This article deals with staff, other than teaching staff, working in further education (FE) colleges. (Although FE colleges are at the centre of adult education and training in Wales, they are not the only providers: programmes are delivered across a diverse range of providers, as described in the article on Main Providers.)

The focus of the article is FE college principals and managers. Like others working in FE, they are not civil servants and do not have guaranteed employment at any stage of their professional life, but instead must apply for specific posts.

Management and staffing structures in individual FE colleges vary, as do job categories and titles.

Managers in FE colleges 

Pay and conditions of service in FE colleges are subject to negotiation between the employers’ organisation, ColegauCymru/Colleges Wales and trade unions / professional associations.

In 2014, a joint trade union group and ColegauCymru agreed a national contract for all staff employed in FE colleges in Wales. Colleges started to implement the national contract in the 2014/15 academic year and all colleges have been expected to have the national contract in place since 1 September 2016.

The national contract includes model contracts for different categories of FE staff, which can be accessed on the University and College Union (UCU) website. The contract for full-time management staff states that:

• all managers must participate in continuing professional development and have an annual appraisal
• the normal working week is 37 hours and there are 37 days’ annual leave
• managers automatically become members of either the Teachers’ Pension Scheme or Local Government Pension Scheme depending on their role, although they may elect to opt out at any time. 

ColegauCymru and the trade unions have also agreed recommended pay scales for management and other categories of FE staff. The rates of pay are adopted by the governing body* in each institution, which acts as the employer of staff. Information on current pay scales, including the FE management spine is available on the UCU  website.

*The term ‘governing body’ is used throughout this article to cover ‘corporation boards’ or ‘boards of directors’.

There are no minimum qualifications which managers are required to hold, although they must hold a recognised teaching qualification if they also have a teaching role.

College principals 

The governing body appoints the chief executive of the college, who is its principal, and senior staff members, in accordance with The Further Education Corporations (Replacement of Instrument and Articles of Government) (Wales) Order 2006.

The responsibilities of this role are not specified in law. However, the Financial Memorandum, the agreement made between each FE college and the Welsh Government, sets the expectation that the principal will be the accounting officer for the college, as set out on page 5 of this guidance. This means that he/she takes personal responsibility for assuring the governing body that there is compliance with the Financial Memorandum and all other terms and conditions of funding. However, responsibility for financial management and advising on financial matters is generally delegated through the principal to a senior member of staff such as a director of finance (or equivalent).

The principal is also responsible for:

• ensuring that decisions made by the governing body are implemented through the college’s management structure and advising the governing body, as described on page 16 of ColegauCymru/Colleges Wales’ Code of Good Governance for Welsh Colleges

• making proposals about the educational character and mission of the college
• directing and managing the college and the leadership of its staff
• appointing, assigning, appraising and suspending staff other than senior staff and determining their pay and conditions of service in line with the framework established by the governing body
• maintaining student discipline.

The governing body determines the pay and conditions of service of the principal (and other senior post holders). It may establish a remuneration committee to provide advice. Decisions are normally informed by benchmarking data and a recent performance appraisal of the principal.

There are no minimum qualifications which principals are required to hold in order to be appointed, although leadership programmes for principals and senior staff members are available. These include master’s degree courses in education leadership and management, such as the programme offered by the University of South Wales. This is aimed at those who are, or aspire to be leaders in educational settings, including adult learning environments.

 

Article last reviewed December 2020.