Growing collaboration to meet the needs of our local economies
The VocTech Future of Skills Award was designed to share and celebrate big, tech-enabled ideas of how changes to the UK skills system could transform the way adults get the skills they need for work.
In this article we learn more about one of the winning entries, from Gill Scott.
Explore the other winning entries.
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Growing collaboration to meet the needs of our local economies
The UK’s future skills system needs to meet the needs of local economies, and to do so we need closer collaboration and more flexibility between employers, colleges and adult learners, Gill Scott argues.
Gill believes we must move away from short-term funding for initiatives and competition between employers, colleges and specialist training organisations and instead create a culture of shared expertise and resources.
Gill, an education consultant with over 20 years' experience of working in education and skills in Greater Manchester, is one of three winners of a national competition held to celebrate visions for the future of the UK skills system - Ufi’s VocTech Future of Skills Award.
Gill (second from the left accompanied by Jonathan Rashid) receiving her award from Ufi CEO, Rebecca Garrod-Waters (far left), and Chair of Trustees, Dominic Gill (far right).
Gill’s winning vision is based around the idea that learners would have skills profiles and take high-quality short, flexible courses, which were endorsed by employers and responsive to the needs of the local economy. The short courses would lead to formal qualifications and a professional and technical education.
“We need a system that recognises difference, place and communities,” Gill says, “where colleges and other providers can be a central hub for employers and learners”.
“At the heart of the system must be a three-way relationship between the employer, the provider, and the learner”
Digital technology can play a huge role in enabling this, Gill argues. Our mobile phones, for example, mean that there is greater flexibility in how we learn, whether this is in a formal or informal setting. Our phones also allow for greater collaboration - we can have online conversations to supplement in-person ones.
Gill’s vision is inspired by a project already underway in Greater Manchester for the construction industry. The project has brought about the creation of an online, interactive resource used to aid progression in construction jobs and has been already successfully used by adults, young people, parents, teachers and employers.
Gill says her own experiences showed her how transformative further education can be. As a young single parent, who left school with few qualifications, Gill attended a night class once a fortnight before being encouraged to take up a place on a university art foundation course which allowed her to work and study at the same time.
“I’ve seen people's lives transformed. And it's not just about making money and getting good jobs. It's actually about life, and what else learning brings to life.”
During her time working in education and skills, Gill has had wide experience collaborating across the sector with large employers, professional networks, local and combined authorities, awarding bodies and higher education providers, among others.
Gill says that in order for the skills system to change, we need to examine current good practice and ensure we have a clear vision for the future.
“We've got some examples of good practice, but while there are models which are working well, they could be even better. If we do it really, really well, we transform more lives and make a bigger impact - this means we make our communities cohesive places to be”.