Insights
- Articles
EAT upholds strike out despite outstanding reasonable adjustment applications
08 Oct 2026Failing to engage with the tribunal process can result in claims being struck out, even where a claimant has disabilities. Tribunals must consider relevant evidence about disability and whether strike out is proportionate.
- Articles
Top tips for FE Colleges: managing complaints in the age of AI
08 Oct 2026As technology continues to shape the way people communicate, gather information and raise concerns, it is crucial for colleges to adapt their approaches to complaint management effectively and sensitively
- Articles
Further Education Estate Management Standards: raising standards for a decade of opportunity – but can funding and buildings keep pace?
08 Oct 2026Further education (FE) is entering a period of profound change. Devolution, industrial strategy, demographic growth and renewed government investment could align colleges more closely with local economic priorities, positioning them as vital infrastructure for growth, skills and opportunity.
Yet demand for places and specialist facilities is rising just as colleges have less freedom to borrow and much of the estate still needs significant investment.
- Articles
Developments in the regulation of FE colleges delivering higher education
08 Oct 2026For many further education (FE) colleges delivering higher education (HE), regulation has involved oversight from both the Department for Education (DfE) and the Office for Students (OfS). Colleges have therefore had to operate within two regulatory frameworks, sometimes addressing similar issues through different requirements.
- Articles
Equality action plans meet the new union equality representative role: what Universities need to know
06 Oct 2026The Employment Rights Act 2025 creates two interconnected equality mechanisms that University HR teams and executive and governance boards will need to understand and engage with.
- Articles
The OfS free speech complaints scheme is now live: what providers need to know
06 Oct 2026In May 2026, we reported on the Government’s plans for an Office for Students (OfS) free speech complaints scheme (Scheme) under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 (HEFSA), expected to launch in September.
The Scheme went live on 1 September 2026. This update summarises the main rules, exclusions and some practical implications, particularly where an employment tribunal claim may also arise.
