East of England

Dear colleagues, 

I hope you all had a restful Easter break and have been enjoying the recent sunshine. The term has begun at pace, with funding announcements, curriculum reform and SEND reform all presenting new challenges. We also have the 7 May local elections, which may bring significant changes to local authority leadership. As colleges sit at the heart of their communities, we will be watching closely to understand any impact. If you need support navigating these developments, please contact the regional team. 

This month saw the announcement of the second wave of technical excellence colleges (TEC), with Colchester Institute successfully awarded clean energy TEC status in collaboration with Suffolk New College, East Coast College and City College Norwich. This is a strong recognition of the East region’s contribution to developing skills for a clean energy future. Congratulations also to Chelmsford College for winning Planet Earth Games, showcasing nearly 8,000 sustainable actions taken to improve their environment. 

 I have continued to meet with colleges through KiT meetings, which remain invaluable for understanding how government decisions are landing and where you would like our focus. These conversations also help us connect colleges facing similar challenges so that support and solutions can be shared. 

 In March, I met with the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, the local authority skills lead, and attended the Suffolk LSIP event. It was encouraging to hear how highly regarded FE colleges are in Suffolk and how central the sector is to developing the skilled workforce of the future. This month, I also supported governors at East Coast College and Chelmsford College in understanding Ofsted’s approach to governance under the new framework. If you would like similar support for your governing body, please get in touch. 

 I look forward to seeing many of you at the in‑person network on 7 May, where we have a varied and timely agenda, including input on curriculum reform and funding from the DfE, as well as bringing in Think UK to continue the conversation from our last in-person network on Devolution. 

 A reminder that an EDI Equity Exchange meeting is taking place at Harlow College on 12 May, 9.30am–2.30pm. The event will include case studies from Harlow College’s own EDI journey, such as the use of virtual reality to enhance learning. and opportunities to share practice. This is particularly relevant given Ofsted’s strengthened focus on EDI across all evaluation areas in the new toolkit.  

Finally, we are always keen to promote the region and highlight good news stories. If you have updates, achievements, or upcoming visits from MPs or dignitaries, please let the East Regional team know so we can support and share your work. 

Best wishes, 

Amanda Winnick 

Area Director (East) 

Calls for action 

Reminder: Opportunity to provide feedback on the draft apprenticeship funding rules 2026/27 

The draft funding rules for the academic year 2026/27 have been published. 

Feedback on the rules can be provided to fundingrules.comments@dwp.gov.uk by Wednesday 6 May 2026. This is your opportunity to provide further feedback on the recent apprenticeship announcements including: 

• the hiring grant for non-levy paying employers from October 2026 (page 66 of the funding rules) 
• level 2 administration assistant available for those aged between 16 and 24 (paragraph 32) 
• restrictions on the level of a non mandatory qualification (paragraph 67.3) 
• Apprentices wishing to move to a new version of a standard where the assessment plan has been revised (paragraph 318). 

Regional Network dates:  

East Principals and CEOs’ Network 

Thursday 7 May 2026 

10am–2pm at AoC London offices, Bloomsbury 

East Chairs’ Network 

Tuesday 12 May 2026 

8.30-9.30am (online) 

East Governance Professionals’ Network 

Wednesday 3 June 2026 

1.30-3pm (online) 

*NEW* East College Senior Leaders’ Network (Tier 2) 

Thursday 4 June 2026 

10am-1pm at Cambridge Regional College 

East Finance Directors’ Network 

Tuesday 9 June 2026 

11am-12pm (online) 

East HR Professionals’ Network 

Tuesday 23 June 2026 

10am-1pm at Harlow College 

East Curriculum and Quality Network 

Thursday 25 June 2026 

10am-1pm at West Suffolk College – Bury St Edmunds 

Dear colleagues,

Colleges Week 2026
It has been a fantastic week of activity across the region, with colleges showcasing the vital role they play in skills, education, and community development. Thank you to everyone who organised and hosted events. If you have upcoming visits from MPs or dignitaries, or any good‑news stories to share, please let the East regional team know as we’re always keen to support and promote your work.

