Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 714, 30th September 2023. How do we save UK Skills?

This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal brought to you 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.

How do we save UK skills? Perhaps start by asking the right people…

Neil Sambrook wrote a really interesting article this week.... so interesting, I wanted to use it for the title of Soundbite: How do we save UK skills? Perhaps start by asking the right people…

Now anyone who knows me... knows I love a micro-credential... especially after a cool week in Singapore nearly a year ago. So this piece by Matt Rogers is very highly recommended reading: Unlocking Opportunities: The Rise of Digital Credentials in the FE Market

My mate Ben Pike wrote: Human learning

Gareth John wrote a really popular article this week: The impact of government changes to apprenticeship funding bands and what further change is still needed

Even wondered how to Connecting local businesses with colleges - well Adam Herbert wrote an interesting piece for you.

Stefano Ronchi Vice Rector for Education and Learning, Politecnico di Milano Chairman of the Steering Committee, ENHANCE wrote a really interesting piece: The Future of Higher Education: What Role Does Europe Want to Play?​

Pathways to Success: Progression after T Levels is a really interesting article written by Ruth Coyle, Roz Hicks and Lucy Whitwood.

Scott Parkin wrote a really interesting piece: 20 years later

20 Voices this week

Celebrating 20 Years at FE News! Throughout September, we're sharing videos from thought leaders, influencers, and friends reflecting back on how the FE sector has evolved over the last 20 years and looking at what the future holds for the FE Sector. In case you have missed them, here's a recap of our featured experts:

Andy Durman, [Lightcast]
El-iza Mohamedou, [OECD Centre for Skills]
Stuart Martin, [Skills Consulting Group]
Susanna Lawson, [Circle of Trust, OneFile... and Ecctis]

Susanna was in the news a bit this week... she was also announced as the new Exec Chair at Ecctis with my mate Tom Bewick... exciting!

So you may have noticed that there are only four '20 Voices' this week. Well, this is because we made a special exception for our friends at the Black Leadership Group and we wanted to celebrate together their 3rd anniversary and the launch of their impact report. If you missed the livestream... here it is..

Running to Stand Still

Running to Stand Still was a report launched by FAB reflecting on 20-30 years of policy on skills, looking at the productivity puzzle... and is a really interesting... but proper chunky report.

So here are a few videos from different stakeholders unpacking it:

My mate Kirstie Donnelly on building trust

FAB Interim CEO John McNamarra (or John Mac)

Report co-author Tom Bewick on the productivity puzzle, building trust, the escalator of skills and the value of qualifications to earnings and productivity

FE Collective - ticket extension

Being open.. I loved the Running to Stand Still report so much, I added a whole new section to our FE Collective event called Progression... is there a better way. Tom is going to be speaking... in fact, in that session, there are two professors, a doctor, head of the G20 Think Tank, the founder of an investment bank... and erm me?!.. but the Professors are not in their ivory towers... but you can work with them and help shape a collaborative report.

So if you'd like to have your voice heard, build on a bunch of sector reports and help shape a massive report on the future of the sector and progression. Join us at the FE Collective.. we've persuaded the venue to give us a one week extension on the tickets.. so snaffle yourself a ticket quick:

Here are some discount codes for our FE Soundbite readers:

Voucher Code: GET25 - Use this promo code to get 25% off of general and VIP tickets

Voucher Code: GROUPSavings35 - Use this promo code to get 35% off of VIP tickets when booking 3 or more tickets

See you in October! It is exciting!

Big Soundbite this week. Loads of cool stuff happening.

Kind regards

Gavin O’Meara

CEO and Founder

FE News and FE Careers