Association of Colleges

In line with the Association's role as the representative and campaigning voice for
Colleges, our international activities are primarily focused on providing a strategic lead and representing the sector in government and EU-led policy development.

Colleges' interests embraced within that remit include:

• Recruiting international students to the UK
• Institutional twinning and learning-based partnerships
• Student exchanges and overseas work placements
• Staff exchanges and joint education projects
• Offshore delivery, franchising and distance learning services
• Consultancy and advisory services to assist with education reform
• EU education programmes, as well as other measures (e.g. Lisbon agenda) impacting more generally on FE domestic policy and practice

We maintain close links with all key UK Government departments concerned with the European and international agenda (BIS, DTI/UK Trade Investment, DfID, the Home Office, FCO and UK Visas) as well as the various FE policy, funding and regulatory bodies. Through AoC, FE sector representatives now sit on all the main international policy groups.

Strategic partnerships, both for specific projects and, in some cases, joint lobbying cover a wide range of organisations including the British Council, UKCOSA, English UK, the British Educational Suppliers Association, the British Book Publishers Association, awarding bodies and the lifelong learning sector skills council to name but a few.

In addition to our role of representing Colleges on international and European matters, we also maintain links with sister bodies and other organisations overseas. More recently, AoC has also piloted several sector-wide overseas projects, focusing in particular on those derived from UK government, British Council and British employers' export initiatives.

Contact details:

Diane Mullen
AoC International Partnerships Adviser
Tel. 020 7034 9900
Email

Marguerite Hogg
International Contracts Manager
Mob. 07825 805 842
Email