Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the use of industry specialists within further education colleges to provide masterclasses, staff training and professional development; and whether funding is available to expand such industry-FE partnerships.

As part of the Construction Skills package the department announced that areas with Local Skills Improvement Plans would benefit from £20 million to form partnerships between further education (FE) providers and construction employers, helping boost the number of teachers with construction experience in colleges through a teacher industry exchange scheme. The scheme will launch later this year and will facilitate opportunities for construction professionals to share their expertise in FE settings. This work will inform expansion into other priority sectors.

In addition, through our Taking Teaching Further programme, the department is supporting industry specialists across a range of technical sectors who are interested in teaching in FE. This programme provides funding to FE colleges and independent training providers for initial teacher education courses and early career support for technical experts moving into teaching. We are also working with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation as they pilot a new training offer for industry professionals coming into teaching in the FE sector. This will help industry professionals to receive a solid grounding in the skills and knowledge they need to be effective as teachers of technical and vocational students.