Today is, without question, one of my favourite days of the working year. At midnight, we published the shortlist for this year’s Tes FE Awards - a reflection of everything that is great about the sector, pulled together by a panel of judges that is unrivalled in its experience and expertise.
The actual awards evening is brilliant, of course - what could be better than a night literally dedicated to applauding the very best of FE? But there is something special about the breadth and range of entries making the shortlist that is worth a bit more of a focus.
This year, the list is even more special. It reflects the outstanding response to the coronavirus pandemic across the UK - the move to online delivery, the launch of countless community initiatives, the work by teachers and college leaders to make sure learners remained the focus and staff and students were safe.
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The shortlist represents institutions from the Highlands of Scotland to Wales, from large national providers to relatively small specialist institutions, from teams battling all kinds of adversity to staff looking beyond the boundaries of their individual workplace. Every single entry on that long list deserves to be celebrated. Wait ‘til we bring you the winners’ stories and can share more of the individual journeys of these beacons of the sector - you are bound to be impressed. I suspect you won’t be surprised, though. Because if you are reading this, you likely are already aware of the power of FE.
This week, the Social Market Foundation and the Further Education Trust for Leadership published research that, they said, showed almost half of parents would prefer their child to get a vocational qualification after school - more that would like to see them attend university or start work.
According to the SMF, among people in the most affluent three socioeconomic groups, 43 per cent of people would prefer their child to get a vocational qualification, while 45 per cent said they would rather their children went to university.
Now, data is always worth questioning. It is worth considering, for example, what qualifications the parents in the survey held. If many of them had themselves taken a vocational route, it is less surprising they would support the same for their children. If they had all attended university, would we expect them to aspire to their children learning a trade?
It has been known for some time that one of the challenges colleges and other FE providers face is that policies are often made for them by people who have no direct FE experience. There is a reason apprenticeships and skills minister Gillian Keegan never misses an opportunity to mention the fact that she did an apprenticeship - it is very rare in government. I can think of politicians who have been to, or taught at, colleges - but there are not many. Sadly, among the media covering the education and skills sector, that is unlikely to be different. I am a case in point here: the first time I stepped across the threshold of an FE provider was as a fresh-faced Tes reporter less than a decade ago.
This week, I chaired a panel session at the launch of the College Development Network’s Research and Enhancement Centre. The discussion covered everything from how you choose research subjects to college culture enabling research - but it kept coming back to one key point: research on FE needs to be by the sector, for the sector. FE needs to take ownership.
I have said this many times before: the FE sector needs to take charge of the narrative. Begin to tell its story. Not once, but over and over and over again - or at least as often as ministers are reshuffled and civil servants move on. Only people who truly know what it is FE does, how it changes lives and lifts people, can possibly be expected to give the sector the support it needs. And the ambassadors of great practice on today’s Tes FE Awards shortlist certainly do play their part in that narrative.
