The Education and Training Foundation (ETF), the University and College Union (UCU) and the Association of Colleges (AoC) have joined forces to create a unified FE workforce database, Tes can reveal.
The three organisations, which have traditionally worked independently to gather data on staff numbers, terms and conditions, and pay, will now work together to provide a reliable source of information through the ETF’s staff individualised record (SIR).
The data, which will be published annually, has been recorded from 1 August, and will be shared with the organisations that take part in November.
Last year only a third of colleges in England took part in the ETF’s workforce data for 2014-15, and it is hoped a collaborative approach will draw upon a wider base.
‘A shared vision’
David Russell, chief executive of the ETF, said: “We all have a shared vision in transforming technical education and an understanding that the sector’s workforce is absolutely crucial to achieving this. The fact that we will now have a single source of high quality, credible and consistent information, managed by the ETF, shows the continual growth in collaborative working across the sector. This research approach can only be good for ensuring there is more informed support and understanding of the workforce, which in turn will lead to better outcomes for the country’s learners.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU, said: “The UCU proposed a collaborative approach to data collection because credible and consistent data on staffing is essential if we are to respond to the current challenges the sector faces. The UCU welcomes working together with the ETF and AoC on this initiative. We believe that having better data can only improve the sector’s efforts to ensure appropriate funding from government, and therefore improve the education we provide to its learners.”
David Hughes, chief executive of the AoC, said: “We need one single source of FE data from which government, stakeholders and representative bodies can draw reliable information - and we need to reduce the administrative burden on colleges to enable them to focus resources on teaching and learning.”
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