The Department for Education has announced the next phase of its strategic college improvement fund (SCIF) allocation.

Speaking at an Association of Colleges (AoC) event in south London, the minister announced the main phase of the £15 million SCIF, which will partner strong colleges with those in need of improvement in a bid to share best practice and drive up standards.

Colleges that need support to improve will be able to apply for a grant to work with a “partnering” college and together they will create an action plan to tackle the issues they face. A total of 14 colleges received a share of £2 million in the first two pilot rounds of the SCIF allocation.

Apprenticeships and skills minister Anne Milton said the government wants to improve the quality of education for everyone. She added: “It is vital that all further education and sixth form colleges are able to give people the skills and knowledge they need to get on in their life and succeed in the workplace. This fund will enable colleges to work together to improve standards across all colleges.”

‘Improvement through collaboration ’

AoC director of education and skills policy David Corke said the organisation has long called for a peer improvement scheme for further education to match the one in schools.

Sixth Form Colleges Association chief executive Bill Watkin said the fund represents a real opportunity to benefit from a “well-structured and well-resourced quality improvement programme, and we urge colleges to apply to participate.”

Further education commissioner Richard Atkins said: “Improvement through collaboration, as encouraged by the SCIF, is a fantastic and viable approach to improving the quality offer within the FE sector.”

The DfE funding will be available until March 2020 and will be administered by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.