Careers Advice

Working within the Further Education and Skills sector involves distinct challenges relating to managing workload which may not at first be evident when taking up a teaching post. Some of these include: Evening or weekend work Working off-site Irregular teaching hours Large amounts of marking coming in waves Frequent changes to curriculum and organisational structure…>

If you are considering a teaching career in Further Education you may be imagining yourself in a traditional role in a college classroom. However, post-16 education and training is a far more diverse sector than you may realise. In fact, FE involves all forms of adult and continuing education, offender learning and work-based training offered…>

7 ideas to prepare students to be work-ready  How well-prepared for employment did you feel when leaving education? The majority of courses within Further Education provide learners with vocational pathways, which means that learners expect to leave equipped to deal with at least the initial demands of the workplace. In addition to the specific skills…>

It is no exaggeration to state that technology has revolutionised the way we learn and the way that we teach. In 2013 the Further Education Learning Technology Action Group (FELTAG) was established and its initial report, published in 2014 stated that ‘the pace of technological change is accelerating and the impact of digital technology will…>

What makes a good mentor? Is an effective mentor born or made? What values, attitudes, beliefs and qualities characterise the best mentors? Most of us have had at least one mentor during our lives, whether this is a formal arrangement or an informal relationship. Reflecting on my own experience of being mentored, I can now pinpoint several…>

Starting an initial teacher training course can be daunting. Everyone embarking on initial teacher education brings with them a range of expectations and experiences. If you’re about to begin training, you may be coming fresh from university or have several years of teaching experience. You may be working full-time, part-time or fitting the course in…>

The path to becoming a Further Education (FE) teacher can be a confusing one, yet the routes into the profession can also be tailored to suit a candidate’s experience and qualifications. The Government removed the requirement to gain teaching qualifications for the FE sector in 2013. However, most employers continue to expect that you have…>

Which qualification is right for me? What are the qualifications, how and where do you gain them and how much do they cost? Here we look at the practical elements of each course. Make sure you read part one of this guide for the pathways into FE. FE-specific qualifications These are standalone qualifications which are…>

“Improve drawing, C+”. This was a teacher’s comment on a picture of a lion which I had carefully drawn at age 7 and is a perfect example of poor feedback, with a meaningless grade with no information as to how I should improve. There is a distinction made between formative assessment, or “Assessment for learning”, which involves checking…>