One year on: Updates from the VocTech Challenge

One year ago, Ufi in partnership with Learning and Work Institute (L&W) launched an ambitious programme to deliver a step-change in adult participation in learning. We wanted to work with organisations across the four nations of the UK to address the growing skills shortages holding back people, industry, and society through technology enabled learning solutions.

In our VocTech Challenge: Skills for an Economy in Transition White Paper we drew on extensive research and consultation to identify the range of interwoven and systemic barriers that contribute to the UK’s continued low rates of adult participation in learning. The culmination of our paper was a set of six commitments aimed at getting more adults learning.

In this article, we look back at our progress one year on.

1. The VocTech Future of Skills Award

This award for ideas, brought to us by individuals from across the UK in an open competition, was a new approach for Ufi. We wanted to celebrate imaginative and practical ideas, enabled by tech, that had improved the skills system and increased adult participation in learning.

In November 2023 our judges awarded prizes to three winners that demonstrated unique visions for how tech can play a key role in building a skills system that is more connected, relevant and accessible. Gill Scott put forward her vision for increasing systemic collaboration across place. Paul McCormack described how we could create a digital passport for everyone, allowing people to bring their learning with them throughout their life. And Stuart Hill showed us how we could better support the transition from training in the world of work for learners who are most in need.

All three winners, as well as the two finalists Hannah Kirkbride and Ione Banks, demonstrated unique visions for how tech can play a key role in building a future UK skills system that is more connected, relevant and accessible. The winners and finalists will be invited to future relevant Ufi VocTech events and invited to join the Impact Network, see below.

2. A new programme of place-based collaborations

Our second White Paper commitment was to identify four places across the UK where adult participation in learning is particularly low. We wanted to collaborate with local people, organisations and decision makers to tackle localised problems in the skills and employment sector.

After data analysis, exploratory engagement and online workshops with local stakeholders we identified Aberdeen, Hull, Newport, and Belfast as our four focus areas. The partners we have chosen to work with each demonstrate a determination to support the success and prosperity of their local communities and we believe this will ensure our projects have lasting legacies. While the specific problems they have defined are rooted in their local areas, the challenges facing these locations are typical of many towns and cities. We hope the interventions we support will inspire action in other areas across the UK.

A year into the programme, we have established partnerships in Hull, Belfast and Aberdeen ahead of rolling out their exciting new adult learning initiatives. These teams have a clearly defined scope and are currently developing their project plans, while in Newport we are finalising the project’s lead partner.

Defining and launching projects takes time, and gaining momentum with partners requires effort and commitment, especially when trying to tackle complex problems with limited resources. Our staged approach to project development has enabled us to understand local needs and challenges, and to develop strong relationships with partners built on trust. This is particularly important in an environment where uncertainty and scarcity of resources can understandably lead to mistrust or scepticism of new initiatives.

The programme has also shown the importance of building on existing relationships. In one location, for example, Ufi and L&W benefitted from working with a previous partner. This ‘warm’ partner had already bought into our strategic aims and have proved a useful conduit in engaging other potential partners.

3. The VocTech Challenge Grant Fund and Impact Network

Ufi launched the VocTech Challenge Grant Fund and Impact Network in June, receiving over 130 applications from organisations looking improve adult participation in learning. Six successful organisations have now been offered grant funding of between £200k and £250k each to refine and deploy their ideas to tackle one of three key challenges identified as part of our place-based work. Read about the organisations.

Funding is only part of the support we provide. There is huge value to be gained through cross-sector connection so encouraging collaboration forms a key part of our work. To drive this forward we have developed the new VocTech Challenge Impact Network, a place for organisations to share knowledge, access resources, test assumptions and accelerate the development and adoption of vocational technology.

4. Supporting scalable solutions with venture investment

Commitment four of the Challenge is the development of the Ufi Ventures Challenge Fund, a new investment fund to support early-stage businesses using vocational technology to make a positive and scalable impact on skills development for our economy in transition. The Ufi Ventures Challenge Fund provides initial investments of £250k with the capacity to invest a further £1m in follow-on funding. The fund is now live and accepting interest from founders across the UK.

Next steps

Ufi and L&W are excited about the progress made so far in creating a ‘movement’ of stakeholders dedicated to get adults learning. We will continue to use what we learn from the programme to advocate for change and accelerate the adoption of solutions the UK economy needs to get the skills required for a transitioning economy.