The end of another year is fast approaching and what a year it’s been for the Education Training Foundation (ETF) and Society for Education and Training (SET), and for the further education (FE) and skills sector as a whole. Through the extensive listening exercise that we’ve been conducting across the sector over the past 18 months, we have heard about the challenges the sector faces and the important role the sector can play in addressing these.  

We have heard about how staff recruitment and retention issues, continued funding challenges, the cost-of-living crisis and deepening concerns around student and staff mental health are all having an impact on the FE and skills sector. We have also heard your ideas on the valuable contribution that the sector can make in helping to meet the skills gap in this country, and how it can support learners to develop the skills needed for the future as artificial intelligence continues to impact the job market. It has also been interesting to learn your responses to the announcement of the proposed Advanced British Standard qualification.   

With a General Election looming and the skills agenda featuring prominently across all three party conferences this Autumn, there is an opportunity to re-focus attention on the support needed to ensure a thriving FE and skills sector.  At ETF we have renewed our commitment to supporting everyone working in the sector by championing the vital role of educators and leaders in transforming the lives of learners aged 14 and over. Our new strategy, Together we transform, has been inspired and informed by the sector and places sector voices at its heart.  

With a renewed emphasis on working in partnership for the benefit of the sector, the strategy offers a bold new ambition for our charity. It sets out how ETF will continue to deliver positive impact for the sector through four new strategic goals:  

  • Drive professionalism   
  • Improve teaching and learning       
  • Champion inclusion    
  • Enable sector change   

The strategy sets out our plans to drive professionalism by setting the professional standards for the quality of teaching and leadership across the sector, providing educators and leaders with a pathway of professional development throughout their careers, championing inclusion and enabling sector change for a thriving FE and skills system.  

To help us achieve our ambitious goals, I am delighted that Sir Frank McLoughlin CBE will be joining us as our new Chair from January 2024. Sir Frank is one of the leading voices in the FE and skills sector. As well as being the Chair of the highly influential Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning, whose report continues to shape the future of technical education and training, Sir Frank has advised on policy development at a local, regional and national level.   

As the ETF marks its 10-year anniversary of successfully delivering positive impact for the benefit of FE and skills, Sir Frank’s appointment comes at an exciting time. He will take the reins of the Board, providing oversight, challenge and counsel as the ETF sets out a renewed commitment to being sector-first by driving professionalism, improving teaching and learning, championing inclusion and enabling sector change.  

I also want to pay tribute to Professor Peter Latchford OBE who has been our Chair since October 2019 and has steered the organisation with exceptional commitment throughout the period of our strategic review. He has made an invaluable contribution in helping shape our work over the past four years and has been a relentless champion for the important role ETF plays in supporting the sector, and ultimately learners.  

So, I am eagerly looking forward to next year as a chance to drive forward our commitment to supporting everyone working in the FE and skills sector. I have been delighted to meet so many passionate and committed educators and leaders working across our vibrant and diverse sector – and the opportunity to meet so many more of you at our SET conference in January will be a wonderful way to kick-start the year.  

As Daniel Jones, lecturer at Walsall College and one of the contributors to Together we transform, so beautifully put it: ‘I want to be the best teacher I can be. The better I am, the more opportunities I create. The better I am, the more of my students succeed.’ My commitment to you is to continue to do all I can to support you so that in turn you can help our learners and society to thrive.