Spotlight on our SET Conference 2020 sponsors: FE Associates

We are hugely grateful to our sponsors of the SET Conference 2020 (#SETConf20) and thank each of them for supporting us this year. Here we shine a light on our gold sponsor, FE Associates (FEA), to find out more about its work and achievements across the sector.

Since FE Associates (FEA) began in 2004, operating primarily as an interim management company, the sector has changed vastly with the demands placed on providers growing evermore challenging and complex. FE Associates has kept pace with that change, constantly evolving and expanding our services to meet the needs of our clients. Over the past 16 years our business has grown to include a quality improvement offer, an executive recruitment strand, and most recently our training division, Teaching Matters.

What are you most looking forward to about the SET Conference 2020?

The team at FEA is looking forward to:

• experiencing a well-managed virtual event and to see how the experts do it!
• using this new and innovative method to network with peers in the FE sector
• learning from the diverse range of speakers and how the sector is meeting the needs of students.

It has been a privilege to work with the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and the Society for Education and Training (SET) over the years, and FEA felt it was time to give something back. As an organisation we are keen to learn from the sector and have the opportunity to meet peers on a more informal basis. We are looking forward to the variety of virtual interaction and speakers.

If you could tell our SET members one thing about your organisation which they may not already know, what would this be?

FEA’s registered training division, ‘Teaching Matters’ has recently launched its innovative and ambitious national training programme for trainee teachers entering the further education sector.

We provide the only national programme for the delivery of the Level 5 FE and Skills Teacher, delivered by a broad range of highly qualified and experience experts supported by Ofsted inspectors in coaching roles.

Building on its successful track record in training managers across the sector, Teaching Matters has designed an apprenticeship to inspire, grow and develop industry experts entering the teaching profession.

With the SET Conference being fully virtual this year, what benefits do you think this will bring to our attendees?

The team is really looking forward to learning a new way of working, learning and networking. It will give us the independence to move around the agenda and socially interact.

If a year ago today you could have seen what life in 2020 would have been like, what advice would you have given to your colleagues?

My advice would be to work on your IT skills and learn how to interact and engage in a virtual learning environment; if done well it can have fantastic results.

What is your organisation most proud of?

We are proud to support the further education sector to develop careers, achieve ambitions and the way in which we support FE and Skills organisations to grow and improve.

Can you tell us one fun fact about your organisation?

Last October, after an exhilarating day’s training, FEA’s very own Donna Clifford (pictured above) shared a pot of tea and cake with Bill Nighy, who was most interested in the company's work in the FE sector and took a business card to give to a friend’s son.