This piece offers an overview of further education and training (FET) in Ireland in what proved a milestone year for the sector. It describes the major developments in FET and apprenticeship in 2021, outlines the policies and strategies at play, and looks ahead to an exciting 2022.

This article looks at the key issues to be addressed in achieving the strategic goal of simplifying the pathway from further education and training to higher education (HE). In particular, it compares the two State certification systems as the current pathways to HE, and examines the advantageous position of the Leaving Certificate over the QQI system in its historical and contemporary contexts. It concludes by outlining a possible scenario for an integrated and equitable CAO points system.

Adult Literacy for Life, the new 10-year Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy, envisages a whole-of-society approach to ensuring that adults in Ireland have the literacy skills they need to function in an inclusive and equitable economy and society. ETB FET services have the experience and expertise to play a leading role in implementing these objectives.

This article explores the need to develop the existing QQI level 5 curriculum for Post-Leaving Certificate students seeking to progress to higher education. It assesses the current progression policies and initiatives, and it reviews the latest data, to reconsider the suitability of the Work Experience module. It concludes by recommending that a new module be developed.

This article explores the concept of wellbeing as an essential contributor to learners’ progression in further education and training. It positions learner supports at the heart of the learner experience, drawing on principles of societal and economic reform that are illustrated in learner supports and engagement.

As an EU Member State, Ireland informs and is informed by decisions, agreements, policies, and priorities identified at EU level. Understanding how these agendas and decisions influence national priorities and planning can support the development of quality and the delivery of practice.

This article highlights the progression routes and opportunities for skills development in further education and training, looking beyond direct entry to third-level education, and shows why FET can ‘hold the key to that degree’.

This article highlights the importance of professional learning and development, the need to think differently in the midst of a pandemic, and the diverse activities and approaches taken across Ireland’s Education and Training Boards in the past year.

This article explores a collaboration between CDETB and TCD that has resulted in the first postgraduate certificate course in Diversity and Inclusion, designed specifically for FET. It highlights the rationale for the course design, and outlines how it will contribute to professional learning and development, learner experience, and the sector as a whole.

This article looks at the interplay between accountability and autonomy in university governance, and how this tension impacts on the management of universities and on the academic voice in the university and in public discourse.

In a rapidly changing world of work, it is important that enterprise engagement be increased to ensure that the programmes delivered best reflect the current and future skill needs of industry. This article outlines why this matters and how it might best be achieved.

This article is an opinion piece on how Covid-19 has accelerated the FET strategy in the last 20 months. It gives examples on how SOLAS and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science supported the enabling themes of the strategy to transform the sector.

The opportunity now exists in Ireland to place the FET Guidance and Information Service at the heart of lifelong learning and to develop seamless, collaborative, and appropriate lifelong career guidance provision for everyone. This is achievable through consultation, collaboration, and cooperation among all the stakeholders involved, as this article outlines.

This article explores the growing interest in micro-credentials in Ireland and internationally. These credentials or micro-qualifications are increasingly attractive to learners, funders, and policymakers because they can be highly focused on known areas of specific skill shortage and can be obtained in a relatively short time. They have taken on greater importance as they are seen to have a role to play in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This article explores policy and theory relating to a vision of the further education and training practitioner. It considers the importance of initial teacher education and the professionalisation of the role in contributing to the standing of FET. To achieve the vision of an FET College of the Future, the time is now right to turn our attention to the professional role of the FET practitioner.

Professional award standards for Early Learning and Care were published by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) in November 2019. By September 2021, new programmes were ready for rollout. This article looks at the shared curriculum approach that the 16 Education and Training Boards took to developing new programmes leading to new awards.