Mind the Skills Gap? First, Mind the 23% FE Pay Gap | FE Soundbite 764

Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 764, September 21st, 2024. NFER & Gatsby released research highlighting that FE Educators have a 23% pay gap compared to teachers and other education peers. Mind the Skills Gap? First, Mind the 23% FE Pay Gap. This is the Labour Party Conference time.. this needs sorting out!

This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here is a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles, from sector influencers and cool thinkers across FE and Skills this week on FE News

Gavin’s Reflective Perspective

FE Pay Gap Crisis

This week’s hot topic? Pay gaps and the value of education and skills. So this week, Train Drivers accepted a pay increase and by 2024/25 will be on an average salary of £69,000. Junior Doctors, have accepted a 22% pay rise.. but have said they want more. Teachers recently received a 5.5% payrise… But according to Research this week from NFER and Gatsby.. Educators in FE have a 23% pay gap to their peers in Education (schools). That’s not just a gap, it’s a chasm!

Coming into Labour Party Conference season: we need some positive outcomes and messaging

Conference season’s upon us, and my inbox is flooded with fringe meeting invites. Great buzz, but here’s our challenge: How do we hammer home that a robust industrial strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution hinges on a skilled workforce? And who shapes that workforce? Our dual professional educators in FE and Skills.

We are coming into Labour Party Conference season… the amount of fringe meeting invites I have received is off the chart. Which is good, there is activity… but how can we explain to the Labour Party, that if you want an industrial strategy, which is at the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.. this is driven by a skilled workforce and a skilled workforce are educated and equipped by Dual Professional Educators in FE and Skills?

Time to Crunch the Numbers during the Labour Party Conference: FE’s Massive ROI

Do we need to make the case of the Return on Investment for Apprenticeships, Skills? Last week there was the £8 Billion Amazon Web Services investment, creating 14,000 jobs and returning £14 Billion, or a 1.7 ROI.

Think about it: For every £1 spent on Apprenticeships, we’re not just talking £1.70 back. We’re talking multiples of that… and a £4 billion skills investment? That could create jobs by the hundreds of thousands, not just 14,000!

Imagine if we could say:

“For every £1 in FE and Skills, we’re pumping £X back into the economy.”

That’s not just numbers – that’s a game-changer… and I think that would unlock funds from Treasury to DfE to FE and Skills Educators, but… also employers and learners!

AI Aces Assessments

Some really interesting research from NCFE and OU this week on Generative AI (GenAI).. finding that gen AI is capable of achieving a pass grade, and sometimes higher, on almost all types of assessment! Talk about the fast moving pace of change created by AI! The amazing Richard Foster Fletcher gives a really cool response to GenAI in Education reports. MKAI analysis: The recent government reports on Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) ‘in education present a cautious, incremental approach that risks overlooking the technology’s transformative potential’. So while the government tiptoes, AI is sprinting. We’re talking seismic shifts in work and education. The skills gap? It’s widening at warp speed.

What can we learn from Global productivity powerhouses?

I am off to Singapore in a week for the FE and Lifelong Learning GLLS summit as a guest of the Institute for Adult Learning Singapore. I can’t wait to see what is happening there as the event is all about AI and Lifelong learning, with perspectives from all across the World. We are told to be more productive like Singapore.. so let’s see what they have got cooking in the World of AI and GenAI.

FE + Skills Collective Countdown

More news on the FE + Skills Collective, we have a handful of tickets remaining. It is shaping up nicely and you too can have your say on the day and in the Collective report on how to Bridge Policy and Pedagogy and equip our Educators and Leaders in our new Skills System. FE News has literally 5 tickets remaining, ETF a couple… then it is FOMO time! Don’t miss out on sharing your views and voice on how to equip the sector.

I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week.

Exclusive Thought Leadership

Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week

Time for Universities to get serious about T Levels By Joanna Brown, Careers Lead at Milton Keynes College Group and the new chair of the Qualifications Advisory Group.

FE colleges need better tools to compete for their teacher workforce By Dawson McLean, Economist at the National Foundation for Educational Research(NFER) & Emma Sayers, Research Officer in Technical Education at the Gatsby Charitable Foundation

A Reflection on Gender Equity in TVET and Youth Empowerment | The 2024 WorldSkills Conference in Lyon By Kathryn Rowan, Executive Director, GAN Global

This Week, We Have Also Had Some Other Epic Exclusives!

At last…useful English/maths flex for apprentices with learning difficulties! By Paul Warner, Formerly Director of Strategy at Skills and Education Group

Are improvements in meta-skills the answer to bring back our isolated and disengaged young people? By Scott Parkin FIEP, Group CEO, IEP

MKAI Response to the Department for Education’s “Generative AI in Education” Reports By Richard Foster-Fletcher, Executive Chair of MKAI

How Smart Education Can Save Students from a Lifetime of Debt By Gregor Mowat, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Loqbox

With the right approach, Skills England can shift the dial on closing skills gaps By Mark Hilton, Policy Delivery Director at BusinessLDN

Equity with a Capital E: The impact of cultural capital on Equity in HE and employment By Sorrel Knott, Research Executive at GotDis

What’s New in the World of FE?

WorldSkills

Team UK bring home medal haul from WorldSkills Lyon 2024 and Top 10 ranking By WorldSkills UK

Office for Students

Proportion of top grades falls to pre-pandemic levels, but nearly half are still unexplained By OfS

Research

New report recommends better assessment design to tackle potential AI threat to academic integrity By NCFE

Navigating the Transition to Green Jobs: New Report Reveals Skills Gap and Opportunities By The 5% Club

Further Education teachers paid 23 per cent less than peers across the education sector, says new report By National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)

Edge Release New Report on Government Changes to Apprenticeship Levy By The Edge Foundation

Announcement

Apprentify Group Invests in Employee Talent with Melissa Hull Appointed as Head of Academies By Apprentify Group

Voices

Reducing Dropout Rates in UK Universities with EdTech Solutions and Improving the Bottom Line, Why Wouldn’t You? By Dr Maxine Room CBE Head of People Operations, Unyted

The Kids Are Alright? Why Universities Need to Change How Student Feedback Works By Miika Mäkitalo, CEO of HappyOrNot

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We hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week. Stay curious, keep innovating, and let’s shake up the world of FE together – catch you next week!

By Danny O’Meara, Digital Project Manager, FE News

By Gavin O’Meara, CEO and Founder, FE News and FE Careers