The 157 Group is a membership organisation that represents 27 large, successful and regionally influential Further Education colleges in England. Committed to excellence and achieving success for the sector, all our members are key strategic leaders in their locality who take seriously the roles of leading policy development, and improving the quality and reputation of further education.
Providing a national voice on strategy and policy for large, mostly urban colleges in England, we aim to promote change for the benefit of our members and the sector as a whole. By bringing together our members' knowledge, experience and commitment, we leverage a breadth and depth of expertise across every aspect of further education and skills.
We are actively driving the development of a strong and world-class college sector that not only has a transformative impact on individuals, employers and their local communities, but also makes a real difference to the social and economic well-being of the nation and its global success.
The 157 Group was established in March 2006 in response to Sir Andrew Foster's Review on the future of FE colleges and named after paragraph 157 of the report, which advocated that principals of large successful colleges should play a stronger role in the sector:
' ....a greater involvement of principals in national representation, in particular those from larger, successful colleges where management capacity and capability exists to release them for this work. There is a strong need for articulate FE college principals to be explaining the services they give to society and how colleges can make a significant contribution to the economy and to developing fulfilled citizens.'
Paragraph 157 'Realising the Potential - A Review of the Future Role of FE Colleges'
