Association of Colleges (AoC)

Founder Member:

Sector
Education – further (technical/vocational) education, sixth forms, tertiary and specialist colleges

Core Products / Services
Association of Colleges is the national voice for further education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges in England. It is a not-for-profit membership organisation representing over 90% of the sector which educates and trains 1.6 million people each year.

Nina Chorzelewski

Policy Manager

Association of Colleges

Nina Chorzelewski has worked in the education sector for 25 years across the school and college sector. At Association of Colleges, Nina is a Policy Manager, working closely with the Director of Skills Policy and Global Engagement on international policy and the development of international projects. She works with government and other stakeholders on international policy and identifying opportunities for UK colleges overseas.

Nina has close engagement with colleges across England and facilitates member network meetings in the international space, supporting colleges to deliver and grow their global agenda. Being part of the UK Skills Partnership is critical in ensuring opportunities for international collaboration within the skills and training sector are realised. Nina also leads on the AoC annual international survey which captures the engagement of the sector in international activity, and has contributed to recent research on internationalisation in the skills landscape.

Association of Colleges is the national voice for further education, sixth form, tertiary and specialist colleges in England. There are 218 colleges in England which include 157 general further education colleges, 39 sixth form colleges, 10 land based colleges, 2 art, design and performing arts colleges; and 10 specialist designated colleges. Further education (FE), sixth form and specialist colleges in England provide high-quality academic, technical and professional education and training for young people, adults and employers.

Colleges prepare 1.6 million students with valuable skills, helping to develop their career opportunities and enabling them to progress to university, higher level vocational education or employment. Colleges are anchor institutions in local communities and they work with local employers to deliver apprenticeships, work experience, work placements and tailored training programmes, supporting local. regional and national growth.

AoC member network – access to the expertise of 218 colleges in vocational curriculum development, leadership, governance, staff development, internationalisation and quality assurance

Policy expertise – AoC staff specialists in education policy (e.g. funding; apprenticeships; SEND; curriculum; skills) and education project delivery

Leadership Training – tailored training programmes for college managers, senior leaders and governors