21 January 2026
Change Is Coming.
Every month, the FE sector produces a steady stream of commentary on Skills England, government policy, leadership, DEI and regulation. AI appears too, but often as a side issue, an add on rather than the main story. Given how profoundly AI is reshaping work and education, the limited attention is striking.
AI is not “just another theme”; it is a disruptive force altering economic and social structures at a pace not seen since the Industrial Revolution. For FE, this should demand a major rethink of priorities.
The evidence base is not thin. Various reports indicate that up to 8 million UK jobs could be affected by AI, with 10–30% of vocational roles vulnerable to automation. Globally, more than four in ten companies expect workforce reductions by 2030.
The early signals are already visible: PwC’s Youth Employment Index 2025 shows a 20% drop in youth employment in Information & Communication, a sector heavily exposed to AI, while adult employment in the same area remains broadly stable. Since the launch of ChatGPT, UK listings for entry level, graduate, internship and apprenticeship roles have fallen by around a third. McKinsey reports a 38% decline in UK job listings for highly AI exposed roles such as software development, consulting and graphic design. And large employers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Amazon, McDonald’s, KPMG, Royal Mail, have already cut roles and replaced them with technology.
Of course, technological change also creates opportunities. The OBR forecasts unemployment falling from around 5% to roughly 4.1%, with displaced workers finding new roles. NFER predicts that up to 3 million low skilled UK jobs could disappear by 2035, but that overall workforce numbers will still rise by around 2.3 million, driven by higher skilled roles. Technological innovation has always led to jobs disappearing but creating others, but the speed and breadth of this change is unprecedented.
For young people, the uncertainty is acute. Employers increasingly question whether some roles are even needed and we are seeing daily, concerns about graduate employment and the development of a pipeline of skilled young people. For future learners, career paths that once felt predictable are now shrouded in uncertainty.
Are FE leaders and boards ready?
Some college leaders worry the DfE will use AI as justification for further funding cuts, but avoiding the topic is not a strategy and it does not serve students, staff or employers. If AI can deliver similar or better outcomes at lower cost, then FE has an opportunity to redeploy resources into areas where humans add the most value, ‘Actual Intelligence’.
The scale of strategic rethinking required to understand AI is profound. How, exactly, are leadership teams learning AI? How is the sector building the capability to respond? And what support are colleges asking for — or receiving?
Jisc has highlighted significant gaps in FE: weak confidence around AI, low data literacy, and limited organisational maturity. While colleges are beginning to act internally, creating AI champions, working groups, pilots and frameworks, there is little to suggest that boards (and leadership teams) are being prepared at the same pace. A Jisc/MKAI briefing from March 2025 shows that just over half of FE colleges have updated academic policies and set up internal AI or digital working groups. But these are operational teams, not board level structures. Board members, Chairs and governance professionals are often not being equipped for what is coming (understandably given the pace of change).
What skills and experience will boards need?
Future FE leadership and governance will require adaptive thinking, strong data understanding, technological fluency and strategic foresight. AI isn’t merely about efficiency; it will reshape the mission of FE. Colleges are responsible for preparing 16–18-year-olds, adult learners and apprentices for a labour market that is changing month by month.
Leadership focus must broaden. Governance must look beyond the familiar comfort zones. The key question is no longer simply who sits around the board table, but whether governors collectively have the skills, mindset and foresight to guide a college through an AI driven transformation. Board members need to be conversant with AI’s risks and opportunities and able to engage with this “third industrial revolution” at a strategic level.
Too often, FE boards recruit narrowly, for example, targeting HR expertise without checking whether it relates to AI influenced workforce strategy, digital transformation, or emerging labour market shifts. Boards need members with experience from AI mature organisations, tech-enabled sectors, data driven businesses or digital public services. The sector also needs to be more confident in working with external advisers who can bridge the gaps; FE has sometimes been hesitant to do so.
Reviewing, recruitment, retention and development of the ‘right’ governors will be key.
Colleges need people who can question assumptions, understand data led decision making, appreciate ethical and legal implications of AI, and support leaders in rethinking curriculum, delivery and workforce models.
Leading Anderson Quigley’s FE practice, there has been a clear uptick in demand for data literate, digitally aware, senior leaders (interim and perm) and AI confident board members, not just across FE but across all the sectors in which we operate. The public and not-for-profit sectors are often lags behind the commercial sector in adoption and realising the potential of technological innovations, board recruitment is one way of harnessing that expertise.
The FE sector stands at a crossroads. It can continue focusing on safe, familiar themes — or it can confront the reality that AI is transforming employment, opportunity and skills faster than any previous technological shift.
AI in Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities Ahead | AQ
Paul joined AQ in 2024 after ten years at GatenbySanderson and, prior to that, six years at Veredus, all of which has been focused on supporting the education sector. His earlier career was also in education, working in higher education and professional education for ten years. Paul has led on some of the most significant FE/Skills CEO appointments of recent times, including the CEOs of Capital City College, NCG and Warwickshire College Group and the CEOs of the Education and Training Foundation, Student Loans Company, Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education and WorldSkills UK. Paul is a Trustee of Bridge Academy Trust, an eleven-school trust in Essex.
You can contact him at paul.aristides@andersonquigley.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.
