28 Sep 2026
Transport, access to training and the ability to recruit specialist staff all affect what rural colleges can offer. These challenges are reflected in the Government’s Future of Rural England report, which the Rural Services Network contributed to.
Writing in FE Week, Jason Turton, Principal and CEO of Kendal College, describes how travel distances, housing costs and smaller labour markets affect learners, employers and colleges. He argues that rural colleges need greater consideration in the Industrial Strategy.
For the Rural Services Network, this reinforces a wider point: access to skills and training depends on more than the courses available. Transport, affordable housing and the ability of local employers to recruit all shape whether people can learn and work close to home. Rural colleges need to be considered alongside those wider challenges when plans for growth are made.
