Unhelpful comments from Wilshaw criticised

In response to Sir Michael Wilshaw’s comments on further education made during an Education Select Committee meeting on 2 March 2016, Martin Doel, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), said: “Sir Michael Wilshaw should not be sharing his private and personal opinions about further education colleges in a public capacity. His comments are unhelpful and unsubstantiated. They are also overwhelmingly at odds with the findings of his inspectors. “Further education colleges provide high-quality technical and professional education and training for young people, adults and employers. They provide the 844,000 16 to 18-year-olds who choose to study or undertake apprenticeships in colleges with valuable employability skills, helping to develop their career opportunities and strengthen the local, regional and national economy. Neither schools nor UTCs have the capacity to make this provision as well as colleges.”