HEFCE welcomes funding boost for higher level skills in the workforce

Friday 11 January 2008Comment on this article Permlink

HEFCE has welcomed the Government’s announcement of at least Â£105 million over the next three years to support new employer-focused higher education provision.

The new funding will support innovative links between higher education and employers to help better meet employer skills needs and enable universities and colleges to boost their capacity to contribute to the development of a world-class workforce.

The announcement reflects the Government’s commitment to address the skills needs of employers set out in the Leitch Review of Skills.

HEFCE Chief Executive, Professor David Eastwood, said:

‘The challenge to create a world-class workforce, equipped with the high-level knowledge and skills, is one which higher education in this country is already addressing and is eager to extend into new areas. We have already committed more than Â£35 million to individual university and college projects, to meet employers’ demands for high level knowledge and skills, and to three regional Higher Level Skills Pathfinders. There are many more such projects in the pipeline. The funding announced by the Government today will enable us to mount an innovative and ambitious programme of growth in new higher education provision which will change the landscape of workplace learning forever.’

Bill Rammell, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, said:

‘To compete globally, in terms of higher level skills, we need to think on a much bigger scale. There is already widespread good practice, but it doesn’t go far enough. Every HEI should be considering how it can respond – in ways which match its mission.

‘The Government is serious about higher education and employers working and investing together in the higher level skills that this country needs. For the first time we are announcing an employer co-funding budget which will enable higher education increasingly to build the capacity to respond to employer needs. But it’s not just about capacity. We need a cultural shift too so that employers can access a flexible and responsive service from HE – and one which they value enough to share the costs.’

The Leitch Review of Skills identified that 40 per cent of adults need to be qualified to Level 4 or above by 2020 if the national workforce is to remain world class. To realise this goal it concluded that the higher education system needs to work in partnership with employers to create and fund more flexible courses. The new funding announced by the Government makes provision for the creation of places part-funded by HEFCE with employer topping up to the actual cost of the place. This puts in place the means for new ways to educate the workforce, including in the workplace, online and tailored to company needs.

Source: HEFCE website.