VocTech Activate Eligibility Checker

Find out if you fit the criteria before you apply

About the checker

Our eligibility checker acts an early indicator of whether your project could be eligible for VocTech Activate grant funding.

This form does not act as an indicator of whether a grant application will be successful or not.

Answer the first question below to begin.


Great
We’re looking for projects that have the potential to transform how adult vocational learning happens, which could be deployed to solve a defined vocational learning problem and are rooted in a real world understanding of the needs of the UK workforce. 
Sorry
Unfortunately, you’re not eligible to apply for funding from VocTech Activate. We don’t fund projects for school age children, or projects which are not focused on helping adults of working age gain or improve their skills for work. Your learners must be in the UK.

Great
We are interested in projects that help fill a gap in learning provision for learners who do not have suitable opportunities to learn workplace skills. We’d like to hear about projects which could help people who – for whatever reason - are a long way from the skills that they need for work, or who have little opportunity to improve their skills while in work.
Think about the opportunities currently available to your target learner or user group. Is there easily accessible suitable training available to them? If not, why not? Why is it not suitable? Can you define the gap and what would it take to meet the need?
Sorry
We are not looking to fund projects for learners who are already well-served by current mainstream provision. For example we are not looking for projects aimed at graduates or providing graduate-level learning.

Great
We want you to tell us how you know that this is a problem. What evidence have you got from learners, employers or teachers/trainers? Show us how you know. Are there recent surveys, reports or statistics that strengthen your case?
Think about what you don’t know and what evidence you can gather to strengthen your case. Knowing more about the scope and depth of the problem will help you build a better solution.
Sorry
It doesn't sound like your project is one for us. We want to fund projects that tackle an existing defined vocational learning problem. We aren’t looking for research projects. We are interested in innovative projects that can be deployed to tackle a real world problem. 

Great
We want to see that you are clear about the changes your project will make once it is deployed. And that you have thought about how you could measure that change.
Sorry
You need to think through how you can summarise the changes your project aims to make. How will you know it is making an impact? Think how you will measure success.

Great
Show us that you understand the market and explain how your solution is better than what currently exists. You’ll need to explain where the innovation lies – is it in the approach, technology or are you applying existing technology to a community of learners for whom it would be new?
Sorry
Projects must be genuinely innovative to be eligible for VocTech Activate grant funding. We want to fund projects which are innovative in their overall approach, their technology, or the sector or community of learners to which they will be applied.
Sounds like you need to find out more about existing solutions and how they are being used (or not) in the sector you want to target. Think about what you don’t know. What makes existing solutions inappropriate in this situation? What makes your solution different and better?

Great
You’ll need access to your target learner or user group to design, test and refine your ideas. Think about how you will enthuse them and organise enough people to test your project ideas effectively. 
Sorry
Without access to your target learner group you’re unlikely to be awarded funding. A good relationship with the target learner group is one of the keys to project success. You'll need access to the learner group so that your ideas can be refined and test how they can be deployed. We are not interested in speculative technologies developed in isolation from the user group. If you don’t currently have access, could you partner with an employer or learning provider who could provide access to the learner group?

Great
We want to fund organisations which have ambition and vision for how the project could eventually be scaled up to be adopted by a large number of learners. We want to see results, and work with projects which will continue to roll out and make a difference at scale, long after Ufi funding has finished. We’d like to work with organisations who are as committed as we are to making a difference, both immediately and in the longer term. If this is you...
Sorry
We’d like to work with organisations who are as committed as we are to making a difference, both immediately and in the longer term. You don't need a fully worked up plan at this stage but you do need a vision for the change you want to see and the ambition to make it happen. We want to see results and work with projects which will continue to roll out and make a difference at scale, long after Ufi funding has finished.
Great news!
You could be eligible for grant funding from VocTech Activate.


We recommend visiting https://ufi.co.uk/grant-funding/voctech-activate where you can find out more information and also sign up to attend a pre-funding workshop.


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