London

Dear colleagues,
Well, what a brilliant Colleges Week it turned out to be! I was truly delighted to see so many London colleges getting involved. This, alongside the Greater London Skills Competition, really highlighted the power and potential of our sector. Please do pass on our heartfelt congratulations to everyone in your college who helped make it such an impressive week. We’ve pulled together a short recap featuring just a few of the many highlights. Thank you to everyone who played a part;
I had a genuinely inspiring week, with the chance to visit several London colleges and see the inter‑college skills competitions in action. I was warmly welcomed at New City College for the bricklaying competition, Capital City College for cyber, Croydon College for engineering and Waltham Forest College for plumbing. All events were such brilliant showcases of student talent across the capital.

We were also very kindly hosted by UCG's City of Westminster College for our Curriculum and Quality Network and by Waltham Forest College for our CEO and Principals Network. Both events were great opportunities for professional discussion and fantastic refreshments.

I was pleased to attend the AoC Spring Awards Celebration at the House of Commons, which was a real Colleges Week highlight. Huge congratulations to our London finalist in the AoC Beacon Awards: West Thames College, recognised for the Careers and Enterprise Company Award for Excellence in Careers, and to our London Beacon winner, New City College, honoured with the Sustainable Energy First Award for Education for Sustainable Development. A truly proud moment for all London colleges.

I also want to say a massive congratulations to UCG learner Talvin McClunie, who was awarded West London Business Apprentice of the year in the 16-29 category, and to HRUC’s Joanne McSweeny in the over-30 category. A huge achievement for both learners.

And finally, I always love shining a spotlight on high‑profile college visits, and they don’t come any higher profile than a visit from the King and Queen! Barking & Dagenham College enjoyed a wonderful moment on 18 February, welcoming the King and Queen and proud alumnus Sir Idris Elba back to campus. Their Majesties toured a selection of workshops, meeting learners and enjoying the energy on campus, which was warm, proud and full of community spirit. Creative media students from New City College also had a once-in-a-lifetime experience when the King then visited Eastbrook Studios and took time to meet and speak to adult students on a GLA funded Bootcamp for future filmmakers.

Enjoy the first signs of Spring, I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming network meetings after the Easter break.

Mary Vine-Morris
Area Director – London

Calls for Action
WorldSkills UK National Competitions – Register by 27 March
Entries are now open for the WorldSkills UK National Competitions 2026, giving apprentices and learners the chance to develop advanced technical skills and gain confidence through real‑world, industry‑designed challenges.
Please encourage London learners and employers to register now and help talent across the region take their skills to the next level.
More details and entry links are available here.

GLA ‘Know Your Rights’ Campaign
From April 2026, employment rights in the UK are changing and Greater London Authority have pulled together a helpful online resource for Londoners. The key changes include sick pay from day one, extended parental leave, more protections for workers and a higher minimum wage. Find out more here and share with your college staff.

VISTA Awards 2026
The Vocational Innovation in Skills Training Awards (VISTAs) celebrate the inspirational work shaping local skills development. Entries are welcome from any college working with learners from the Local London area, even if the college itself is based elsewhere. The awards culminate in a House of Lords ceremony in June 2026, recognising the changemakers driving impact across our region.
The VISTA Awards are a fantastic opportunity for colleges to showcase the impactful work they’re delivering across skills, training, and education. We’re encouraging all eligible colleges to apply and celebrate the exceptional people, projects, and partnerships making a real difference in their communities. The deadline for entries is Friday 3 April, and full details, including category information and guidance, can be found here.

Network Meetings

AoC London and South East Finance Directors' Network (in person, AoC London Office)
19 March 2026
10am - 1pm

AoC London Chairs' and Vice Chairs' Network
28 April 2026
4 - 5.30pm

AoC South SEND Forum
05 May 2026
10am – 11.30am

AoC South HE Forum
12 May 2026
2.30 – 3.30pm

AoC London Principals' and Chief Executives' Network
14 May 2026
3.30 – 5pm

AoC London Clerks and Governance Professionals Network (in person, AoC London Office)
19 May 2026
10am - 12pm

All of the network meeting dates for 2025/26 are available on our events page under Greater London. If you don’t receive direct communications from us and would like to be added to our distribution list, please email Ikran.Jama@aoc.co.uk.

Should your college news be featured by AoC? Please submit your news stories and accompanying photos on our Colleges News page. If you have any questions, please contact ikran.jama@aoc.co.uk or claire.cooper@aoc.co.uk

AoC London Contact Details
The contact details for Mary, Claire, Gavin and Ikran are available on the AoC website. You can also follow us on X @AoC_info and @LondonColleges.