Beacon Awards
On Tuesday, we were delighted to host the Spring Awards at the House of Commons and announce this year’s Beacon Award winners.
Congratulations to Cambridge Regional College, who won the Careers and Enterprise Company Award for Excellence in Careers and Enterprise for their outstanding work widening opportunity through community‑based careers advice and employability support. Their St Neots Citizen Hub is making a real difference for those not in education, employment or training (NEET), adults changing careers, those facing redundancy, and individuals experiencing social or financial challenges.

Congratulations should also go to East Coast College, who were named regional winners of the British Care Awards in recognition of the meaningful impact they are having on the lives of people across North East Suffolk and East Norfolk, and the dedication shown by their teams.

Engagement with DfE and Ofsted
Recently, I have met with two new regional leads:
Emma Woods, Senior HMI at Ofsted, who is covering Jules Steel’s role on an interim basis until Christmas, and Fiona Wilmott, Deputy Director of the DfE Regional Team, who is taking over the region from Alan Krikorian.

Both have kindly agreed to attend upcoming networks. Fiona will join the in‑person Principals and CEOs’ Network on 7 May, and Emma will attend the Curriculum and Quality in-person Network on 25 June.

As well as the networks and forums that are happening this half term, we have two Equity Exchanges scheduled:

Eastern Education Group (One Campus Ipswich), 30 April, 10am–1pm
Harlow College, 12 May, 9.30am–2.30pm

Please register online here if you wish to attend.

Finally, over the coming weeks, I’m looking forward to visiting more colleges across the region. If we haven’t met since the new year, I’ll be in touch to arrange a keep‑in‑touch meeting. If there is anything the regional team or I can support you with, please do get in contact. Our details are available on the AoC website.

Best wishes,
Amanda Winnick
Area Director (East)

WorldSkills UK
Registrations for this year's WorldSkills cycle opened on Monday and run to the 27th March. It will be great to see an increase on last year’s numbers in the East.

To help registrations convert to entries, WorldSkills UK in the East of England are running pilot competitions. College contacts in the East of England have been contacted with details of the release dates and deadlines, however if you would like this information resent, please do let me know.

Below are links to marketing assets you may wish to use, along with the registration guide to support you with this process and a link to the dashboard to view live registrations.

• Registration assets for educators.
• Individual competition details.
• Dashboard

If there is anything I can do to support you in driving registrations and increasing the number of learners progressing through the entry stage, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Regional Network dates

East Finance Directors’ Network
Tuesday 10 March 2026
11am – 12pm (online)

East HR Professionals’ Network
Tuesday 10 March 2026
1pm – 2.30pm (online)

East Curriculum and Quality Network
Thursday 19 March 2026
3pm – 4.30pm (online)

East Principals and CEOs’ Network
Thursday 26 March 2026
2pm – 3pm (online)

Dear colleagues,

It’s another busy time of the year for colleges! This week we are celebrating National Apprenticeship Week, from the 9 to 15 February. The official toolkit and resources can be found here. Following this, we dive straight into Colleges Week, which is running from 2 to 6 March. This year, the theme is Skills for All. We have suggested a different focus for each day and you can find all the necessary resources to help your teams develop activities at Colleges Week 2026: Skills for all. The week is a great opportunity to spotlight the impact of our sector locally, regionally and nationally – and a particularly good opportunity to engage your MPs, employers and local community. Please do get in touch with the regional team to let us know what you have planned or how we can help you to celebrate! Don’t forget to share your good news stories throughout the week on social media and let us know directly by contacting Chloe.Buchanan@aoc.co.uk. Please do also share your press releases on this or anything else on our College News page.

We have also been busy over the last few weeks with the new term’s networks and forums, and squeezing in a few early college visits for our keep-in-touch meetings. I look forward to visiting the rest of the region over the coming weeks.

Last week, I attended a roundtable on skills mismatch in Cambridge, with representation from Cambridge Regional College and ARU. We had a productive discussion on how education and employers can better support young people into the right training pathways. Sizewell C’s skills development lead also presented on their work with schools, colleges, and universities to ensure the future workforce is equipped with the skills needed for upcoming opportunities. It was also noted that Jess Asato MP (Lowestoft) visited Sizewell C with a focus on training and assessing the progress of the job pledge for Lowestoft.

