Lessons in spin

Colleges should take notes from the Prime Minister's former spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, says Neil Merrick

On the day that A-level results were published last August, journalists were invited to breakfast at Blackpool and The Fylde College. Having met successful students, who opened their results early, they went away and gave the college the result that it wanted more than any other - front-page coverage in the Blackpool Gazette.

On the day that A-level results were published last August, journalists were invited to breakfast at Blackpool and The Fylde College. Having met successful students, who opened their results early, they went away and gave the college the result that it wanted more than any other - front-page coverage in the Blackpool Gazette.

"Historically, we don't seem to have been up there quite as much," says Stephanie Coleman, the college's press officer. "We made real headway to beat the others to the front page."

In a speech to the Association of Colleges' (AoC) annual conference later this month, Alastair Campbell will stress that colleges must have an effective communications strategy that is delivered by skilled professionals, even if to a sometimes sceptical media. Since colleges left local-authority control more than 10 years ago, they have struggled to enjoy as much attention as schools or universities. Enquiries by journalists were often referred to marketing officers or the principal's secretary who had little clue how to deal with the press.

But things seem to be improving - even if much of the national media has still to catch on. An increasing number of colleges employ public-relations staff with a media, as opposed to a marketing, background. Georgina Dale, PR and communications manager at Cornwall College, says colleges sometimes hold the upper hand over schools, which are smaller and cannot invest as much in media relations. "At national level, colleges tend to get overlooked," she says. "At local level they tend to be more proactive."

The AoC is on the lookout for media-friendly colleges it can use to promote the sector nationally as well as locally. Ben Verinder, a former journalist, joined the AoC last January as press officer and sees a huge contrast in the way colleges approach the media.

"There are some superb press officers out there, but there are colleges that have no coverage whatsoever," he says. "What other multimillion pound business would try to survive without some sort of PR support?"

In her former job as publicity assistant at Truro College, Georgina Dale photographed triplets who all gained places at Cambridge University last summer following successful A-levels. The picture of the three girls was sent out to national newspapers by the AoC but at least two that published the photograph failed to mention the name of the college and, in one case, the paper did not even report that the girls attended further education.

But it is not all bad news. The AoC monitors further education coverage in national and local newspapers and most of it seems to benefit the sector. Of 305 stories that appeared in February this year, 221 were positive, 51 were negative and 33 were neutral.

National journalists and, to a lesser extent, local media are looking for stories with a difference. New College, Nottingham, highlighted students who gained good A-level results in spite of illness. "The press like 'battling against the odds' stories," says communications coordinator, Susan Kearton.

To publicise the opening this term of a £21m performance academy, Newcastle College pointed out that the academy will be running courses for bouncers, who are required to hold professional qualifications.

"With national papers, I try to recognise what they are looking for in terms of the national agenda, or quirky stories about courses that may not be being run elsewhere in the country," says Caroline Anderson, the college's PR manager.

The AoC is anxious that colleges come forward with details of how cuts are affecting courses, so that it can lobby politicians through the media. "If we have a sector that's silent about these sort of issues, then any government will take advantage," says Linda Butler, the AoC's director of communications.

Though the voice of FE was heard reasonably frequently during last month's launch of the Tomlinson report, national papers tend to look to headteachers, rather than college principals, for comments about the 14-19 curriculum.

According to Butler, the government is partly responsible for FE not having a higher profile. She estimates that the Department for Education and Skills publishes 10 times as many press releases about schools as it does about FE colleges. "Our own department isn't generating energy about the sector," she says.

The message to colleges from Alastair Campbell is likely to be that senior managers must take a direct interest in media relations and not push it to the sidelines. But it is doubtful whether many colleges will follow Campbell's brand of news management.

"We have all had a lot of experience of Alastair Campbell," says Peter Thomas, head of marketing at Cornwall College. "We can learn from him in terms of organisation, but we don't want to be controlling everything to the extent that he was doing for New Labour."