The Programme
Who are Industry Associates?
Industry Associates are experienced industry professionals who contribute their knowledge, skills and workplace insight to support teaching and learning in Further Education (FE). This may include supporting content design, contributing to assessment development, participating in masterclasses or providing short teaching inputs on specialist topics to connect learning with current industry practice.
Many undertake this role alongside their industry work, motivated by the opportunity to share their experience, support the next generation of professionals in their industry, or develop their own skills. They can play an important role in supporting FE providers to deliver learning that is technically relevant, industry-informed and connected to real workplace practice.
Learn more about the programme background and its design below, or click button to move to the programme materials.
Research has shown that many FE providers already draw on industry experts to support education, although the language used to describe these individuals and the support offered to them may differ between institutions. The Industry Associate programme provides a consistent way of recognising and preparing these individuals for their contribution to FE teaching and learning, drawing on a robust and tested programme.
At its core, the programme recognises Industry Associates as industry experts who bring valuable occupational knowledge and current workplace insight into FE teaching and learning. For some, this may mean occasional contributions to support FE teaching. For others, it may mark the beginning of a longer journey towards dual professionalism, developing both industry and educational expertise over time as they move into an FE career. Whatever their long-term aims, the programme supports these first steps by offering a structured soft landing into the FE environment: building confidence, providing an accessible grounding in pedagogy, and introducing practical approaches for contributing effectively to high-quality teaching.
The twelve sessions are sequenced via a spiral curriculum to build skills incrementally and equip IAs with practical, classroom-focused knowledge and skills to support them to engage students from day one.”
The Industry Associate programme
The Industry Associate programme was developed through an iterative design process led by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, working with Edge Hill University and five pilot Further Education (FE) colleges. Informed by research, practice in FE, and expert review, the programme was piloted during the 2025/26 academic year with Industry Associates from a range of industry sectors. Evaluation findings from the pilot identified positive outcomes, including increased confidence in supporting FE teaching, greater readiness to engage in delivery, and a stronger professional identity as Industry Associates.
The programme has a sequenced, twelve-session structure that introduces Industry Associates to the FE environment and student population, before moving into practical aspects of pedagogy, including planning, assessment, engagement, behaviour, feedback, safe learning environments and sequencing learning. The sessions are designed to build progressively, revisiting and developing key ideas over time while modelling approaches that Industry Associates may use when applying their expertise to support FE teaching and learning.
Delivering the programme
The programme is designed to be delivered by staff within FE providers who have experience of teaching and learning, teacher education or professional development. This enables providers to contextualise delivery to their own setting, needs, subject areas, policies, facilities and student cohorts. It is designed to supplement and support local practice, not to replace existing induction processes. Providers can use the core programme materials directly, while also enriching the training with local examples, observations, mentoring, microteaching or other activities that meet the needs of their Industry Associates and institutional context.
Following a successful pilot and expression of interest process, the Industry Associate programme is being rolled out nationally in England through a network model approach. During the 2026/27 academic year, sector-based and place-based networks of FE providers and stakeholders, including sector bodies and employer representative bodies, will deliver the programme to cohorts across the country.
The programme is currently available only to registered providers. To learn more about the programme or express an interest in joining, please email FEWorkforce@gatsby.org.uk
An IA at any provider should be able to recognise the experiences of an IA at another provider as similar.”
Programme structure
- Planning your delivery
- 1. Who are Industry Associates?
- 2. Who are your students?
- 3. Who are your students? (Continued)
- 4. How to plan and deliver a session as an Industry Associate?
- 5. How do we know that students have made progress?
- 6. How do we use formative assessment to support learning?
- 7. How do we motivate with engaging and challenging content?
- 8. How do we manage student behaviour for learning?
- 9. How do we create a safe and positive learning environment?
- 10. How do we communicate useful feedback to students?
- 11. How do we plan an effective sequence of lessons?
- 12. Reflections, next steps and evaluations
The Industry Associate training programme is currently in a trial phase and no resources or materials from this project should be shared or distributed.