Dear colleagues,

As it’s National Apprenticeship Week, I know many of our colleges will already have activities lined up. Please do remember to share your success stories on social media and upload them to the AoC College News page. This is a great way to highlight the brilliant work happening across the capital. If you’re still looking for ideas or inspiration, the official toolkit and resourcesare available to help you plan and promote your activities.
Colleges Week 2026 is also fast approaching, running from Monday 2 March to Friday 6 March. This year’s theme, Skills for All, offers a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the breadth of what our colleges deliver; we’re especially keen to spotlight adult learning on the Monday. If you’re organising an event, do let us know. We want to amplify your message and would love to attend where possible. I’m hoping to visit as many colleges as I can throughout the week! You can find more information and resources here.

During Colleges Week, our Greater London Inter‑College Skills Competition will also be taking place, bringing together 15 colleges for the capital’s largest inter‑college skills event. Supported by the Mayor of London and expertly organised this year by Waltham Forest College, the competition will run across eight colleges and showcase excellence in areas such as construction, engineering, digital, beauty, hospitality, plumbing, and health and social care. If you’d like to visit one of the hosting colleges to experience the live competitions first-hand and cheer on the participants, just let us know. We’re looking forward to celebrating everyone’s achievements, culminating in the City Hall celebration event on the new date of 9 March.

Although I couldn’t attend the Adult Skills Summit at WM College last week, I’ve heard excellent feedback. Congratulations to NCC for organising such a thought‑provoking event, which strongly highlighted the continued need for investment in adult learning and promoted our Adult Learning Campaign.

London Democracy Week also comes at an important time as we prepare for the London borough elections on 7 May. Students are typically under‑represented as voters, so it’s crucial that we help them understand and exercise their democratic rights. You’ll find full details and resources in the calls for action section below.
January was unusually quiet in terms of high-profile visits and celebrations, though do tell us if we’ve missed something! I’m confident that we will have plenty of good news in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I hope you manage to enjoy a well‑earned and relaxing half‑term break after such a busy start to the year.

Mary Vine-Morris
Area Director – London

Calls for action:

• FE/NHSE London Network Meeting. We are pleased to be holding a further FE / NHSE network meeting, on-line, 10am – 12pm on 26 February 2026.
  This will provide both an opportunity for discussion and an update on current issues.
  If you are interested and have not already been invited, please contact Claire Churchill,
  Senior Project Manager, NHS England, London, Workforce, Training and Education Directorate (WT&E) Claire.churchill1@nhs.net
  
  
• Get your learners involved in London Democracy Week 2026!
  The Greater London Authority’s Civic and Democratic Participation Programme supports Londoners, especially under‑registered and under‑represented groups, to access their civic and democratic rights. A key moment in the year is London Democracy Week (9 to 15 March 2026), promoting democratic engagement through online and in‑person activities across the city.
  They are offering free resources, including:
  - The Voter Registration Toolkit, providing guidance for young people to run their own voter registration drives in education settings. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the full resource pack.
  - The At the Table Toolkit, designed to spark conversations about politics and democracy in informal youth settings. This resource is developed by The Politics Project and was funded by the GLA Democratic Participation Grants Programme.
  - Three stand-alone lessons with tutor time/ assembly activities. These resources come with a support pack including lesson plans, user guides, and easy-access versions for special education needs (SEN) and English as an additional language (EAL) learners (links at the bottom of the page).
  o Registering to vote
  o Exercising your civic and democratic rights
  o Getting your voice heard
  If your college would like a free workshop, assembly or stall focused on voter registration and voting, then please get in touch at democracy@london.gov.uk.
  
  
• WorldSkills UK National Competitions registration will be opening next month. These industry‑designed competitions help young people build technical and employability skills, supporting both personal and professional growth. More information about the timeline and competitions can be found here. It must be London’s turn to walk away with a clutch of medals?

Network Meetings

AoC London HR Directors’ Network Meeting
11 February 2026
10 - 11.30am

AoC South Apprenticeships Forum
25 February 2026
10 - 11.30am

AoC London Curriculum and Quality Directors' Network (In person, City of Westminster College)
04 March 2026
2 - 3.30pm

AoC London Principals' and Chief Executives' Network (In person, Waltham Forest College)
05 March 2026
10am - 12pm

AoC London and South East Finance Directors' Network (in person, AoC London Office)
19 March 2026
10.30am - 1pm

All of the network meeting dates for 2025/2026 are available on our events page under Greater London. If you don’t receive direct communications from us and would like to be added to our distribution list, please email Ikran.Jama@aoc.co.uk.

AoC Online Events

T Level Communities of Practice Exchange Event 2026
6 March 2026, 9am – 4pm, County Hall, London
This event will bring together Gatsby's 15 Technical Education Network (TEN) communities of practice to build on the outputs and discussions from previous meetings, allowing T Level teachers to collaborate in person. With separate breakout spaces for each community, the event will foster deep discussions on route specific T Level support, while providing a valuable opportunity to learn and share ideas with teachers in your route/ pathway.
The event will serve as a platform to showcase curriculum outputs from communities of practice, encourage rich, subject specific discussions and further strengthen the collaborative support for T Level teachers.
You can find information and book your place here.

