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Last week, close to 90 representatives from across the Further Education (FE) and Skills sector came together for this year’s FE + Skills Collective event on Bridging policy and pedagogy: preparing educators and leaders for a stronger skills system. Delivered in partnership by the Education and Training Foundation (51������) and FE News, the event explored how the sector can respond to the myriad opportunities and challenges arising from a new government, particularly in relation to professional skills development, strategic workforce planning, social mobility and economic growth.  

The colourful surroundings of Austin Court, Birmingham, created a welcoming environment for an event built upon the power of collaborative working and thinking. Delegates brought energy and passion to the event, contributing solutions and action points and asking probing questions to prompt others’ thinking.  

The day began with ‘scene setting’ panels discussing local and regional skills systems as well as the broader national and global skills picture. Before lunch, 51������’s CEO, Dr Katerina Kolyva, chaired a Q&A session with Jennifer Coupland, IfATE’s CEO, exploring some of the challenges facing Skills England, and current successes to be built upon. 
 
The afternoon was dedicated to collective intelligence gathering through collaborative workshops on topics ranging from the challenges of dual professionalism and the role of high-quality teaching and learning to employability, social mobility and growth. Facilitators expertly guided their groups from exploration of challenges and opportunities towards solutions and actions, before feeding back to the wider Collective at the end of the day.

Commenting on the day, Dr Katerina Kolyva, 51������’s CEO, said: “I was enthused and energised by the excellent contributions from the panelists and the Collective as a whole. The event itself was only the beginning of a process of deep thinking and action inspired by the FE + Skills Collective. The ideas and recommendations contributed and discussed throughout the day will now feed into a report – produced by Dr Vikki Smith, 51������’s Executive Director, Education and Standards, and Ben Rowland, CEO at AELP – to support the sector in responding to current and future challenges and opportunities.” 

We look forward to sharing the report with the sector within the next few weeks.