Governance, strategy and inclusion research

Strengthening governance arrangements in the English post-16 skills system (2024)

This report has been commissioned by the Association of Colleges and written by Lesley Giles, Director of Work Advance, a research and analysis organisation, and former Deputy Director at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.

Building on AoC’s work, Commission for the College of the Future in 2020, Opportunity England in 2023, and 100% Opportunity: the case for a tertiary education system in 2024, the independent report is based on robust evidence, guided by interviews from right across the further education sector and beyond, and draws on international examples of successful skills systems.

The report argues that a new, more effective governance of the system, bringing together the myriad of agencies operating in FE and skills, would support coherence and clarity and ensure there is quality and accessible education and skills available to 100% of the population.

It suggests that the skills body should be a social partnership providing strategic oversight and evidence-based advice to UK government, working with partners. More specifically, this means the body taking the lead in several strategic functions whilst strongly influencing operational functions in the system.

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The current status of equality, diversity and inclusion in the further education sector in England (2021)

One firmly established principle in promoting EDI is that change needs to start from the top. Currently, little is known about EDI in respect of the Education Sector’s Governing Bodies. To begin to address this critical gap in our knowledge base, AoC commissioned QDP Services Ltd to carry out the current research exploring the status of EDI in the FE Boardroom.

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