Skills for an Economy in Transition

Ufi and Learning and Work Institute have come together at a time of rapid change in the UK economy and labour market to deliver a step-change in the numbers of adults taking part in learning and address the growing skills shortages holding back people, industry and regions across the UK.

Drawing on extensive research and consultation, the VocTech Challenge: Skills for an Economy in Transition is an ambitious £3m, multi-year programme of works and funding designed to tackle the complex, interwoven and systemic barriers that contribute to the UK’s continued low rates of adult participation in learning and catalyse an acceleration in the development of skills for work.

We believe that equitable growth will require new skills strategies for an economy and labour market in transition and that technology has a critical role to play in opening access and opportunity, so that no one is left behind.

Together, let's #GetAdultsLearning.

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Interested in our VocTech Challenge work?
Find out more about our previous VocTech Challenge programmes.

Over recent years, the labour market has seen significant changes that are impacting its ability to deliver the skilled workforce the UK needs. Significant numbers of people have left work, changes in immigration have reduced our ability to fill skills gaps, and the workforce has gotten older. At a time when the UK labour market is not producing a suitably skilled workforce the economy is changing, fuelled by digitisation, automation and decarbonisation in industries both new and old.

VocTech Challenge: Skills for an Economy in Transition will explore the question:

We are particularly interested in how the challenges of upskilling and reskilling are faced and overcome by:

• Career changers (adults who need to re-skill in order to thrive at work)
• Those furthest away from learning (adults who are not currently in work, who do not have easy access to vocational education)
• Others for whom different exclusionary factors are impacting their ability to gain the skills they need.

This VocTech Challenge is a partnership between Ufi VocTech Trust and Learning and Work Institute (L&W), supported by individuals and organisations across the sector.

We will review existing research and good practice, challenging current assumptions testing them against evidence from the real, lived experiences of learners and people working in the vocational and adult skills sector.

Through workshops, consultation and interviews we want to hear the voices of those who are not often heard. We will look for new insights and ideas that are practical and actionable, not just what is already common knowledge.

Together we will publish our findings in a series of articles which along with our own research will inform a white paper that sets out a programme of grant funding, partnerships, and advocacy.

The challenge programme will start in January 2023, with the white paper being published in June 2023 and shaping Ufi and our partners’ work over the following two years.

L&W has been at the forefront of shaping thinking and policy around lifelong learning, employment, and inclusion for many years. They research what works, influence policy, develop new ways of thinking, and help implement new approaches.

Read more about our Strategic Partnership.