By Vivienne Russell | 4 November 2013
The further education sector needs to learn from other public services how to tackle poor performance and improve quality, according to a Skills Commission report.
The report, to be published tomorrow, warns that changes to the FE landscape have increased the need for greater sectoral and institutional self-scrutiny to ensure standards are maintained and improved.
Matt Atkinson, principal of the City of Bath College, chaired the six-month inquiry that led to the report. He said: ‘The FE sector is too important to the success of the UK economy for us within the sector to allow the institutional underperformance or failure.
‘This inquiry has shown that in many instances, the FE sector intervenes effectively, ensures quality consistently and, in doing so, outperforms other public service sectors. But our report also demonstrates the further reform is still needed.’
The report found that good practice was not yet embedded in FE. It urged colleges to develop the culture of sharing best practice and leadership that characterised the schools sector.
