David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, outlines his hopes for the year ahead:

Funding, funding and more funding. Colleges have had to deal with an average funding cut of 30 per cent, while at the same time costs have increased dramatically. We hope next year’s spending review is a step in the right direction to address this.

Higher technical education. We’d like to see more work done to establish higher technical education as a genuine and credible alternative to conventional forms of HE, and for colleges to be at the forefront of this.

International offerings.
We want equal billing and support for colleges in the promotion of the UK’s international education offer. There’s lots on offer - curriculum, leadership, quality assurance and governance expertise, in addition to great courses for international students. 

Broader and deeper curriculum. Most young people in England are following a limited and narrow range of programmes, which is often determined by their prior achievement. We need a more generous and more ambitious definition of what young people should aim for. 

Mental health services. All FE colleges should be involved and engaged with the local transformation plans for children and young people’s mental
health services. 

Apprenticeship offer. The cost and additional burden of the preparatory phase of apprenticeship development must be recognised
- without this, the apprenticeship itself can’t be high quality.