FEPN 2025 - Agenda

14 October, DoubleTree Hilton, Tower of London

Day 1

14 October 2025

8:00 am - 9:00 am

Main room

Registration
9:00 am - 9:05 am

Main room

Chair's opening remarks

Kate Webb

Managing Director
KWP Limited

Welcome to the Further Education Partnership Event!
9:05 am - 9:35 am

Main room

Opening keynote panel – Navigating growth, policy shifts and tight budgets: strategic planning for 2026 and beyond
Pat Carvalho

Principal and Chief Executive Officer
Birmingham Metropolitan College

Henry Taylor-Toone is Chief Finance and Operations Officer at Trafford & Stockport College Group. With a background in strategic leadership and operational excellence, Henry is committed to developing robust financial practices that maximise resources for the best possible student outcomes. He champions the role of colleges as civic institutions, ensuring that investment decisions support not only educational achievement but also wider social impact. Henry plays a key role in aligning financial sustainability with the Group’s mission to foster inclusion, collaboration, and community engagement across Greater Manchester and beyond.

Henry Toone-Taylor

Chief Finance and Operations Officer
Trafford and Stockport College Group

Maria Vetrone

Chief Operating Officer
City of Portsmouth College

Lucy is CEO of East Kent Colleges Group and has worked in further education for 27 years, starting in 1998 as an EFL Lecturer. Over the years she has done a wide range of roles across FE, working her way up the curriculum route as a Programme Director and Head of Curriculum. She has also led on international work, apprenticeships, subcontracting and adult community learning. She has been Principal of two of the colleges within the Group and been the strategic lead for widening participation and safeguarding. Lucy is passionate about the student voice and the inclusivity East Kent Colleges Group prides itself on.

Lucy McLeod

Chief Executive Officer and Principal
East Kent Colleges Group
The number of young people in colleges and sixth forms is expected to grow by five per cent – or 60,000 – between 2024 and 2028, according to Institute for Fiscal Studies. Coupled with increasing inflationary pressures, further educa...

The number of young people in colleges and sixth forms is expected to grow by five per cent – or 60,000 – between 2024 and 2028, according to Institute for Fiscal Studies. Coupled with increasing inflationary pressures, further education institutions continue to seek cost-effective measures to address ongoing financial challenges. As a result, leaders are questioning how institutions can be made future ready. How can we plan strategically for 2026 and beyond within a volatile funding landscape? This opening keynote panel will explore innovative approaches to financial planning, cost-efficiency and sustaining quality amidst budget constraints.

Discuss long-term planning under uncertain government funding assumptions for 2026 and beyond

Share models for cost-efficiency and doing more with less without compromising learner experience

Examine how colleges can incorporate government policies, economic indicators and grant changes into budget planning while remaining strategic
9:35 am - 9:50 am

Main room

Headline sponsor presentation

Interested in sponsoring?
9:55 am - 10:15 am

Main room

Dragon's Den - Speed presentations

Our signature ‘Dragons’ Den’ session provides each solution provider with an opportunity to deliver a short pitch, explaining why they are here and how their services can help tackle some of the sector’s ongoing challenges.
10:20 am - 11:10 pm

Main room

Networking and business meetings

10 minute meetings with suppliers who are offering solutions most relevant to your challenges. Please check the schedule on the back of your delegate pass for your meeting timings.
11:15 am - 11:50 am

Main room

Interactive discussion – Looking to the future: how can we prepare for Curriculum and Assessment Reform?
David Dangana

Chief Learning Officer
Capital City College Group

Asfa Sohail is a passionate and visionary leader in further and higher education, with over 24 years of experience driving inclusive, high-impact curriculum transformation. As Deputy CEO and Principal at London South East Colleges, she has led major curriculum reforms that align with national priorities and local skills needs—ensuring learners are ready for their futures through securing positive destinations. From launching new degree programmes to embedding technical qualifications and expanding young and adult learning, her work is rooted in a deep belief that education should empower every individual to thrive.
Asfa’s leadership has contributed to successful Ofsted inspections and national recognition through kitemarks such as STEM Assured and Career Colleges. She is a national voice in the education policy, representing the sector through the AoC, BusinessLDN, GLA, and the Black Leadership Group.
With a background in business, IT, and computing, and holding an MBA and PGCE, Asfa brings strategic clarity, operational excellence, and a deep commitment to equity and opportunity. She has experience of teaching and leading from entry level further education qualifications to degree level. She is known for her warmth, integrity, and belief in the power of education to transform lives.

Asfa Sohail

Chief Learning Officer and Principal
London South East Colleges
The UK government’s forthcoming Curriculum and Assessment Review, expected in the autumn, presents a critical opportunity for the FE institutions to influence and prepare for systemic change. With the current curriculum rooted in a...

The UK government’s forthcoming Curriculum and Assessment Review, expected in the autumn, presents a critical opportunity for the FE institutions to influence and prepare for systemic change. With the current curriculum rooted in a pre-digital era, the sector faces mounting pressure to adapt to the realities of AI, emerging technologies and evolving labour markets. Embedding digital fluency across all areas of learning is essential. This interactive session will bring together insights from expert speakers with small group discussions to explore how institutions are preparing for, and already navigating, changes brought about by the Review.

What insights are emerging from the Review and what can we anticipate in the final report?

What further reforms are needed to address the rise of AI and other innovative tools in teaching, learning and assessment?

What does a successful transition to the new framework look like in practice?
11:50 am - 12:05 pm

Main room

Platinum sponsor presentation

Interested in sponsoring?
12:05 pm - 12:20 pm

Main room

Platinum sponsor presentation

Interested in sponsoring?
12:20 pm - 1:00 pm

Main room

Networking lunch

An opportunity to connect with your peers and suppliers to talk over the learnings from the event. Lunch is served buffet style and a range of options are available to cater for different dietary requirements.
1:05 pm - 1:40 pm

Main room

Interactive discussion – Leading through complexity: culture, people, and the organisation
Chichester College Group Chief Executive Andrew Green is passionate about changing lives through learning and about Further Education (FE) and has the pedigree to prove it.
Having begun his career in retail management, working for companies including House of Fraser and Boots, Andrew retrained as a teacher in 1996 and gained his Masters in Education in 2000.
His career in FE began at this time, and he held a range of senior positions at City College, Brighton and Hove, before taking up the post of Deputy Principal at Chichester College in 2010.
He was then appointed Executive Principal in 2017, following the college’s merger with Crawley College and the creation of the Chichester College Group. He was named Chief Executive in 2021.
During his career at Chichester College Group (formerly Chichester College), he has led the group through two Outstanding Ofsted inspections in 2014 and 2020.
Andrew is passionate about building the skills and confidence in young people, apprentices and adults, giving them the routes to their dream job or dream university place and giving them the tools they need to be able to make a positive contribution to their local communities.
Away from the ‘day job’, Andrew was the joint owner and chief executive of Brighton Film School from 2011 until 2018. He served as a director of a local retail boutique in Chichester for 5 years, currently runs a property company and a leadership coaching company “The Authentic Leadership Coach Limited”.
Andrew is also a trustee of two charities (Chair of one) – Culture Shift, which uses the arts to positively change the lives of young people and adults with learning difficulties and disabilities and minority groups, and PACSO, which provides respite care for parents of children with learning difficulties or disabilities.

Andrew Green

Chief Executive
Chichester College Group

Neil Coker

Chief Executive and Principal
Barnet and Southgate College
With the government’s pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers falling short of addressing the deepening staffing crisis in colleges, senior leaders face an urgent challenge. How can we retain and develop the talent we already have ...

With the government’s pledge to recruit 6,500 additional teachers falling short of addressing the deepening staffing crisis in colleges, senior leaders face an urgent challenge. How can we retain and develop the talent we already have within the sector? In the absence of financial incentives, the focus must shift to fostering a workplace culture that motivates, supports and equips staff to thrive. This interactive session will combine insights from expert speakers with small group discussions to uncover how leadership can drive culture change, strengthen teams, and build organisational resilience in the face of complexity and ongoing reform.

