Why now?

We recognise that one of the biggest challenges employers face in the 21st century is to recruit enough highly skilled, motivated and ambitious people who compare well with the best in the world.

“A generation ago, a British prime minister had to worry about the global arms race. Today a British prime minister has to worry about the global skills race… because the nation that shows it can bring out the best in all of its people will be the great success story of the coming decades.” Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Many industries are facing skills shortages as the current workforce retires and there are too few recruits to replace them. So we need to invest in training which is accessible and attractive for potential employees, and easy for employers to influence and invest in.

“Our nation’s skills are not world class and we run the risk that this will undermine the UK’s long-term prosperity. Productivity continues to trail many of our main international comparators. Despite recent progress, the UK has serious social disparities with high levels of child poverty, poor employment rates for the disadvantaged, regional disparities and relatively high income inequality. Improving our skill levels can address all of these problems.” Leitch Review of Skills, December 2006

“National Skills Academies give employers the chance to shape the future skills system. Led by employers with Government support, these centres of excellence help us identify and tackle those skills shortages in sectors vital for the competitiveness of tomorrow’s economy.” John Denham, Skills Secretary

“A generation ago, a British prime minister had to worry about the global arms race. Today a British prime minister has to worry about the global skills race… because the nation that shows it can bring out the best in all of its people will be the great success story of the coming decades.”

Faced with these pressures, employers are looking for a simple and streamlined approach to skills training which will bring them the kind of step change they need to maintain their productivity and competitiveness.

The National Skills Academy network has already enjoyed a great deal of success and this is set to build momentum over a broad cross section of industries.

For example, in its first year of operation the National Skills Academy for Financial Services helped over 3,000 learners gain relevant sector qualifications. The National Skills Academy for Manufacturing has helped companies like Lotus and Land Rover improve the skills of more than 700 employees and the National Skills Academy Process Industries is implementing a project to register thousands of employees with existing, non-registered qualifications, as part of its drive to upskill the sector. Each of the individual skills academies continues to develop their capabilities and their cumulative success is a real testament to how much we can benefit from them as a nation.