These are exciting times for FE research – but the government needs a long-term plan

By Alice Eardley, Interim CEO, Get Further

Historically within FE, we have had to work hard to get our voice heard by government, not least when it comes to promoting research within the sector and securing funding to help us make a difference for the young people we support. But, with new funding for the Education Endowment Foundation and the publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report, we appear to be entering a new era: FE research is gaining traction, and we should seize the opportunity while we can.

To do this we need to do two things. We need to clearly demonstrate and communicate what we know to be effective in supporting post-16 learners. There is no doubt that what benefits individual learners within FE also has much wider social and economic benefits for the UK as a whole – a message that is particularly crucial at this moment in time. We also need to make the case for funding to support the wider roll out and embedding of those initiatives. It is one thing to understand what works, it is another to have the means to ensure that all learners have the opportunity to access that provision.

In the past, research into how to impactfully support learners within FE was often overlooked nationally. In 2019 when Ofsted published an “Overview of research” underpinning its new Education Inspection Framework, FE research was infamously completely excluded due to its “relative paucity”. Researchers within the sector generated a robust response and the standalone “Educational effectiveness research and further education and skills” report was swiftly published.

This report is just part of a rich picture of FE research. The LWI, NFER and EPI regularly publish their work on the sector, while high-profile, practitioner-focused initiatives include the Edge Foundation’s Emerging Researchers Network, the AoC’s Research Further programme, the ETF’s practitioner research programme, the Learning and Skills Research Network, and the Research College Group. While this research has discreetly influenced initiatives—such as in within adult skills—it hasn’t been a made an overarching government priority in its own right as it has been for schools and universities.

More recently, however, the picture has begun to change, with increasing government interest in what the research tells us about best practice in post-16 settings and with high-profile projects focused on applying that learning. In 2023 the government gave £40 million to the Education Endowment Foundation to support evidence-informed practice within post-16 education. As the EEF continues to call for participants in their work this is a brilliant opportunity to demonstrate what works in the sector.

At Get Further we are working with the EEF on research into the efficacy of small-group tuition for boosting the attainment of young people resitting English and maths in post-16 education, particularly if they come from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have been delighted by the response from providers within the sector who have been keen to get involved and to help demonstrate the value of interventions like these.

Alongside the EEF’s renewed focus on post-16 interventions, the Curriculum and Assessment Review team, headed by Professor Becky Francis, has made clear that evidence was crucial to their work and, as their interim report demonstrates, they are particularly interested in post-16 learners. There is a clear signal that they remain focused on identifying the best practice that will lead to better outcomes for those young people.

But understanding what works is just the start. The knowledge will not help FE practitioners or the young people they support if there is not the government will or funding to embed those interventions within day-to-day practice.

Within the schools sector, Pupil Premium funding was initially introduced to foster an ecosystem within which effective evidence-informed interventions, including tuition, training for teachers, and attendance support, could be developed and rolled out with a specific focus on supporting learners from disadvantaged backgrounds to thrive. There is no equivalent 16-19 Student Premium funding in post-16 education, so while the sector works hard to explore and demonstrate what works there is no mechanism to support the wider dissemination of those initiatives.

We are now in a crucial period for highlighting the value and effectiveness of post-16 educational interventions. At Get Further, we are still keen to talk to more colleges about taking part in our tuition trial – a unique opportunity to contribute to building evidence that could shape the future of post-16 English and maths policy and practice. It is also a crucial period for making the case for funding that will ensure research and educational interventions can thrive across the country so that they can serve their intended purpose: to make a difference to lives of the young people who need them most.