The role of coaching and mentoring in cultivating united, high-performing teams

Strategies to support staff wellbeing amid structural and sector-wide change to increase talent retention

Aligning culture change with digital innovation and inclusion priorities
1:45 pm - 2:20 pm

Main room

Gold sponsor presentations

Interested in sponsoring?
2:25 pm - 3:15 pm

Main room

Networking and business meetings

10 minute meetings with suppliers who are offering solutions most relevant to your challenges. Please check the schedule on the back of your delegate pass for your meeting timings.
3:20 pm - 3:50 pm

Main room

Panel discussion – AI in action: where are we and what do we still need to do?
Debra Gray is Principal and CEO of Hull College and Vice Chair of the Jisc Board. A nationally recognised leader in Further Education, she specialises in digital transformation, skills development, and inclusive education. She has led the turnaround of Hull College into a multi-award-winning institution, embedding AI, green, and digital skills across the curriculum. Debra chairs the Association of Colleges’ HE Policy Group and sits on the CBI Economic Growth Board. Her Doctorate in Education explores AI, automation and the future of work, focusing on how FE can equip learners with the skills needed for a changing world

Debra Gray MBE

Chief Executive and Principal
Hull College

Rob is the Head of Learning Technology and Digital Learning at NCG and has worked in education since 2008. He began his teaching career at Newcastle College, delivering across Further and Higher Education as well as Apprenticeships within the School of Computing.
He graduated in 2012 with a BSc Hons in Computing and then began delivering pioneering online courses to Higher Education students throughout the UK. In 2018 he graduated with an Masters in Education and was appointed as the Head of Curriculum for Business at Newcastle College.
Now the Head of Learning Technology and Digital Learning and using his long term interest in EdTech, he has been working closely with teaching staff and a number of external companies to support the development and create the future of education.

Rob Wraith

Head of Learning Technology and Digital Learning
NCG

Julie Kapsalis is Principal and CEO at North East Surrey College (Nescot) in Surrey. Julie has a background in marketing & PR and economic development. She joined the FE sector in 2013 and has worked at Guildford College and Chichester College Group before joining Nescot. Julie is the former Chair of Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership and is a member of the Strategy Board for Artificial Intelligence in Education chaired by Sir Anthony Seldon. Nescot is part of the Sussex and Surrey Institute of Technology and has secured significant investment in immersive suites and new technologies to enhance teaching and learning.

Julie Kapsalis

Chief Executive and Principal
North East Surrey College of Technology

Anthony Bravo

Chief Executive Officer and Principal
Basingstoke College of Technology
We all know that AI can help students with their learning and enhance institutional efficiency alike; but what do we do now? With AI uptake well underway in most institutions, it is important to consider practical questions surrounding d...

We all know that AI can help students with their learning and enhance institutional efficiency alike; but what do we do now? With AI uptake well underway in most institutions, it is important to consider practical questions surrounding digital equity, the ethical implications of these tools and the alignment of provisions with guidance models. This panel discussion will explore successful digital transformation case studies, focusing on AI adoption amongst staff and students, building collaborative networks with other institutions, and digital governance.

What are the practical challenges associated with moving on from AI pilot projects to institution-wide digital maturity?

How can we address digital exclusion and ensure AI supports equity, not just efficiency, for staff and learners?

What does current guidance say about ethical AI use and digital governance within the classroom and in assessments?
3:55 pm - 4:25 pm

Main room

Focus groups

Join us for an engaging and interactive focus group session designed to create meaningful dialogue around some of the most pressing challenges facing further education institutions today. Each session will begin with a brief presentation...

Join us for an engaging and interactive focus group session designed to create meaningful dialogue around some of the most pressing challenges facing further education institutions today. Each session will begin with a brief presentation by expert speakers to set the stage for discussion. Following the introduction, speakers will facilitate conversation and encourage attendees to share their own experiences, ask questions and explore solutions together.
4:25 pm - 4:30 pm

Main room

Reflections and next actions/commitments
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm

Main room

Networking drinks reception
3:55 pm - 4:25 pm

Focus group 1

Aligning with regional needs: FE’s role in driving local growth and civic impact

Arinola Edeh

Principal and Head of Service
Westminster Adult Education Service

Dipa Ganguli OBE has 30 years’ experience in the adult education sector at WM College, Sutton College, Westminster Adult Education Service and Croydon Adult Learning, as well as being the Chair of HOLEX, the lead professional body for the Adult Community Education sector.

