Every day, colleges equip people from all walks of life with the education, training, and skills they need to succeed. From young people starting out, to adults retraining, and apprentices learning in the workplace, colleges open doors and create opportunities.

That’s why in 2026, our Colleges Week theme is skills for all, with a focus on a different group of learners each day.

• On Monday, we will celebrate adult learners returning to education, from career changers to lifelong learners, and the power of flexible, community-focused learning.
• On Tuesday, we will shine a spotlight on the young people who are gaining vocational and academic skills, building confidence and working towards their futures.
• On Wednesday, we will focus on apprentices of all ages who are bringing skills to life in the workplace alongside learning in the classroom, as well as the employers who support them.
• On Thursday, we will showcase the higher education learners gaining technical and academic qualifications at level 4 and above, and the colleges delivering these local, flexible, and career-focused courses.
• On Friday, we will be rounding up with your college community, emphasising relationships and partnerships both within colleges and the world beyond the gates.

How can you get involved?

1. Engage local politicians

Engaging with your local politicians – constituency MPs, Mayors, council leaders, and other local representatives – during Colleges Week is crucial in strengthening our collective voice. Elected politicians shape the policy, investment and strategic decisions that affect colleges every day. By opening your doors and demonstrating your college’s contribution, you help demonstrate to them why sustained investment in colleges is vital for the future of skills and productivity.

You could:

• invite them to visit the college or take part in a short skills-share session during Colleges Week. 
• ask them to share content on social media using the #CollegesWeek2026 and #LoveOurColleges hashtags.  
• show them how your college delivers skills for all across the five themes we’ve outlined above. 

2. Secure local media coverage

Local media coverage can reach those who may not be aware of your college and the great work it does. It is worth reaching out to journalists to secure coverage throughout the year, but especially during Colleges Week when there will be a collective focus on raising awareness across the sector.

You could:

• focus on a national issue, for example, NHS skills gaps or community cohesion, and invite a journalist to come and see what your college is doing to tackle it.
• highlight any college events or new facilities you may be opening.
• gather success stories from students in each of the categories and pitch them out to local media in advance.

3. Make some noise on social media

The audience you can reach on social media is vast: as well as students, parents and employers, you can also catch the eye of politicians and policy makers. Colleges Week is a great opportunity to draw attention to your college and the FE sector. In all posts, remember to use the hashtags #CollegesWeek2026 and #LoveOurColleges.

You could:

• share AoC’s Colleges Week graphics on social media, or create your own graphics specific to your college and local community, tagging your local politicians where appropriate.
• post your stories of success and highlight the incredible campaigning happening at your college throughout the week.
• update your LinkedIn and X banners to the AoC Colleges Week banner.

4. Get local employers and partners involved

Showcasing the strong relationships colleges have with local employers and organisations can help amplify the wider messages you are sharing during Colleges Week.

You could:

• invite local employers and organisations into the college to attend roundtables on key issues.
• showcase case studies on successful projects with local employers in blogs, articles or social media posts and asking them to share on their social media channels too using #LoveOurColleges.

5. Enter our competition

Irwin Mitchell is continuing to sponsor our annual Colleges Week competition, but this year we are doing things a bit differently.

We are asking colleges to send us short videos describing Colleges Week in three words. These videos can feature anyone from your college community, and should be submitted via X or LinkedIn with the hashtags #SkillsForAll and #CollegesWeek2026. Please also tag both @irwinmitchell and @AoC_info in your post, to ensure we receive your entry.

Please email comms@aoc.co.uk with a link to your post to make sure we don’t miss it and include the full names and job titles included in the video. Videos should be shot in landscape, no longer than 1 minute 30 seconds, and must be subtitled. Each college can only submit one video that will be considered for the competition purpose.

We will then randomly select the winner, who will receive a package of tickets to AoC Conferences. The winner can select to have either four tickets to online conferences hosted by AoC, or one ticket to an in-person conference and three to an online conference hosted by AoC.

Contact us

Communications Team – comms@aoc.co.uk

Public Affairs Team – public_affairs@aoc.co.uk