Effective practice | 15 September 2023

Priority sector skills academies – enabling learners to gain employment in priority sectors

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Provider

Cardiff & Vale Adult Learning in the Community Partnership

Number of pupils

5814

Age range

18+

Information about the provider

Context and background

Description

Impact of the provision

How has the practice been shared?

Information about the provider

Cardiff and Vale Community Learning Partnership was established in 2013 from the former Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan adult learning partnerships. There are four main delivery partners: Cardiff and Vale College, Cardiff Council, Vale of Glamorgan Council, Adult Learning Wales. The partnership serves Wales’ capital city, Cardiff, and the adjacent, largely rural, local authority of the Vale of Glamorgan, and offers provision at a range of venues including community centres, libraries and the college’s campuses.

The partnership employs approximately 193 part-time and 43 full-time teaching staff. Approximately 5814 learners are enrolled on courses, of whom 2209 are English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) learners. The majority of its learners are at entry level and level 1 or short course provision. Across the partnership 39% of learners live in the most disadvantaged areas. Sixty-three per cent of the partnership’s enrolments are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Sixty-five per cent of the partnership’s enrolments are female.

The vision for ALC in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan is one where there is:

increased participation by those who have benefited least from education in the past or who are most at risk of not benefiting in the future
improved quality in the learning experience including increased progression to other learning opportunities or work
greater coherence in the nature and patterns of provision across the providers.

Context and background

A key purpose of adult community learning is to support people in the region to access employment. The partnership has created strong links with employers to provide industry-led courses tailored to address regional skills gaps and to generate employment opportunities for those from diverse and deprived areas of South Wales. The goal has been to offer increased progression opportunities and develop a solution for hard-to-fill job vacancies across sectors experiencing skills shortages. The partnership has developed ‘academy’ models which provide intensive skills development and employability support to individuals seeking to develop skills and secure employment in priority sectors. This is made possible by working closely with employers to collaboratively design, develop and deliver relevant provision.

Description

The partnership has developed a community-focussed delivery approach to support sectors struggling with recruitment including social care, hospitality, creative and financial technology (FinTech). The partnership has developed strong relationships with employers, who co-design the delivery models and training packages, so that they meet their needs. Programmes typically include rigorous application and assessment processes, induction, pairing with an ‘employment mentor’, intensive delivery tailored to support timely development and progression, opportunities for accredited training (qualification and vendor based) and ‘match making’ with potential employers, who provide a guaranteed interview on completion. Learners are helped by funding to remove some of the financial barriers they may face. For example, some intensive 10-week academies include a weekly training allowance, which allows individuals to engage with the programme. The employment mentors regularly attend adult learning courses to work with their learner-mentees and signpost additional support if needed.

Impact of the provision

The priority sector skills academies have helped citizens aged from 21-62 years across diverse backgrounds and from economically disadvantaged areas to gain employment in priority sectors.

How has the practice been shared?

The partnership has engaged with other regional local authorities, for example, Adult Services sector in Bridgend to create similar provision. Priority sector skills academies have been further shared and rolled out across the further education sector in Wales and supported through Welsh Government funding.

Information about the provider

Context and background

Description

Impact of the provision

How has the practice been shared?