Having been a teacher herself, she specialised in teaching maths to adult learners and is passionate about increasing opportunities for adults through education and skills.

Dipa was appointed CEO and Principal of WM College in 2023, where she is focusing on academic excellence, inclusivity and diversity, community engagement and empowering learners to succeed academically and personally.

Dipa Ganguli

Chief Executive Officer and Principal
WM College

As the FE landscape diversifies, adult education is being sidelined. While some areas receive new investment, adult learners face reduced access, fragmented support, and chronic underfunding. New policy shifts reaffirm this neglect, desp...

As the FE landscape diversifies, adult education is being sidelined. While some areas receive new investment, adult learners face reduced access, fragmented support, and chronic underfunding. New policy shifts reaffirm this neglect, despite the proven benefits of lifelong learning. As employers report growing skills gaps, narrowing national funding, and demographic changes reshape local labour markets, adult education must not be left behind and providers must move toward targeted provision. This session will explore how adult learning can align with Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) and wider place-based strategies, without losing sight of its civic purpose. What does it look like to put adult learners and their communities at the heart of regional development?
· How can adult education leaders respond collectively to reduced investment and shifting policy priorities?
· What does meaningful alignment with LSIPs and regional strategies look like for the most disadvantaged adult learners?
· How can adult learning remain a driver of civic renewal, inclusion, and opportunity in communities that need it most?
3:55 pm - 4:25 pm

Focus group 2

The attendance problem: strategies for engagement, retention, and inclusion
I joined Leeds College of Building in August 2022 as Assistant Principal for Quality & Student Experience and was appointed as Vice Principal Curriculum, Quality, and Innovation in 2024. I am responsible for the strategic leadership of curriculum development, quality of education, and innovation across the College, ensuring our programmes align with local and national priorities and support sustainable career pathways for our students and communities.
With over 20 years’ experience in the Further Education sector, I have held several senior leadership roles, including Director of Curriculum and Vice Principal for Professional & Vocational Education prior to moving to LCB in 2022.

Rob Holmes

Vice Principal of Curriculum, Quality and Innovation
Leeds College of Building
Ninety per cent attendance is now perceived as the minimum acceptable level for learners. Yet, recent data highlights attendance as one of the most persistent behavioural challenges for colleges over the past year. While the pandemic for...

Ninety per cent attendance is now perceived as the minimum acceptable level for learners. Yet, recent data highlights attendance as one of the most persistent behavioural challenges for colleges over the past year. While the pandemic forced students out of the classroom, it seems even five years later colleges are still struggling to bring them back in. As a result, worsening absenteeism continues to pile pressure on colleges to find solutions to increasing NEET numbers. Amid growing concerns around student mental health and diverse learner needs, FE institutions must adopt proactive approaches to re-engage students. This focus group will explore root causes of absenteeism.

Strengthening learner resilience and equipping students with essential digital and well-being skills

Addressing how colleges are tackling the growing mental health and well-being needs of students

Showcasing initiatives designed to foster belonging and boost learner retention in under-resourced settings
3:55 pm - 4:25 pm

Focus group 3

Safeguarding in the digital age: navigating cybersecurity governance in further education
Scott Mulholland

Chief Information, Data and Estates Officer
NCG
As digital transformation accelerates across colleges, the risk landscape is evolving just as rapidly. Data breaches, ransomware attacks, and systems outages are no longer isolated incidents, but pressing sector-wide concerns. The World ...

As digital transformation accelerates across colleges, the risk landscape is evolving just as rapidly. Data breaches, ransomware attacks, and systems outages are no longer isolated incidents, but pressing sector-wide concerns. The World Economic Forum now ranks cybersecurity as the fourth greatest threat to global education systems, underscoring the need for proactive and resilient security strategies. This focus group will explore how institutions can strengthen their cybersecurity measures through robust governance, realistic investment planning, effective recovery strategies, and a culture of awareness.

What are the most significant cybersecurity threats facing further education institutions, and how can they be effectively mitigated?

How can colleges embed a culture of awareness among staff and students?

What governance models, frameworks and compliance policies are essential to long-term digital resilience?