Supporting Colleges and Training Providers

Capacity building

To support the significant expansion in Train to Gain, Ministers intend to make a further investment in provider capacity. The LSC will work with the new Learning and Skills Improvement Service and DIUS to shape this investment, so that it builds on their new programme - World Class Skills -– developing responsive provision, commissioned by the Quality Improvement Agency and delivered by KPMG. This additional investment will take into account the findings from the LSC’s Supply Chain Review which is due to conclude in July.

Training Quality Standard

Colleges and training providers will also want to consider adopting the Training Quality Standard as a framework for effective employer engagement.

The Training Quality Standard is an assessment framework and an assessment and certification process which has been designed to recognise and celebrate the best organisations delivering training and development solutions to employers.

Find out more information on the Training Quality Standard

Supply Chain Review

In Train to Gain’s first full year of operation, over 52,000 employers have been engaged by skills brokers, releasing some 240,000 staff onto training activities. Many training providers have developed and extended the scale and reach of their own employer engagement in order to maximise their opportunities under Train to Gain.

In November 2007, the Train to Gain Plan for Growth reported that around a third of the adult skills and Further Education budget will be routed through Train to Gain by July 2011– over £1 billion. This will rise further as a proportion in the next decade. So what are our plans to meet this?

The LSC has commissioned GHK Consulting to undertake a root and branch review of the Train to Gain supply chain. In particular, we want to understand the challenges to expanding the service over the next two years. We also want to understand better the delivery and business models that exist and what makes a successful provider. The key outcome of the review is to provide recommendations on how we get Train to Gain to be a £1billion service to employers.

The first phase of the work comprises of a quantitative questionnaire of all providers who hold a Train to Gain contract with the LSC. This will provide us with a complete map of current delivery activity. The next phase of work, and the most substantial part of the review, will be a qualitative assessment of how providers can be supported to grow and develop a Train to Gain offer and what system or process improvements the LSC can make to facilitate this. This piece of work will include in depth interviews with a sample of providers to get a detailed understanding of their current business models and which models result in good (or poor) performance.

The work is due to be completed in the autumn and we will set out the recommendations and associated actions to be taken forward in our fourth Statement of Priorities.