Addressing the skills gap: an FE perspective
City & Guilds Group recently published a report, entitled ‘People Power’, exploring how employers are, and will be, affected by the UK Skills Gap. They polled over 1000 employers and found that 89% struggled to recruit the skilled staff they need. They also felt that the UK education system was failing to create the skills required, with 38% stating this as the reason they struggle to recruit. Closing the skills gap certainly isn’t going to be an easy fix, but there are lots of ways Weston College are tackling the issue.
As a college, we pride ourselves in preparing our learners not just for exams and assessments, but for the workplace. This is reflected in our facilities, which mimic real life workplaces. Some operate as commercial businesses, for example our Hair and Beauty Centre and The Grove Restaurant. This opportunity to work with real customers develops our learners’ transferrable skills, such as teamwork and communication, as well as their sector specific skills.
We are continuing to develop this provision with our new Health and Active Living Skills Centre, which will create teaching environments for health and social care learners. According to the People Power report, care workers and nurses will grow the most as occupations over the next 6 years. Our facility will offer courses from Level 1 to degree-level, with the aim to address the current and future skills shortage within the healthcare workforce.
One of our key values as a college is to be responsive to the needs of businesses and the community, and, in reflection of this, the new centre was designed in consultation with health sector employers. Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, said: “The development will bring together the College’s health and social care, sports therapy and active living curricula into one bespoke facility, which will benefit our students as well as the wider community.
As well as providing qualifications to people new to the healthcare sector, the Health and Active Living Skills Centre will also work with local and regional employers to upskill and retrain their existing staff.”
Weston College learners benefit not only from these facilities, but also from outstanding teaching staff who are experts in their field. Many of our staff come from industry, and are in fact still working in their trades, so are able to transfer skills to our learners required not just by the syllabus, but by employers. They work to develop a curriculum, which reflects local and national trends in terms of employment, which is particularly apparent in our apprenticeship provision.
The School of Food Apprenticeship scheme, will seek to address the recruitment gap in the local catering and hospitality industry. On this scheme, apprentices attend weekly masterclasses with professional chefs, offering them the opportunity to develop current and competitive skills.
In addition to their study programme, Weston College learners receive Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) from their in-house award winning ASPECT team. Through the employability tutorial programme, learners have the opportunity to explore their career options and improve their skills in areas such as job applications and interviews. The team also offer 1:1 appointments and a drop in service to provide tailored IAG. Members of the team are kept up to date with local and national trends in employment through CPD activities such as the Business West Next Generation Careers Review, the National Graduate Careers Conference and Inside Government’s Women in STEM event.
ASPECT’s offer is predominately aimed at 14-18 year olds, and is complemented by the College’s 19+ provision. In addition to the adult course and careers IAG delivered by our College Information Service, a National Careers Service Advisor offers appointments to support career exploration and skills development for learners aged 19+.
We also recognise that employer engagement with learners is a crucial element of IAG. A particularly successful example of this is our annual Brighter Futures Fair, which last year brought together 49 employers and universities in an event attended by over 1500 Weston College learners. They had the opportunity to meet local and national employers, and ask questions about the skills and qualifications they needed, resulting in 82% saying they felt more confident about their future options after the event. After the success of last year, we are continuing to develop this event, which will next take place on Thursday 8th November 2018.
We are not naïve about the problem the skills gap poses, particularly within more specialised and senior roles, but we recognise the difference we can make as a large educational provider. We aim to continue and to grow our initiatives to create brighter futures not just for our learners, but for businesses and our community as a whole.
