sustainable investment across all post-16 education must be provided in the spring spending review.” says @hughesdavid.bsky.social.

Read in full: www.aoc.co.uk/news-campaig...

UK school budgets eroded by spiralling special needs costs, report shows SEN spending and higher wages leave headteachers facing ‘very tight’ accounts in 2025, says IFS

Another year & another report, picked up by @pmdfoster.bsky.social highlighting the shocking underinvestment in post-16 education & skills after 14 years of austerity. The government's missions are at risk of under-delivery without more investment in colleges on.ft.com/4aaOQBi

Good to see David moving over into college leadership

Great analysis, exposing severe problem for economic growth, inclusion & fairness. Skills England will have a big job to do to change this

Great to have you on the @aoc-info.bsky.social #FEHallofFame Stuart Deeley

Great to have you signed up @bridgendcollege.bsky.social

A very warm welcome @joshbabarinde.bsky.social to our #FEHallofFame

Good to see John Widdowson as part of this, ensuring there is an informed FE college voice. Before they propose a university in Wakefield, perhaps better investment in the college for young people and adults might be a start

David Hughes quote graphic: “For too long pay in further education has lagged behind both schools and industry, with detrimental effects on the sector and wider economy, and we are hopeful that this is a positive step towards ensuring colleges have the funding they need to close the pay gap.”

“For too long pay in further education has lagged behind both schools and industry, with detrimental effects on the sector and wider economy” - @hughesdavid.bsky.social calls on the STRB to support a pay increase for FE staff and outlines three ambitions on college pay. t.co/hco167NDqc

Pleased to give evident today to the School Teacher Review Body on the unacceptably low level of college pay causing enormous recruitment, retention & morale problems which in turn create risk for delivery of many of the government's manifesto commitments view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx...

But the teenager is part of a dwindling group: despite the efforts of successive governments, the number of apprenticeship starts has fallen by over a third over the past decade — from 520,600 in 2011 to 337,100 in 2022 — and the declines are sharpest among those aged 16 to 19. In the meantime, businesses are relying on foreign workers to fill those roles. On site in Bermondsey, where heavy packages are being flung from one worker to another, a Polish scaffolder in his 30s estimates that around 80 to 90 per cent of the 250 workers come from overseas, mainly eastern Europe. Especially in the summer months, it is incredibly hard to find bricklayers, carpenters and groundworkers, he says. A large group of workers come from Moldova, where many people have dual Romanian citizenship and were able to travel to the UK freely before Brexit.

Does the UK have enough workers to ‘get Britain building’? In short: it'll be a stretch. FT analysis by Delphine Strauss & Anna Gross that is silent on previous governments' destructive failure to get the FE system firing on all cylinders. Striking excerpt below. www.ft.com/content/ca44...

quote ‘’Today's announcement in the House of Commons on the outcome of the rapid review of Level 3 qualification defunding offers some stability for colleges and students and allows colleges to plan their curriculum offer with confidence for the next couple of years.”

“It shows that the government has engaged and listened to college lecturers as well as employers." - @hughesdavid.bsky.social responds to today's announcement in the House of Commons on the outcome of the Level 3 rapid review.

Read our full response here: t.co/M62PuU4eVL

Responding to the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) - Learning and Work Institute

“Almost 9m adults still have low literacy and numeracy... We need a renewed focus on English, maths and digital skills for adults.”

✍️ L&W chief exec @stephenevans.bsky.social responds to the Survey of Adult Skills (#PIAAC) published today.

learningandwork.org.uk/news-and-pol...

Thanks for the headline summary @stephenevans.bsky.social