Learning together: How FEA’s Peer Working Groups are building collective knowledge

The education landscape is changing quickly. From shifting policy priorities to the rapid rise of technologies like AI, organisations working to tackle educational inequity are navigating complex and fast-moving challenges - often with limited time and resources. 

No single organisation has all the answers. But by coming together to share insights, exchange practical knowledge, and explore emerging issues, the sector becomes stronger. 

That's the thinking behind FEA's peer working groups, and at the heart of one of our core strategic commitments. 

What is Collective Strength?

Collective Strength is one of three strands of FEA's five-year strategy, Neighbourhood to National. It's our commitment to building impactful, connected member organisations - equipping staff, trustees and young people with the leadership, connections and skills to collaborate and drive systems change. 

Peer working groups are one expression of that. They're spaces where members can grow their impact, share expertise, and connect with peers across the coalition - working more closely on the issues they share rather than figuring things out in isolation.  

Staying across the policy landscape

Through the Policy Insights Group, members keep on top of what's happening across the policy landscape and build more joined-up approaches to advocacy. 

“FEA's Policy Insights Group is a really valuable space for staying across what is happening in both the sector and the wider policy landscape - and for identifying where there are overlapping priorities. Bringing organisations together in this way helps strengthen policy thinking and encourages a more joined-up approach to advocacy.”

- Sara Belhay, Policy & Public Affairs Manager, EY Foundation

That joined-up approach has real impact. A recent example saw Policy Insights Group members work together on a joint response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, pooling their insights to put a stronger, more unified perspective to government. When it comes to tackling educational inequity, shared insight and aligned policy asks can make a real difference to how loudly the sector's voice is heard. 

Navigating AI together

Few areas are moving as fast as artificial intelligence, and for many organisations in the education sector, keeping up can feel overwhelming. 

“The speed of change in AI is staggering and completely overwhelming for many of us who feel like we're spinning enough plates as it is with our normal day-to-day jobs. Amidst all of this noise, it's really helpful to have the opportunity to discuss openly some of these challenges.”

- Sophie Hiscock, CEO, First Story

FEA's AI in Education working group gives members a low-pressure, semi-private space to do exactly that - exploring the opportunities and risks of AI with peers who are grappling with the same questions. 

“What I most value about the FEA AI in Education group is the opportunity to spend time exploring this topic, and reflecting on it, with others working in similar, third sector contexts. There's a focus on considering how AI might interact with our organisational values and the wider social and ethical implications of these tools, which is so important.”

- Irene Picton, Senior Research Manager, National Literacy Trust

The group brings together people with a range of experience levels, making space for honest conversation about what's working, what isn't, and what nobody's quite figured out yet. As Irene puts it: “No-one will have all the answers, but together we'll have more of them.”

For some members, that learning is already making a practical difference. 

"If AI implementation can help improve efficiency in systems and time-consuming administrative tasks, then we're able to reclaim these hours and our team can focus on what really matters - innovating new ways to tackle the educational divide and deepen our charity's long-term social impact."

- Anna Blain, Head of Programme Delivery & Engagement, Chapter One

Stronger together

This is Collective Strength in action. When member organisations share what they know - about policy, about technology, about what works on the ground - the whole sector benefits. Working groups are one of the ways FEA actively creates the conditions for that to happen, turning a shared commitment to tackling educational inequity into something more coordinated, more informed, and ultimately more impactful. 

If you're an FEA member and not yet part of a working group, we'd love you to get involved.