Guidance

Recruit an FE governor

Explains the process that further education (FE) colleges should follow when recruiting new governors through the FE governor recruitment service.

Applies to England

Overview

The further education (FE) governor recruitment service willhelps help college corporations and designated institutions to strengthen the skills and diversity mix of their boards by identifying well-qualified candidates to fill key governor roles.

The service is delivered by Peridot Partners Ltd.

Who can use this service

The service is available to:

  • FE corporations
  • sixth-form college corporations
  • designated institutions

We will prioritise cases and roles where a quality appointment is considered key to strengthening governance.

Criteria for using the service

To meet the criteria for using the service, you’ll need to have at least one of the following:

  • a difficulty in filling the role of chair, deputy chair or committee chair
  • a significant skills gap on your governing board
  • a significant need to increase diversity on your governing board
  • a strong recommendation from a recent external review to recruit to a key governor role

Prioritising cases for referral

We will prioritise your nomination for referral to the service if your:

  • college is in serious difficulty, for example, in intervention
  • college or governing board already receives support from our FE commissioner team, Department for Education (DfE) territorial teams, national leaders of further education (NLFEs) or national leaders of governance (NLGs)
  • circumstances or location make it difficult to recruit the governors you need

What the service provides

The service will provide a bespoke end-to-end service for governing boards including:

  • helping with the person specification
  • undertaking a proactive search for candidates
  • shortlisting the best candidates for interview
  • supporting boards through the appointment and induction process

How to access the service

You will need a referral from DfE to access the service. ThereThe arenomination 2process wayswill tostart getin aone nominationof for2 referral:ways.

How weDfE will make a nomination

Nominations for referral may be made by:

  • the FE commissioner team
  • DfE territorial teams
  • NLGa national leader of governance
  • NLFEa national leader of further education

We will always:will:

  • explain why we are recommending you use the service
  • explain which vacancy is under consideration
  • explain how the process will work
  • getask theyour consentchair ofand thegovernance boardprofessional beforeto proceedingconfirm their consent to proceed
  • include contact details for the chair and the governance professional in the nomination
  • ask your chair and governance professional to complete the nomination form

How you can nominate your college

If you meet our criteria for using the service, you can nominate your college byvia emailingour dedicated mailbox.

Complete our FE governor recruitment service nomination form (MS Word Document, 71.7 KB) and send it to FE.Governor-Recruitment@education.gov.uk.

YouThe willforms needasks toyou explain:to:

  • explain why you need to use this service
  • explain how your vacancy meets the criteria
  • whyinclude thatany vacancyinformation isrelevant key to the board’sprioritisation successof your case

Before nominating your organisation, you must have the consent of your governing board. TheContact nomination email should include contact details for the board chair and governance professional.professional must be included on the nomination form.

Next steps

  1. We will assess all nominations against our criteria for using the service.

  2. We will notify boards and nominators of the outcome. If your case has been approved for referral, we will check that you wish to proceed.

  3. When Peridot Partners receive your referral from us, they will contact you directly to explain how the FE governor recruitment service works.

Published 19 August 2022
Last updated 3 March 2023 + show all updates
  1. We have added the 'FE governor recruitment service nomination form'.

  2. First published.