Further Education Innovation Fund
Designed to build innovation through the Further Education sector. We are working with colleges across the UK to explore and expand their role as local innovation hubs, supporting businesses to enhance their innovation capabilities to drive innovation adoption and diffusion.
Supporting business innovation through Further Education Colleges
Further Education Colleges (FECs) play a critical role in the UK’s skills system – offering high-quality technical education to people of all ages. They also have deep ties with their local business communities, making them perfectly-positioned to support business innovation—particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). FECs can provide access to their facilities, technology and technical expertise as well as skills training and opportunities for collaboration.
The Further Education Innovation Fund (FEIF), led by Innovate UK, helps colleges strengthen their links with businesses, enabling them to develop, adopt, and scale innovative practices.
Further Education Innovation Fund - an overview
Support for colleges
Improve business access to innovation expertise
We provide access to research, facilities, and expertise.
Increase adoption of new technologies across sectors
Encouraging collaboration across sectors and industries.
Support skills development in emerging industries
Supporting SMEs in adopting new technologies and processes.
Strengthen regional economic resilience through innovation
We offer industry-relevant innovation training aligned with emerging skills needs.
Education colleges: catalysts for regional business innovation
FECs work closely with businesses and local communities, making them key partners in addressing regional economic challenges. By strengthening partnerships between colleges and businesses, FEIF aims to support the adoption and diffusion of innovation and enhance innovation capability across the UK.
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Our projects
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In every Greater Manchester borough, FE Colleges will establish an ‘Innovation Hub’ where you can find our new Business Innovation Advisors and Business Innovation Coordinators. These new innovation teams provide businesses with access to facilities, training and support to navigate the innovation ecosystem.
Colleges in the project
- The Oldham College (lead)
- Hopwood Hall College
- Saltford City College
- The Trafford College Group
- Bury College, LTE Group Limited
- Tameside College
- Wigan and Leigh Collee
- Bolton College
Industry focus
- Advanced Materials and Manufacturing
- Health Innovation and Life Sciences
- Digital and Creative
- Clean Growth
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The College Local Innovation Centres (CLIC) will establish specialised Innovation Centres aligned with regional economic priorities, dedicated to driving digital innovation and productivity across the region.
Colleges in the project
- Glasgow Kelvin College (lead)
- Centre for Digitally Enabled Health – New College Lanarkshire
- Centre for Sustainable Development – South Lanarkshire College
- Centre for Advanced Manufacturing – West College Scotland
- Centre for Innovation Leadership – City of Glasgow College
- Centre for Digital Enablement – Glasgow Kelvin College
- Centre for Digital Creativity – Glasgow Clyde College
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Including five colleges in the Black Country will allow businesses access to their state-of-the-art facilities and expert guidance around technologies in key growth sectors.
Colleges in the project
- Walsall College (lead)
- Dudley College
- Wolverhampton College
- Halesowen College
- South Staffordshire College
Industry focus
- High end Computer Numerical Control production
- Robotics
- Computer Aided Design
- Rapid Prototyping and Additive Manufacturing
- Materials and product testing
- Networking and cyber security
- Artificial Intelligence
- Web solutions
- Retrofit
- Green technologies
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Working in partnership with the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK and three colleges across the West Midlands, our new Innovation Centre will provide a space for us to catalyse ingenuity by engaging with your business to get a clear understanding of your organisational needs in terms of; skills gaps, training requirements, future planning and technology.
Colleges in the project
- Coventry College (lead)
- Warwickshire College Group
- North Warwickshire and South Leicester College
- Stratford-upon-Avon College and Coventry College
Industry focus
- digital and green technologies in:
- engineering
- construction
- transport and logistics
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Our experienced teams will work with you to capture your business vision, identify growth opportunities, and understand the barriers to growth. We will work with you to develop a clear technology adoption plan, with the objective of building capabilities into your business
Colleges in the project
- Birmingham Metropolitan College (Lead)
Industry focus
- advanced manufacturing
- construction
- dental
- digital
- engineering
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Loughborough College will provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with bespoke digital and AI courses finely tuned to their unique needs and challenges.
Colleges in the project
- Loughborough College (Lead)
Industry focus
- Digital and AI
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South Hampshire College Group will offer free industry-specific business solutions, cutting-edge upskilling programmes, impartial advice on funding support, access to advanced facilities, technologies, processes, and research and development expertise.
Colleges in the project
- South Hampshire College (Lead)
Industry focus
- Engineering,
- Digital
- Health and Social Care
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Chelmsford College aims to help local businesses understand how to adopt innovations to address and spark change for inclusive employment.
Colleges in the project
- Chelmsford College (Lead)
Industry focus
- Inclusive Employment
Reach and Impact
Since its launch, FEIF has established a network of further education-led innovation initiatives. In their first year alone:
34,000
Businesses accessing college support
1,250
Businesses provided with innovation services
455
Businesses adopting new technologies
100+
Apprentice Innovation Ambassadors trained
Related Events and Recordings
Related programmes
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
For over 45 years Knowledge Transfer Partnerships have been helping businesses innovate for growth by accessing the UK’s world-leading knowledge base.
Workforce Foresighting
How do we build a skilled workforce for tomorrow’s industries? The Workforce Foresighting Hub has developed a structured process, aligned with national policy, to help deliver a workforce to exploit innovative technologies in the UK. We’re supporting industry, policymakers and educators to adapt to continuing change.
CONNECT
Connect with us through Talent and Skills Connect
Talent and Skills Connect is designed to support the Talent & Skills pipeline for innovative businesses, or you can reach out to your local college for advice and support on your innovation needs.