About Us
What is FE Sussex?
FE Sussex is the association of all post-16 colleges in Sussex and represents the interests of:
- six general further education colleges
- five sixth form colleges
- one specialist land-based college.
FE Sussex is a limited company jointly owned by the 12 colleges in Sussex. Each of the 12 college principals is a member of the board of directors. FE Sussex has a full time Chief Executive Officer together with administration and support staff. FE Sussex employs further education and training professionals to deliver its various agendas and projects. FE Sussex is the organisation which provides direct input into the strategic management level of every Sussex college.
What does FE Sussex do?
FE Sussex places the learner at the heart of its purpose, mission, values and activities. Its aim is to support the learner by providing quality improvement and embedding strong and effective leadership and management. The key business aims of FE Sussex are:
- The improvement of quality
- The improvement of employer responsiveness and engagement
- The promotion of the reputation and role of further education
- To act as the platform for communications, training and development
- To facilitate shared services, joint procurement and value for money
- To generate income by contracting with external organisations
- To support colleges and the Framework for Excellence agenda.
FE Sussex contracts with a variety of external organisations and agencies to deliver various aspects of the further education and training agenda on behalf of its FE Sussex Members.
How does FE Sussex do it?
To achieve its aims FE Sussex undertakes a wide range of activities which include:
- Coordinating quality improvement groups across Sussex
- Leading on common-interest national agendas such as Train to Gain, Framework for Excellence, Action for Outstanding Colleges and Quality Improvement
- Organising pan-Sussex continual professional development for college staff
- Contracting with suppliers for the purposes of joint procurement
- Coordinating a wide range of pan-Sussex practitioner forums for college staff including principals, governors and clerks, finance and administration staff, human resources staff, curriculum specialists, international managers, business development managers and procurement officers.
How is FE Sussex funded?
All member colleges of FE Sussex pay a subscription based on the size of their college. In addition, FE Sussex contracts with the Learning and Skills Council and other organisations to manage projects and provide various administration and professional services. FE Sussex has also been successful in applying to the European Social Fund for the delivery of various projects.
The Team
The core FE Sussex team is relatively small. However, we regularly contract with consultants from our network to support the delivery of specific projects. In doing this we are able to match the project with the correct skill set of consultant and provide a high quality service