London colleges news

New City College leads collaboration to launch 16–19 Evidence Partnership with EEF
Read more here

Art student sees designs come to life with prestigious mural commission at Canary Wharf law firm
Read more here

United Colleges Group features in the Department for Education’s national skills campaign
Read more here

Kingston College student Faisal’s STEM success story: laboratory technician apprentice at Imperial College
Read more here

Would you like your college news be featured here? Please submit your news stories and accompanying photos on our College News page here.

If you have any questions, please contact ikran.jama@aoc.co.uk or claire.cooper@aoc.co.uk. The contact details for Mary, Claire, Gavin and Ikran are available on the AoC website. You can also follow us on Twitter @AoC_info and @LondonColleges.

Happy New Year. I hope you managed to enjoy a well-earned restful break alongside some festive fun with friends and family!

Thank you to all the colleges that sent wonderful Christmas greetings, it was lovely to see all the designs created by students. We very much appreciate the good wishes and personal messages of support and sincerely wish you all the very best for 2026. It was heart-warming to see so many London colleges partnering up with different organisations during the Christmas period to help those in need. Please do continue to share your good news stories during the year; we want to celebrate all the wonderful things our members are doing.

The year 2025 ended on a really positive note with a flurry of high-profile visits and good news stories. Twice in one week New City College hosted ministers and high ranking government officials, Nick Thomas-Symonds, Minister for the Cabinet Office, came to announce the welcome re-joining of the Erasmus+ scheme, he was joined by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Minister of State for Skills, who had been at Rainham Construction and Engineering campus a couple of days earlier – just couldn’t resist a high-vis jacket!

Other great news included Harvey Mclaughlin from Barking & Dagenham College, who won gold in additive manufacturing in the WorldSkills national finals and United Colleges Group being named one of the Top 100 Most Inclusive UK Employers for the second year running, ranking 30. The award recognises organisations who have committed to building inclusive cultures; UCG is also the only London College to hold Investors in Diversity Gold status from NCFD. Congratulations UCG!

As the new year started, we were delighted to learn that former CEO and Principal of West Thames College, Tracy Aust, had been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours for her services to further education. Tracy made a remarkable contribution to her college, her community and to London, we were so pleased to see this recognised. We are now seeking nominations for the 2027 Honours and more information can be found here.

Finally, look out for information on Colleges Week 2026 here. Please let us know what events you are planning – and invite us!

Best wishes for the start of term and as always, if you need any help or support, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mary Vine-Morris
Area Director – London

Calls for action

AI FE Leadership Event - 29 January 2026
HRUC invite you to an AI FE Leadership Event taking place on Thursday, 29 January 2026 at 2:30pm at Amazon’s offices in Central London (14 Hewett St, EC2A 3NP). A virtual dial-in option is also available for those unable to attend in person.
This event, organised by the Community for the Adoption and Advancement of AI in Further Education and supported by the AoC Technology Group, will focus on shaping the next phase of AI adoption in further education. A key part of the session will be agreeing actions from the findings from the recent AI Leadership Survey, which provides a national view of sector priorities.
Register here.

Please be prepared: coming to this event will involve collective decision making and the planning of a national approach to system change and AI investment.

Great Mental Health Day 2026

On Friday, 30 January 2026, Londoners across the capital will be coming together to once again mark Great Mental Health Day, a regional awareness day with the aim of getting Londoners talking about their mental health and, importantly, raise awareness about the support and services that are available all year round and locally to them. Click here for more information.

Network Meetings:

AoC South SEND Forum, 27 January 2026, 10:00am - 11:30am

AoC London Clerks' and Governance Professionals' Network Meeting, 3 February 2026, 10:00am - 11:30am

AoC South Chairs’ Network Meeting, 4 February 2026, 4:00pm - 5:30pm

AoC London HR Directors’ Network Meeting, 11 February 2026, 10:00am - 11:30am

AoC South HE Forum, 12 February 2026 , 11:00am – 12:30pm

AoC South Apprenticeships Forum, 25 February 2026, 10:00am - 11:30am

AoC London Curriculum and Quality Directors’ Network Meeting, 4 March 2026 (In-person), 2:00pm – 3:30pm

AoC London Principals’ and Chief Executives’ Network Meeting, 5 March 2026 (In-person), 10:00am – 12:00pm

AoC London and South East Finance Directors’ Network Meeting, 19 March 2026 (In-person), 10:00am – 1:00pm

If you don’t receive direct communications from us and would like to be added to our distribution list, please email Ikran.Jama@aoc.co.uk.

We are also now able to share your individual college news stories on the AoC website. Simply use the self-publication form here and your successes will be shared nationally, as well as being accessible across the London region.