‘‘ J


ISC is already well versed in navigating many of these issues on behalf of Higher Education institutions – its negotiations with the big


five publishers being a deal that many librarians watch closely. Now the licensing team is focusing on collective action in FE as it grows and deepens its work in the sector to reflect the needs of its FE members. Jonathan Hofgartner, head of learn- ing, teaching and assessment at Jisc, who worked in the FE sector for over 10 years in management and leadership roles before joining Jisc, said: “Our role is to understand the broader sector, policy and technological landscape to identify institutional needs, engage with strategic suppliers, negotiate better terms and pric- ing, and ensure institutions can access the technologies they need to support teach- ing, learning and the success of learners.”


Diverse sector


Jonathan said there are 253 further edu- cation colleges in the UK, according to the most recently available figures from the Association of Colleges – 210 colleges in England, 24 in Scotland, 13 in Wales, and six in Northern Ireland. They teach almost 1.6 million students split between 914,000 adults and 644,000 16 to 18-year-olds. Asked how HE and FE compare in terms of diversity of institutions, Jonathan said: “I would take the view that diversity is one of the defining characteristics of FE. Large general further education colleges, sixth form colleges, specialist institutions and independent training providers will often have varying priorities. A technology or vendor/supplier proposition that works well for one institution may not align with


8


Collective negotiation has always been understood to deliver value, but the urgency has certainly increased over the last few years.


Collective action in a diverse sector


Jisc wants to further mobilise collective buying power in FE. Jonathan Hofgartner, head of learning, teaching and assessment at Jisc explores the potential for collective action and collaboration in a diverse sector.


the needs, scale or budget of another.” He also acknowledged that as well as


diversity between institutions, there are also diverse and conflicting needs within institutions: “In any sector there is always going to be a balance between competing priorities. Within the context of FE, it is understandable that library, IT, curric- ulum and finance teams will all have differing perspectives and priorities when it comes to investment decisions. “Competing priorities like curriculum and learning resource against invest- ment to keep pace with cyber security, including updating and maintaining core infrastructure.”


Digital infrastructure, productivity tools, cyber security, learner support platforms, specialist curriculum software, library and content services “represent important, and often significant, areas of expenditure. The activity of Jisc’s licensing team spans several of these areas, particularly where collective demand can improve value, reduce risk or strengthen contractual terms and protections.”


Financial pressure


“The FE sector has been operating under significant financial pressure for several years, even if the challenges differ slightly from those facing higher education. Colleges are managing rising costs, but also growing student numbers, workforce shortages and increasing expectations around digital provision, while funding has not kept pace with inflation (The increase in 16-18 funding for 26/27 in England is around 0.5 per cent).” He said: “The impact is evident across the sector, with multiple colleges entering intervention or pursing mergers because of financial challenges. Others are oper-


Jonathan Hofgartner.


ating with critically low cash reserves. It’s worth highlighting that these are not isolated incidents, which points towards broader structural pressures. This is all within the context of significant reform across the sector, including Scotland’s ‘College Sector of the Future’, acceleration of vocation reform in Wales and major qualification reform in England with V-Levels launching from 2027.” He adds: “From a licensing and procure- ment perspective, this means institutions are increasingly focused on achieving demonstrable value and efficiency, whilst also remaining highly innovative as a sector by continuing to embrace and experiment with the latest technology.”


Urgency


Asked if this increasing focus on FE was related to this, Jonathan says: “Collective negotiation has always been understood to deliver value, but the urgency has cer- tainly increased over the last few years. Several converging factors are driving


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