Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many BAME people currently hold posts as (a) heads of further education colleges and (b) further education governors.

Our College Staff Survey (CSS) 2018 found that 9% of heads (principals) of further education colleges in England were from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background (87% white, 4% preferred not to say). This data is self-reported from 140 principals. The CSS also reports that 4% of leaders generally, encompassing those at other management levels and governors, were from a BAME background (91% white, 2% other and 3% preferred not to say). This data is self-reported from 2,486 leaders. We are unable to distinguish the ethnicity of governors because of a low response rate from this group. The CSS is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/college-staff-survey-2018.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency will introduce a comprehensive further education workforce data collection from the academic year 2020/2021, including ethnicity data. This will be mandatory from the following academic year (2021/2022). This will enable us to better identify the proportion of governors from a BAME background.