How to get positive media coverage for FE.

Ruth Sparkes discusses the issues with getting media coverage of anything other than A-levels and GCSEs

It can be a struggle to win media coverage, but there are ways to increase your chances of getting heard.

Could it be that vocational qualifications just aren’t sexy enough? Granted, they are getting recognition, but they’re not up there with the likes of GCSEs and A-levels just yet.

I mean, I don’t remember seeing female twin or triplet apprentices jumping up and down in strappy summer tops brandishing technical certificates on the front pages of national daily newspapers.

FE has suffered over recent times and the apprenticeship ‘brand’ has taken a bit of a beating. But (the levy and register aside) there is definitely a new positive buzz, and even awareness surrounding apprenticeships that I have certainly not experienced before.

See our Apprenticeship piece for South Devon College in The Daily Express

Cybersecurity, law, marketing, veterinary nursing, journalism, software development and auctioneering are just some of the new and exciting industry areas for apprentices and we are seeing some fabulous marketing initiatives.

This buzz could quite feasibly be leveraged to give a boost to the FE sector as a whole in the public consciousness.

So, what is it about vocational qualifications that gives journalists (other than the fabulous staff at FE Week) that glazed look? Is it the way we’re ‘selling’ that puts them off ‘buying’?

Granted, not everything that happens in the world of FE is newsworthy, however with a hook, a good picture and careful timing you can very often leverage column inches.

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