Advice surgeries
Our programme of advice surgeries has now ended.
These were an opportunity to have a 25 minute ‘1 to 1 discussion’ with either a UKCES or BIS representative. Representatives from both organisations were able to answer questions on Round 2 of the Pilot; including questions about objectives and scope, the application process and guidance on the criteria that will be used to assess applications.
The advice and guidance offered to employers during the sessions was not intended to give any party a competitive advantage over another. The sessions were intended to offer people clarification about information that has already been made available in the public domain.
You can view answers to the most common questions on the updated frequently asked questions page
For further details, please see the prospectus and guidance documentation, or contact one of the BIS Local representatives listed below or email your query to [email protected]
For further details about finding a training provider and financial support for skills training, please see:
Finding the right training provider
The further education and skills sector comprises more than 220 further education colleges, 900 independent training providers, and 2,500 training organisations with which colleges and providers subcontract. To find a recognised college or training provider and financial support to train your employees go to:
The Skills Funding Agency is a partner organisation of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and it exists to fund and promote adult further education and skills training in England. The Skills Funding Agency helps employers develop their businesses by ensuring they can improve the skills of their workforces through relevant training programmes. It has dedicated advisers for specialist services such as Apprenticeships, and Skills Funding Agency managers and Business Link advisers provide advice to employers to help you find the training they need. A list of recognised learning providers can be found on the UK Register of Learning Providers website.
The Skills Funding Agency also champions high standards of training and development through the running of vocational skills competitions and awards. Skills competitions support the Government’s ambition of raising aspirations and attainment in workplace learning, and awards, such as the National Training Awards, which identify best practice in workplace learning.
To find out about the Adult Entitlement for Learning go to the ‘Looking for Training?’ section of the Skills Funding Agency website.
Advice on funding for training
To help your business succeed in this time of economic challenge, it is vital employers invest in skills. Training increases productivity in the short term – and employers who don’t train are two times more likely to fail than those who do.
Research shows that three in four business people (76%) believe that their organisation would not succeed without investment in training.
Advice to businesses on funding for training is available from Gov.uk within the Business and Self-employed section – Business finance and support finder.
For small business seeking funding to grow the best way to ensure you’re getting the right type of funding is to be fully informed of different types of finance as well as the status of your business before making any major decisions. Information is available within the Find Finance section of the ‘Business In You’ website.
