Government helps push for training

Employer Based Training Accreditation is an initiative which aims to give businesses the support and advice needed to raise the status of training.

A pilot scheme has been set up by Foundation Degree Forward in which academic experts will give specialist advice to employers on workplace learning. Employees who take part in the scheme will be awarded credits which can contribution to a university award or other qualifications.

Government figures show employers currently pump large sums of money into training which can be “hit and miss” because there is no official recognition of the courses which are undertaken.

Minister for lifelong learning, further and higher education Bill Rammell said: “EBTA will encourage employers to recognise the importance of improving the skills of their workforce, and applies the rigorous standards of university learning to their in-house provision.

“This type of initiative supports the government’s desire to see more employer-led and employer-influenced provision, which is crucial if we are to produce more people with the skills that business and the economy demand.”

The scheme’s first pilots are already being developed, including accreditation of a new training scheme for legal cashiers that addresses a gap in existing accredited qualifications. The course was developed by Quill Pinpoint Accounting and accredited by the University of Chester.