The government recognises that colleges need support to help students catch up following the disruption caused by the coronavirus, apprenticeships and skills minister Gillian Keegan has said.
Speaking to Tes after a virtual visit to Exeter College with education secretary Gavin Williamson, Ms Keegan said she understood the sector’s frustrations at the fact that the £1 billion catch-up fund, announced last week, will only benefit primary and secondary institutions. She also stressed that this was “the age of FE”, where policies were coming together for the benefit of the sector.
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Ms Keegan said: “The initial focus has been on a school catch-up, and we have had a great response from the FE sector. They were quick to move online, they provided a wide range of brilliant classes, virtually and engaging and in real time. They have done a brilliant job. But, of course, we recognise that they do need to catch up. Of course we recognise that.”
Ms Keegan added: “We mention a lot about the challenges of maths and English for some of the cohort as they come into FE colleges. Clearly, those who are starting college from school are going to face those challenges, and they are going to face them more probably than they have in previous years. So we are working to see what we can give to make up for that disruption.”
Schools are “where the focus has been, but that doesn’t mean that that is where we end”, said the minister.
However, she stressed that colleges had got “a lot on which to build on”. “There is a lot of investment going into the sector that is much better than it has been before. This is the age of further education,” Ms Keegan said.
On their virtual visit to the FE college, Mr Williamson and Ms Keegan talked to college managers, as well as a group of students. They were also updated on Exeter College’s involvement in the region’s new Institute of Technology, and its recruitment for the first intake of T-level students starting this September.
Ms Keegan said the college visit had highlighted how “all these policies are coming together - the Institute of Technology, the T-level investment, the apprenticeship investment”.
“They have got capital equipment investment, they have got buildings investment, they have got the Institute of Technology - all those policies are coming together to create something that you can see is the future. This is not the time to despair - I think this is actually the time where we will see a lot more from our further education sector,” she added.
