During a recent episode of Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Kirsty Young's guest--one of Britain's most influential women--explained how a further education teacher had changed her life. Heather Rabbatts, who was born in Jamaica and moved to England, found school difficult. She was "picked on for being mixed-race," failed her 11-plus and left school at the age of 16 with just a few O-levels. Her turning point came at Kingsway College in north London, in 1972, when she met her first black teacher, Max Johnson, who taught her A-level sociology. She describes him as a "most fantastic teacher," who gave her confidence in herself and a belief that she was not stupid. In the 39 years since Heather met Max Johnson, progress has been made in ensuring equal opportunity for women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. However, the authors are becoming increasingly concerned about current and planned cuts in further education having a disproportionate effect on women and black and ethnic minorities. Women and black and ethnic minority learners are overrepresented in FE, which means that they will be disproportionately affected by the overall cut of 25 per cent in adult provision over the next four years.