| Speakers |
 | Paul Warner Event Chair Association of Employment and Learning Providers Having been a specialist recruitment consultant to the defence industry for six years, Paul started in the post-16 sector in 1993 working on Training for Work contracts for TBG Learning. He subsequently took on a variety of related operational and senior management roles, culminating in a successful tenure as Director of Business Development. On leaving TBG he worked as a consultant for a time, including a spell managing WBL delivery at Barking College in East London, before joining AELP in September 2003 where he now oversees all aspects of operational and policy delivery, particularly concentrating on the alignment of the skills and employability agendas. Paul holds a First Class Honours degree in International Relations from the University of Keele, and an MA in Post-Compulsory Education and Training from the University of Sheffield. He is a Director of the Institute of Employability Professionals and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Married with one daughter, hailing from the New Forest but living in Essex, he lists his hobbies as rock music, amateur dramatics and karate. |
 | Sue Clarke Speaker Department for Education Sue Clarke is a member of Wolf Implementation Team in the Vocational Education Division at the Department for Education with responsibility for developing 16-19 Study Programmes. After working in sales for Cadbury Schweppes, Sue held a number of teaching and leadership roles in Further Education Colleges as well as a senior leadership role at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority where she was responsible for co-ordinating the development of Principal Learning qualifications and delivery of the 14-19 Diploma Programme. Before joining the Department as a Policy Advisor, Sue was a member of the senior management team responsible for policy and strategy across the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency. Sue has experience of leading multi-disciplinary teams on a range of projects and worked with a variety of external partners on strategic initiatives turning policy into practice. |
 | Mike Cox Speaker Representing The Education and Training Foundation After 13 years in retail purchasing and supply, Mike became an assessor for apprenticeships with TBG Learning in 1999. He soon moved onto various development roles with learndirect, RNID and then LSN where he headed up the bidding and development team, helping design support programmes and research in areas including Train to Gain, Citizenship, Diplomas, Key Skills, Functional Skills and Foundation Learning. He joined AELP in February 2013. Mike is married with 2 children and lives in rural Kent. |
 | Peter Green HMI Speaker Ofsted Peter Green has been an HMI since 2005. Before joining Ofsted he held senior management positions in schools, further education and a learning and skills council. He has particular expertise in quality improvement, equality and human rights and inclusion. Peter inspects colleges, schools, work based learning and adult and community learning. He has led Ofsted surveys and made a significant contribution to the development of new inspection frameworks and inspector training. |
 | Phil Adams Speaker Department for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus, North East England Phil is an External Partnership Manager for DWP Work Services Directorate North East of England Group Office. Previous roles include Advisory Services Manager and Jobcentre Manager in Barnsley and Sheffield Jobcentres and Performance Manager for the national Cross Operational Performance Team. Phil has worked for DWP since 1989. |
 | Paul Adnitt Speaker NCS Trust Paul is Curriculum Manager at the recently established NCS Trust - a not-for-profit social enterprise set up to shape, support, champion and lead a thriving National Citizen Service. He has previously worked in a number of children's services policy and strategy roles at both national and local level, and has worked on a freelance basis for well-being and mental health charities. |
 | Gemma Gathercole Speaker OCR Gemma joined OCR in 2005 after graduating and has previously held a number of roles relating to different aspects of vocational qualifications. She spent over five years in qualifications development, where she project managed the development of vocational qualifications and latterly managed a team of project managers working on QCF implementation. She took on the role of Funding Strategist in February 2012 – at the time, the role was new to OCR – and is based in the Strategy team. Her role is to provide understanding and expertise of funding policy to the strategy, development and maintenance of qualifications and to OCR’s customers on their funding-related queries. Gemma holds a 2:1 Honours degree in Political Science from the University of Birmingham and is working towards an Undergraduate Certificate in the Principles and Practice of Assessment from the Institute of Continuing Education, University of Cambridge. Originally from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, she now resides in Solihull. Her hobbies are shopping, particularly for shoes, and sport, especially playing golf. |
