The Chartered Institution for Further Education and Collab Group have today announced that they have formed a strategic alliance that will significantly benefit the Further Education sector.
The alliance will see both organisations align strategically to achieve improved outcomes for their members and to act as a unified and powerful voice of advocacy for Further Education more generally. The partnership will also mean that the alliance’s membership spans a network of FE providers across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
Speaking of the new partnership Dawn Ward CBE, Deputy Chair of the Chartered Institution for Further Education said: “We are delighted to be announcing the creation of this new partnership. The Chartered Institution for Further Education is the only FE representative body with royal assent to provide Chartered status to leading FE and skills providers. We have exciting plans to build upon this and deliver new services to the sector that will celebrate the dual professionalism of FE practitioners as well as elevating their professional status. This alliance will allow us to significantly build upon these plans through reaching a greater number of providers and also celebrating their achievements and standards of excellence via Chartered Status.”
Ian Pretty, Chief Executive of Collab Group added: “This new alliance is an exciting addition to my members ambitions to create systems leadership in the sector by working closely with like-minded bodies to provide significant benefits to my members and to the sector as a whole. We are confident that by working closely with the Chartered Institution for Further Education, we will ensure leading UK Colleges have a powerful voice to engage and influence key sector stakeholders, raising the profile of our many excellent teachers and lecturers by accrediting their dual professionalism and creating opportunity and insight via industry led research.”
To mark the launch of the alliance leaders from the CIFE and Collab Group signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the scope of this agreement such as; acting as a combined and unified voice for FE, the provision of a new continuous professional development programme for FE practitioners and a combined approach across the partnership in areas such as talent management, professional excellence and skills focussed research in partnership by industry.
