Incentives for New Tutors in FE: A Growing Need

FE skills and knowledgeable people to teach the trades.

19.4.2025

I have worked in FE coming on for 20 years. I am enjoying every minute of it. I do worry about the recruitment of skilled staff into colleges and training centres. There has been a lack of skilled staff coming in during the past decade.

Where is the incentive for new tutors to come into colleges? Many different ways have been proposed and used. But, the salaries for skilled engineers on site are at a premium. It is difficult for the FE sector to compete with these salaries.

Many say “So what is the problem with that?” The issue, as I see it, is that the skills shortage is forever increasing. If the issue continues in recruiting and retaining quality staff in colleges, we face a tipping point. Training centres also struggle with this challenge. Many centres may be forced to close areas due to not being able to staff them. This is already happening in many areas of the country. The UK is facing a significant skills shortage that is expected to worsen during 2025. The industry needs to recruit an extra 217,000 new workers to meet demand. The most in-demand trades are wood trades & interior fit-out. Other in-demand trades include construction professionals, technical staff, construction managers, and electrical installation trades. This shortage is fueled by several factors. These factors include an aging workforce and a lack of young people entering the trades. There is also increased demand from infrastructure projects and renewable energy projects. All of which need specialist qualifications and teachers/trainers to meet the demand.

I am constantly promoting the amazing career of becoming a tutor/trainer. It benefits your work-life balance. I discuss this online with tradespeople I know and attend events to promote the career. This needs a national initiative to be urgent. The government and industry must work together. They should offer opportunities for everyone who wishes to join the sector. Individuals can be trained by experts who have broad experience and knowledge. These experts can share their insights with all students.

Is there an issue with working in FE?

Is this an issue? Is it just not attractive? Or is it just the salary?

From my perspective working in FE has been an absolute joy. Is it difficult? At times yes but always rewarding. The salaries vary obviously. Most centres are trying to be competitive. Yet, it can be difficult to compete. Many offer attractive incentives such as ‘Golden Hellos’ and other benefits. From my experience, assistance is crucial when someone new to teaching or training comes to a centre. I found out it can be a huge learning curve and a big responsibility. An exemplary induction program and mentoring scheme is crucial to retain and support new starters to FE and training.

I have been fortunate to work in the sector for a long time. I am very aware that the staff rooms I see up and down the country are ageing. This is akin to the workplace that had many engineers of a certain age. Re-training of engineers is happening with many engineers. Still, there are also many engineers who are not willing to go into the training sector. We are struggling to recruit in all areas. Additionally, school leavers are not necessarily considering construction trades as a career path as they once did.

What is the answer?

That is indeed the question, what can we do and who is responsible to tackle this issue? I do not have the answer. I only have my observations of what is happening now. This is an ever advancing issue.

It would be very interesting to see if there are innovative approaches to this issue across the country. Please feel free to comment. Hopefully, this will start the conversation to tackle the issues.

Many thanks and hopefully we can continue the conversation in the comments.