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Universities have moved away from a ¡°problematic¡± period of competition with further education institutions to a more complementary relationship, according to a new vice-chancellor with decades of experience in both.

Andrew Gower took over at Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) at the end of April, having held a senior role at Canterbury Christ Church University before becoming chief executive of specialist adult and further education provider, Morley College London.

Speaking to ̽»¨ÊÓƵ, Gower said he joined the college at a ¡°tricky¡± time when funding for further education was ¡°almost at the edge of a cliff¡± as income declined in real terms.

¡°Looking from outside in, I could see an institution that had some good things to do within the communities that?[it was] seeking to serve and so, despite there being financial challenge, I was motivated by that opportunity,¡± he said.

Likewise, Gower was not daunted by the English higher education sector¡¯s own financial crisis now, and how it might impact smaller institutions like BGU?¨C a former Anglican teacher training college that now has?about 2,000 students ¨C and the ¡°social missions¡± they are trying to enact.

¡°I hope I can add value by appreciating that mission, but also having perhaps some of the technical skills which are useful to run an institution with pretty tight efficiency.

¡°The skill set which one acquires within a further education setting is relevant to a university, but then applying that skill set within the university has to be expanded in order to adapt to the potential and much broader impact that university can bring to the communities it serves.¡±

One of his first tasks in post will be to oversee a rebranding of the university, which has just received approval from the Office for Students (OfS) to change its name to Lincoln Bishop University from September 2025.

The move restores the location of the institution to its name after it was removed in 1962 to honour Robert Grosseteste, a 13th-century scientist who served as the Bishop of Lincoln, and is seen as a way of making what it has to offer clearer for potential students.

Getting the university on a firmer financial footing will also be an immediate concern for Gower, after recent Higher Education Statistics Agency figures revealed that the deficit of ?3.1 million reported in 2023-24 was one of the largest as a percentage of overall income in the whole sector.

The new vice-chancellor said there was further room for universities to look at the granular-level detail of their curriculum in order to improve their financial sustainability.

Labour has vowed to reform all levels of education in government and Gower, who originally trained as a schoolteacher, said he welcomed the attention that has been paid to tertiary education as a whole.

Having worked in both sectors, he said the relationship between HE and FE had improved a lot thanks to policy shifts reasserting a distinctive difference between the university and the college experience.

¡°I think it¡¯s shifted away from competition to understanding how we can be complementary to one another.

¡°There was a problematic period where colleges were growing their higher education, which was perhaps seen as competing with universities.¡±

Collaboration between the two is seen as a greater imperative now, given the financial issues facing all types of providers, while there is also a mutual respect and more informed understanding between leaders, he added.

¡°I think that bodes pretty positively for the future because I think we can appreciate the distinctive difference between what we¡¯re trying to achieve, but together there is a combined benefit which hopefully we can bring together for them to serve the greater good.¡±

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com