12 MAY 2015

The untapped market ALL FE Colleges NEED to know about

With the Conservatives winning a shock victory in last week’s election, many people in Further Education, particularly those in the Finance Departments, may be a little worried.

With the Conservatives winning a shock victory in last week’s election, many people in Further Education, particularly those in the Finance Departments, may be a little worried. As we discussed in The Party Pledges and FE – What We Know So Far, the Conservatives’ commitment to eliminating the deficit means they pledged the least money for Further Education, particularly adult skills. Their vision for Further Education required the sector to transform itself the most and for FE Colleges to get super smart with their offering. They openly stated that Colleges needed to push courses that could generate loans and funding in order to balance the books, such as apprenticeships and private training. So now, more than ever, it is vital that ALL FE Colleges jump on the fund-chasing band wagon to better protect themselves from the funding cuts.

The good news...

Is that there are a fair few ways to generate more funding. The one we will be focusing on today, and over the next few months, is particularly exciting as it is from an alternative source to the government and their various schemes. Today we would like to highlight the benefits of training up our amazing ex-military personnel and bringing their valuable experience and skillset into Further Education. The MOD will make approx. 30,000 redundancies over the next few years

The need to know...

With approx. 24,000 military personal leaving the services each year, the MOD are aware of the need to support these people into their next roles, and have made funding available to those wanting to retrain. The brilliant ECLAS scheme awards suitable ex-military candidates with up to £2,000 each year, over three years, towards the cost of a nationally recognised qualification at Level 3 (A level), or its equivalent, or above. So, for example, Colleges that offer full training for an ex-military engineer to become a qualified teacher could receive £6000 over three years, as apposed to £0 for training a non ex-military candidate. If you also consider the UK's desperate need for Engineering qualified Lecturers and graduates, and the amount of engineers likely to be leaving the armed forces over the next few years, you have yourself an exciting opportunity that is not to be missed!

Common Military Skillsets

| Management | Medical |

| Telecommunications | IT |

| Avionics | Intelligence |

| Engineering | Finance |

| Construction |

And that’s not all they can do…

When you start thinking about these candidates, they just look better and better. Think for a second about the real world experience these candidates will have, the stories they could tell, and how inspirational they could be to your students. Did you know there are over 140 trades within the Armed Forces? Many of which in sectors the UK is lacking skilled professionals in. Think also on how military has trained these candidates, ensuring the highest standards, while instilling in them the values of discipline, hard work and dedication. And finally, think about how this well funded investment into your Colleges future will produce an asset with the potential to keep on giving.

Our experience...

We think these candidates are amazing, and have seen many of them make fantastic Lecturers and super efficient management staff. This is why we include an ex-military job board in our standard network; JobOppO/ JobOppO Foundation which has been set up by ex-military for ex-military personnel. Over the next few months, we will be demonstrating even more ways these candidates can play a role in your FE College, so sign up to the ‘Best of the blog’ monthly email to make sure you don’t miss out.