If there is anything else I or the regional team can support you with, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Our contact details are available on the AoC website.

Best wishes,
Amanda Winnick
Area Director (East)

College Good News:

USP College hosted the inaugural Federation of Essex Colleges Intercollege Skills Competition, celebrating student talent and the value of FE collaboration. The week‑long, WorldSkills‑endorsed event concluded on 30 January and featured students from:
USP College
Chelmsford College
Colchester Institute
Harlow College
South Essex Colleges Group

Competitions spanned health and social care, hair and beauty, electrical installation, plumbing, bricklaying, engineering, digital, science, and hospitality.

It was encouraging to see continued commitment to sustainability across the region: Oaklands College won the Sustainability & ESG Award at the biz4Biz Hertfordshire Business Awards 2025 and Inspire College Group received the Sustainability Award at the 2025 Peterborough Telegraph Business Awards.

These achievements highlight the sector’s regional leadership in environmental responsibility. Congratulations!

Finally, warm congratulations to Gill Worgan, awarded a CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours last June and who attended her investiture last Thursday.


Calls for Action:

• Deadline for TEC applications Wave 2 is Monday 16 February 2026.
• High Needs Provision Capital Allocation 2026-27 has now been announced. If you have a specific project in mind, it is an opportune time for colleges to approach their local authority.

Regional Network dates:

Midlands and East Apprenticeship Forum
Tuesday 10 February 2026
10 – 11.30am (online)

Midlands and East College HE Forum
Tuesday 10 February 2026
1.30 – 3pm (online)

East Governance Professionals’ Network
Wednesday 4 March 2026
1.30 – 3pm (online)

East Finance Directors’ Network
Tuesday 10 March 2026
11am – 12pm (online)

East HR Professionals’ Network
Tuesday 10 March 2026
1 – 2.30pm (online)

East Curriculum and Quality Network
Thursday 19 March 2026
3 – 4.30pm (online)

East Principals and CEOs’ Network
Thursday 26 March 2026
2 – 3pm (online)

Happy New Year! I hope your break over the festive period was wonderful and restorative. Thank you to all the colleges for your warm Christmas greetings and kind messages of thanks and support. We very much appreciated them and wish you the very best for 2026. We definitely have another busy year lined up for us!
Congratulations to our East region AoC Beacon Award finalists for 2025/26:

• Cambridge Regional College, finalist for The Careers & Enterprise Company Award for Excellence in Careers and Enterprise
•  Harlow College, finalist for The Edge Award for Excellence in Real World Learning

Assessor visits are taking place this month, with winners being announced on the 3 March 2026 at the House of Commons. We wish you the very best of luck!

It was great to see FE leaders recognised in the New Years Honours list including: Nikos Savvas, Chief Executive of Eastern Education Group who received an OBE for Services to Further Education and Andrew Barnes, former Chair of Governors at City College Norwich who received an MBE for services to further education.

These awards are all a fantastic recognition of the impactful contributions colleges make in their communities and the education sector as a whole – well done to our East Region Colleges!

Continuing with the theme of celebrating, Colleges Week 2026 will take place from Monday 2 March to Friday 6 March 2026. Our theme this year is “Skills For All” and we are already looking forward to hearing what exciting activities you have planned for the week. Further information and resources can be found here and if there is anything we can do to support you with this celebratory week, please do get in touch.

We are keen to use these regional monthly newsletters to celebrate success in the region, therefore if you have anything you’d like us to share in future editions, please email pal.sohi@aoc.co.uk.

Network Meetings

As always, we have another round of regional events planned for this term that I look forward to seeing you at.

East Chairs’ Network
Tuesday 13 January 2026
8.30 – 9.30am (online)

East Finance Directors’ Network
Tuesday 13 January 2026
11am – 12pm (online)

East HR Professionals’ Network
Tuesday 13 January 2026
1 – 2pm (online)

East Governance Professionals’ Network
Wednesday 21 January 2026
1.30 – 3pm (online)

Best wishes,
Amanda Winnick
Area Director (East)