GovWire

Guidance: Further education corporations and sixth-form college corporations: governance guide

Department For Education

August 1
08:30 2024

This guide summarises the key legal and regulatory requirements that apply to FE corporations and sixth-form college corporations as charities providing education. It also summarises recommended practice.

The guide:

  • is for governors of FE corporations and sixth-form college corporations in England
  • provides essential information for governance professionals
  • will also be useful for:
    • senior college staff
    • auditors
    • college inspectors

It is not intended for:

  • sixth-form academies (see the academy trust governance guide)
  • independent specialist providers
  • independent learning providers
  • designated institutions, though aspects of it may be useful to them

To provide feedback, contact fe.governance@education.gov.uk.

Updates to this page

Published 28 June 2022
Last updated 1 August 2024 +show all updates
  1. Updated the governance guide to align with the college financial handbook. Changes have been made to the sections on Managing conflicts of interest, Fraud and cyber security, Whistleblowing, Financial and estate management, Risk management and assurance and Executive pay.

  2. Updated wording to reflect updated Prevent guidance.

  3. Updated 'FE and sixth-form college corporations: governance guide'. Added a link to local skills improvement plans statutory guidance. Made updates to accountability agreements and local needs duty in 'duty to review provision' section. Clarified how often boards must conduct self-assessment in governance reviews section. Added resources to Further reading section, on positive behaviours and estate management.

  4. Updated the section 'Investments and trading' following new Charity Commission guidance.

  5. Updated FE and sixth-form college corporations: governance guide. Replaced references to 'funding agreements' with 'accountability agreements'. Amended equality, diversity and inclusion section to clarify Public Sector Equality Duty requirements. Added a link to the Education and Training Foundation's qualifications for governance professionals, in the section on a governance professionals specific role. Added a link to Department for Education guidance on asset disposals, in the further reading and resources.

  6. Updated 'Executive pay' section to reflect new senior pay controls. Added new section on special educational needs and disabilities to 'Compliance'.

  7. A link to HM Treasury's senior pay guidance has been added to the 'Executive pay' section. A link to the FE governor recruitment service has been added to the 'Recruiting and developing governors' section.

  8. First published.

Sign up for emails or print this page

Recent Comments

Follow Us on Twitter

Share This


Enjoyed this? Why not share it with others if you've found it useful by using one of the tools below: