Press release: FE providers benefit from scheme to boost teaching workforce

Skills Minister Anne Milton announced today (12 October 2018) the first 37 providers to receive funding from the Taking Teaching Further (TTF) programme, which has been set up to help recruit the best and brightest candidates from industry into the post-16 and further education workforce and support an ongoing exchange between industry and FE.

The colleges and providers, in areas ranging from Cumbria and Northumberland, to Kent and Norwich, will aim to recruit the country’s first 80 TTF teachers from specific sectors and encourage them to retrain to work in those institutions.

Alongside the support to train new teachers, 20 innovative projects are also being funded totalling over £900,000 to explore how industry and the further education sector can work together to make sure students gain the knowledge and skills businesses really need.

Taking Teaching Further was launched in June as a pilot programme to further boost the quality of the post-16 teaching workforce by bringing in more diverse experiences and skills.

The scheme represents one part of the government’s wider investment in the further education sector as it prepares to introduce the first gold standard T Level qualifications from 2020 – high-quality technical courses equivalent to A levels. T Levels will provide young people with the cutting-edge skills and experience they need to secure a good job or progress into further training.

Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton said:

Attracting talented people to teach in Further education has never been more important. We are transforming technical education in this country with the introduction of new T Levels. We want staff with industry skills to pass on their expertise to the next generation.

I’m thrilled that we have a chance to bring industry to colleges and it will be exciting to see the differences they can make to their colleges and the students they teach. Further education changes lives, and our inspiring teachers are a huge part of that.

Chief Executive of the Education and Training Foundation David Russell said:

The Taking Teaching Further programme shows how our sector is rising to the challenge of building the country’s future. This programme will add significant impetus to the recruitment of world-class teachers and trainers into FE who combine teaching excellence with hands-on industry experience.

Those who have been successful in this first tranche will set a new benchmark for bringing in talent and expertise to improve technical teaching and support the development of our brilliant FE workforce.

Taking Teaching Further focuses on supporting priority sectors, including the first T Level subjects to be taught –Education and Childcare, Digital, and Construction – as well as Engineering and Manufacturing and other STEM subjects. The next round will open for applications in December.

The first 3 T Levels will be taught in more than 50 colleges from 2020, with the remaining 22 phased in after that. This landmark reform will provide young people with a genuine choice between technical and academic education post-16.

Colleges and FE providers to host the first TTF teachers:

• Blackpool and the Fylde College
• Bridgwater and Taunton College
• Buckinghamshire College Group
• Calderdale College
• Capital City College Group
• City College Norwich
• City College Plymouth
• East Kent College
• Grimsby Institute
• Kirklees College
• Lakes College
• Learning Skills Partnership
• Leicester College
• Northampton College
• Northumberland County Council
• Oldham College
• Petroc College
• Reaseheath College
• St Helens Chamber
• Tameside College
• Wakefield College
• Walsall College
• West Suffolk College

Colleges and FE providers to run first projects:

• Abingdon and Witney College
• Bath College
• Blackburn College
• Bournemouth and Poole College
• Calderdale College
• DN Colleges Group
• East Kent College
• Genius Solutions
• Greater Manchester Learning Provider Network
• Harlow College
• Learning Skills Partnership
• London South East Colleges
• North Kent College
• Northampton College
• Petroc College
• Sandwell College
• The Consortium of Vocational & Educational Trainers (COVET)
• The Isle of Wight College
• Walsall College
• Weston College