National Skills Academies give employers a unique opportunity to lead the development and delivery of training that meets the needs of their sector. They provide:
Initial ideas may come from a wide range of organisations with an interest in raising skills levels. Proposals must, however, be led by employers and are normally supported by the relevant Sector Skills Council.
Yes. Whatever model employers choose that best meets the needs of their sector, the National Skills Academy must deliver learning. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) expects a National Skills Academy to lead and develop links with networks of specialist providers across the sector. This could include networks of colleges, specialist schools, higher education institutions and other providers across the sector.
The White Paper reaffirms the central role National Skills Academies have in the drive towards greater specialisation. National Skills Academies will sit at the peak of specialised sector-based networks, bringing together colleges, private training providers, specialist vocational schools and other relevant providers. Many colleges will specialise in a vocational area in future.
The Government’s ambition is to have a National Skills Academy in every major sector of the economy, resources permitting.
We expect employers to identify the groups of learners that are the priority for the sector. This may include targeting some, or all, of their existing workforce, or developing new entrants.
National Skills Academies comply with legislative requirements such as those on equality and diversity.
All forms of academies have a specialism and sponsors who invest funds and are involved in their strategic management.
National Skills Academies are sector-based centres of excellence, focusing on vocational education and skills training. They deliver training to young people (aged 16 to 19) as well as adults, and have national reach.
Other types of academies include:
Sponsorship funding is critical to establishing a National Skills Academy. We expect sponsors to make a significant investment in a way and at a level that demonstrably adds to the current investment in skills being made by that sector or sub-sector.
The investment has to include cash to help set up a National Skills Academy, fund development costs (including capital) and must also ensure that a skills academy is sustainable. It is for each sector to determine with its employers the level of investment required.
The LSC provides funding to support Skills Academies during the business planning phase. Once business plans have been agreed, and subject to LSC funding priorities, National Skills Academies may draw on revenue funding from the LSC. This funding will be available alongside the investment from employers.
We know that in some sectors employers are likely to identify skills at Levels 4 and 5 as a priority. We would expect this to be clearly set out in their expression of interest. We would also expect the expression of interest to identify organisations that may be able to deliver provision at that level.
The assessment panel would then seek advice from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and other key partners on the expression of interest and consider the availability of public funding.
The National Skills Academies programme is open to both the private and public sectors. One of the key aims for the National Skills Academies programme is to increase employer investment in skills and training. In the public sector we are looking for a National Skills Academy to generate additional investment in the infrastructure for skills supply. That means that we would expect to see employers in the public sector making additional funding available to support the development and sustainability of a National Skills Academy.
Yes. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) recognises that some employers may want to provide funds and support a National Skills Academy that focuses on the needs of a particular ‘sub-sector’ rather than the whole sector. Where this is the case, the LSC will consider more than one expression of interest from a sector. For example, Cogent has helped to shape two skills academies; one for process industries and one for nuclear. However, we would expect to see evidence that proposals complement rather than overlap with each other.
Yes. We would be happy to consider expressions of interest from employers who want to work across SSC boundaries to develop a National Skills Academy which covers common skills.
We are looking for employers to develop models for National Skills Academies that make sense and work for them.
We are looking for all National Skills Academies to work together, spreading best practice and avoiding unnecessary duplication wherever possible.
Sponsors are either individual employers or groups of employers. They will bring a record of business experience and knowledge to share with experienced learning providers.
What unites sponsors is a commitment to high-quality vocational education and training, recognition of the contribution they can make to increasing productivity and performance in the sector, and a desire to drive through change.
The role of a sponsor is to bring:
In agreement with the LSC, each of the sectors developing business plans has put together project teams to manage the development of their National Skills Academy. All project teams involve employers in the development of business plans.
Yes. National Skills Academies are open to all employer views and welcome all potential sponsors.
If employers are interested in taking forward this opportunity they should contact their Sector Skills Council (SSC contact details can be found on the Sector Skills Councils Alliance website).
The employer panel that assesses at the expression of interest stage also has an SME representative.
Once a business plan has been submitted for approval, it goes out to other partners, including small business organisations.
In some cases, National Skills Academies will have their own buildings, but the training environments will be flexible – for example, training could take place at a National Skills Academy accredited training centre or at an employer’s site.
National Skills Academy centres are made up of a wide range of training organisations, and are designed to ensure a good geographical spread of opportunities for learners to follow specialist courses. Learners can also follow some training courses through distance learning techniques, including e-learning.
There have been four phases of selection of National Skills Academies. Thirteen Skills Academies have come from the first three rounds to become active. They are:
Two more are in the business planning stage:
In November 2008, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that funding will be provided for an additional four National Skills Academies in 2009–10, bringing the total number to 20.
The expression of interest should demonstrate that employers have considered the guidelines set out in the prospectus when it is published. It should be around six pages that focus on:
There is no single ‘best’ model for a National Skills Academy. We are looking for employers to propose models for a National Skills Academy which meets the needs of their sector. This means that models are likely to vary. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ solution, and we welcome new and innovative ideas.
While we will consider expressions of interest from employers in a sector that is not covered by a Sector Skills Council, we are keen to encourage employers to develop all proposals with the support of the appropriate Sector Skills Council. We believe that employers would benefit from being part of a wider vocational network such as that provided by the most relevant Sector Skills Council.
You should pursue links with your most relevant Sector Skills Council about how you could work with them in developing a proposal. A list of Sector Skills Councils can be found at www.sscalliance.org/SectorCouncils/SectorCouncils.asp.
If you are unsure who to contact, please telephone the Sector Skills Development Agency on 01709 765444.
Stage one: The application
Following receipt of the expression of interest the proposal will be assessed against the following key criteria:
This initial appraisal is by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), with input from other government agencies and departments. The process is supported and validated by employers acting as advisers. Those who are not invited to interview will be notified and given written feedback.
The successful shortlisted bidders will be given initial feedback on points the LSC will want to discuss further and invited to a formal interview.
Stage two: The interview
The interview stage is an opportunity for those submitting their proposals to really sell their concepts and bring their visions alive. We invite proposers (including employers, SSCs and potential sponsors) to discuss their proposals in more detail. At this interview stage we will be looking more closely at your responses to the five key criteria and expect you to demonstrate the motivation and commitment needed to make your National Skills Academy a successful one.
Stage three: The recommendation
Once the interviews are complete, the LSC will consider the outcomes and assess them against the criteria. The LSC will then recommend to Ministers those applications that it considers are strong enough to proceed to developing full business plans.
Stage four: Next steps
After consideration of the recommendations, Ministers will announce their decisions.
You should initially discuss your ideas, questions and any issues with your SSC. A list of SSCs can be found at www.sscalliance.org/SectorCouncils/SectorCouncils.asp. If, after discussions with your SSC, there are outstanding queries, please contact the National Skills Academies Team at the LSC by email to nationalskillsacademies@lsc.gov.uk.