Linking London: Partnership, Success and Future

Further Education Landscape and the Future

Paul Head, Principal and Chief Executive March 2010

Where does it feel we are coming from…even if it’s not true

Ploughing a furrow…we knew the world we were in

• Sense of Direction:

public service reform not revolution

• Manage, in control of

what's happening

• Expanding resources

• Change that could be managed

• Keep the quality right, no problems• Hit the

targets, get the money

Where are we now…

Riding two, even more, horses…change is constant and uncertain….

• New political and economic directions

• Response to recession, prepare for recovery

• Innovate, react,

create, lots of risk

• Expanding resources but

it can’t continue

• Need to plan for reductions

and make best use of

what remains• Will be testing

of our skills and

experience

Current Context: Learners• For Learners it’s very personal…

– “fees, debts, will I get a job at the end of this, if I do this course now the recovery might have started by the time I finish, how much will I get paid, am I doing the right course, will I get to university, feeling safe in an uncertain world”

• Access to opportunities to succeed, high aspirations, high expectations of services, ‘driven’, success

• Where will the jobs be, what does a career look like at 18, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, personal risk

Current Context: Colleges• Recession, recovery and public spending

– Dealing with present, planning for the future, we all know reductions in public spending is coming (Monday), the uncertainty of the scale, future years

– Managing change in an world of expanding resources is very different from doing it in a static and even declining one

– Are we, leaders and managers at all levels, equipped with the skills to manage service improvement with declining resources, scale of reduction will be significant

• Organisation, simplification and regulation, a balance, be careful what you wish for

• Savings and investment– 5% is one thing, 10% another. 20% is

different, 30% needs you to rethink• Consolidation and shake out, specialisation,

small or large• Public sector 2020 what does it mean for FE• The fundamentals are the same….aren't

they?

Current Context: Colleges

So where are we going, using the horses differently…. making sense of change and new alignments….David and Nick…