David Hughes is appointed as the new CEO of the Association of Colleges (AoC)

The Association of Colleges (AoC) has announced that David Hughes, currently the Chief Executive of the Learning and Work Institute, will become its new Chief Executive in September 2016.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) is a not-for-profit membership organisation which represents and promotes the interests of colleges. AoC’s membership includes 317 further education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges across the UK.

David joined Learning and Work Institute (previously NIACE) as Chief Executive in 2011, following 11 years in the further education sector, working at the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). David has most recently led the merger of NIACE with Inclusion to form Learning and Work Institute in 2016. At the LSC and SFA David led funding relationships with colleges and providers. David has also worked in in the voluntary sector across a wide range of roles and organisations in the UK and Australia, in social housing, co-operatives, welfare, regeneration and community development.

David will take over as Chief Executive of AoC from Martin Doel who will be taking up the position as the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL), Professor of Further Education and Skills at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE).

David said: “I am excited about moving to AoC – I have always believed that colleges are critically important organisations for every community, for giving people better life chances and for inclusive economic growth. I’m looking forward to working with colleges across the country to ensure that they are able to make the maximum impact they can. It is challenging times for further education but there are opportunities to reach more students, support employers and help improve outcomes.

“I am also sad to be leaving Learning and Work Institute. It is a respected and credible voice across the learning, skills and employment fields and it contributes high quality research and policy support which is increasingly influential across the UK and in Europe and our Festival of Learning campaign is still going strong after 25 years.”

Carole Stott, Chair of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “We are delighted to welcome David to the Association of Colleges at such an important time for our members. David is an experienced leader who brings a deep commitment to the further education sector. He understands the importance of the work our colleges do, the impact of this on the lives of so many people, and its importance to productivity and the national economy.

“The AoC Board and I are confident that David’s high level skills, energy and commitment will enable him to lead AoC as it continues to represent, support, and promote our colleges. We are very much looking forward to working with him as he takes on the mantle from Martin Doel, who has successfully led the organisation for the last eight years.”

Maggie Galliers CBE, Chair of Learning and Work Institute said:

“David has skillfully led the Institute for the last 5 years through challenging and changing external environment and led the successful merger and re-brand at the start of this year. He has helped us to navigate a difficult path, as funding became more and more scarce, to remain a sustainable and successful organisation.

“He leaves behind a strong organisation with great staff who will be able to continue to deliver high quality research, development, policy, influence, events and campaigns which help support more people to realise their ambitions and potential in life, learning and work.

“On behalf of the Board and staff, I would like to thank David for the hard work he has put in and the leadership he has shown to help secure the future of the Institute. I am also delighted that he is moving onto the Association of Colleges, a sister organisation which will benefit from his skills and leadership.

“We will start the search for a successor straight away and I look forward to announcing a new CEO in the coming months.”

Mark Dawe, Chief Executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) said in response of David’s appointment:

‘We warmly welcome David’s appointment and we look forward to working with him in his new role.’