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Helping your business navigate the education and skills landscape

A skilled workforce is at the heart of every successful business and attracting and developing the right workforce can be a challenge.

Getting involved with the education and skills system can be part of the solution, even for small businesses. Recruitment for example, becomes streamlined because you’ve engaged early with the next generation of talent. And your existing workforce can gain from flexible upskilling or reskilling options revealing new opportunities for your business to grow.

That said, we know that education and skills in England has changed and can be complex to understand, which is where Education Landscape: A guide for Employers comes in.

Did you know:

• Small and medium sized businesses make up 99% of registered businesses in the UK
• 4 out of 5 have recruitment concerns, and more than half fear there is a lack of candidates with the right knowledge and skills

A national commitment to small business employers

We’re committed to helping small businesses find the education and skills landscape easier to navigate. That’s why we’re sharing Education landscape: A Guide for Employers, which has been developed in partnership with organisations including the Federation of Small Businesses, CBI, British Chamber of Commerce, and IoD to help businesses across England. The Guide includes a clear, short overview of the education and landscape system, and concise information about the education and skills opportunities that businesses can engage with, and the benefits these offer. There are links to further information for the options you want to prioritise.

Download the Education Landscape: A Guide for Employers

Jenifer Burden, Gatsby Director of Programmes explains, “Whether it’s careers fairs, industry placements for older students, apprenticeships, or shorter programmes to support upskilling for employees, the need for education and business to collaborate has never been stronger. For a smaller business however, the breadth and variety of the opportunities can be hard to keep up with, especially for those without dedicated Human Resources or Learning and Development teams.

“This is why we are working with trusted business support organisations to provide small businesses with a clear starting point. The Education Landscape guide explains how SMEs can get involved with education and skills and shares the benefits that small business owners have experienced.

“By being involved, business support organisations are working closely with SMEs, widening the career opportunities for young people and nurturing the critical role businesses play in building and developing their skilled workforce.”

Find out more about how the Guide can benefit you.

Coming into Force in January 2023 the Provider Access Legislation is an important new legislation that schools and colleges will be required to meet.

The Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 sets out new requirements on the number and types of encounters schools will need to deliver for their pupils with providers of technical education or apprenticeships. The full story is provided on the below link.

The Provider Access Legislation