The Education and Training Foundation has been tasked with reviewing the capability of 30 college boards, it has been announced. 

The reviews – funded by the Department for Education – will come as a result of a referral by the Education and Skills Funding Agency or the FE commissioner - but colleges can also put themselves forward to the DfE. 

The colleges who are most “in need of support” will be given priority for the reviews, and they will take place by March 2021.

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David Russell, chief executive of the Education and Training Foundation, said that college boards have “faced an increasingly complex and demanding set of challenges in recent years, and the Covid-19 pandemic has added yet more stress and uncertainty.”

He said: “The role boards play in delivering first-class leadership of the sector is vital, and the Education and Training Foundation is already providing a variety of support to help governors and clerks fulfil their responsibilities. It is not enough for Colleges to have excellent people round their board tables – they must also act together with great skill and coherence as non-executive leadership teams.

"The new capability review service – and particularly the ability of colleges to ask for help by self-referring – is another important step in supporting boards and driving improvement.”

In November 2019, the FE commissioner suggested that college chairs be paid for their role – he said that the amount of work done by many college chairs was “embarrassing” and the role was significantly more work-intensive than other voluntary roles in, for example, the schools sector.

He added that college chairs should be public appointments and should be remunerated “in some way”.