7 Case Studies
Theme: Skills Development
Building Greater Exeter
Building Greater Exeter is focussed on supporting the construction sector across Exeter, East Devon and Teignbridge to address the skills and recruitment challenges it faces.
It has 3 key areas of focus;
- Inspire the future workforce through an effective engagement programme with schools and young people, supported through the Education Hub,
- Support employers by facilitating recruitment to existing vacancies and providing opportunities for up-skilling and re-skilling,
- Support the adoption of the National Skills Academy for Construction model using the Client Based Approach, through procurement and planning.
In the 2 years since its inception, the project has attended in excess of 30 careers and employment focussed event and this has seen engagement with over 35,000 people. In addition, Building Greater Exeter runs a weekly ‘Job Shop’ currently access via the ‘phone. There are currently 28 project partners representing the private sector, housing associations, training providers and local councils. All these partners have recognised the need to have a focus on promoting the sector to the future generations, so that they are able to meet the growing demand anticipated.
Building Greater Exeter continually seeks creative approaches to be able to support the industry to be more collaborative with the services and support available that can lead to much stronger workforce pipelines. A current focus is working with main contractors and the construction supply chain delivering major projects across Exeter and the wider area. The primary focus of this work is to promote the opportunities to engage with young people through traineeships, apprenticeships and work placements, building a sustainable pipeline of talent into the sector.
Theme: Skills Development / Capacity Building
South West Institute of Technology (SWIoT)
Bringing together key university, further education and business partners from the across the Heart of the South West and Cornwall, the South West Institute of Technology is one of 12 unique technical skills collaborations selected by Government in 2019 to deliver the next generation of digital and advanced skills training.
Delivered through 6 discrete campus centres based at Exeter College, Petroc College, City College Plymouth, Bridgwater and Taunton College, Truro and Penwith College and University of Exeter, and with further delivery through the University of Plymouth, the SWIoT is due to cater for up to 2,500 students per annum on apprenticeship and fulltime courses by 2025. Working with integrated business partners through its Board, including Babcock International, the Met Office, TDK Lambda and Oxygen House, SWIoT will offer unique, business led curriculum and qualification offers at the forefront of Government’s ambitions for future skills design and delivery.
Support this approach, the SWIoT is underpinned by a £25m joint investment from Government and member partners, with facilities currently being constructed across the area. When complete, SWIOT’s combined facilities will match the best available in the UK, including virtual and augmented reality environments, digital learning laboratories, artificial intelligence arenas, new clean workspaces, workshops, emergent manufacturing spaces with industry level equipment, and shared learning spaces.
Theme: Supporting Young People
Heart of the South West Careers Hub
The Heart of the South West Careers Hub is the Country’s largest local careers network, supporting 157 secondary schools, colleges and wider educational partners from across the HotSW to provide the area’s young people with an enhanced careers, information, advice and guidance offer.
Jointly funded by the Careers Enterprise Company, the Local Enterprise Partnership and Local Authority partners, the Careers Hub’s dedicated team of 14 advisors champion the achievement of the Government’s Gatsby Benchmark approach across the area, promoting high quality work experience; highlighting routes to academic progression and further / higher education; supporting vocational pathways; collaborating on curriculum development and career encounters; and bringing together business and education partners.
A key element of the Hub, the Enterprise Advisor Network matches over 90 individual business volunteers from across key sectors and employers within the Heart of South West with local schools, supporting their careers activity, informing strategy and curriculum thinking and providing a real-life linkage between local employment opportunity and individual progression. Complemented by a network of Cornerstone strategic employers and drawing in business education provision and support from across the public and private sector landscape, the hub provides a focal point for engagement and alignment of support for those entering the world of work and further learning.
Since its establishment in 2015, the HotSW Careers Hub has worked with over 50,000 young people collectively, supporting individual progression, enhanced aspiration, and better jobs and employment outcomes for students and business alike across the Heart of the South West.
Theme: Supporting Young People
Skill Up Somerset
Skill Up Somerset is an independent and free advisory service, working with businesses, training providers, local government and individuals to support individual progression and enable new roles and opportunities. Supported through a mixture of local and national funding, the initiative seeks to provide up to date, expert advice around apprenticeships, traineeships and other skills and training pathways.
As part of its innovative approach, Skill Up Somerset brings young people, adults and business together, connecting individuals to opportunities, as well as providing advice and guidance around progression. Providing a comprehensive skills advisory service across the Somerset area, the programme also supports businesses to explore what funding is available to enable them to take on apprentices and upskill existing staff, raising awareness of training opportunities and demonstrating the benefits of acquiring new skills. As a not-for-profit organisation, Skill Up is dedicated to securing the best fit for training rather than steer business or employees in a particular direction.
In the 20 months since the project inceptions, the project has engaged with more than 300 businesses and supported more than 200 individuals, complemented by a social media presence which has rapidly expanded.
Theme: Inclusive Skills
Heart of the South West Digital Skills Partnership
The Heart of the South West’s award-winning Digital Skills Partnership (DSP) was launched in June 2018, bringing together the public, private and third sector to tackle the digital skills divide in Somerset, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. It is one of seven trailblazing Digital Skills Partnership’s funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Since inception, the DSP’s 25 core partners, including key local employers and digital leaders such as the Met Office, UKHO, BT, Bluescreen IT, Cosmic, Microsoft and Leonardo Helicopters, have worked together to champion local digital skills development and delivery through a share approach. This has seen the partnership drive forward a range of related activity over the past three year, including support for over 800 business through the ‘Bounce Back Digital Partnership’, support for 200 women and individuals from deprived wards to move into digital careers; and project and programmes working with schools, job seekers, employers and community organisations to champion digital achievement.
Currently entering its third year of life, the HotSW DSP has recently led on the development and implementation of the area’s Digital Bootcamp programme, supporting 750 new learners into digital and technical roles, with additional work currently ongoing to further extend the range of partners engaged and its delivery programme.
Theme: Maximising Individual Opportunity
Heart of the South West Careers Learning Pilot
The Careers Learning Pilots, developed by the Department for Education (DfE), were designed to test innovative approaches to lifelong learning and inform the design of the National Retraining Scheme. The Heart of the South West LEP was one of five areas conducting the Cost and Outreach (Career Learning) Pilots, which were designed to develop the evidence base on how more adults can be engaged and be supported in learning.
The £2.5million Heart of the South West pilot explored the impact that tailored work coaching and outreach, when complemented by subsidised provision, can have upon the uptake of high demand technical and intermediate training opportunities.
The project:
- Supported harder to reach under-represented adults, such as: older people, women returners, young people from deprived areas, to achieve higher level qualifications in high need sectors.
- Included Level 3 and 4 qualifications in areas such as: Social Care, Engineering, Education, IT and Finance.
- Provided subsidised qualifications for the learner (£1.8million), wraparound support, and careers advice (£700,000) for those who have traditionally struggled to progress.
- Delivered over 450 Level 3 training programmes and supported 170 people through related careers advice and guidance during its first year of operation in 2018/2019.
After the project completed in September 2019, key lessons were and integrated, by the Department of Education, into the National Retraining Scheme.
Theme: Maximising Individual Opportunity
Train4Tomorrow / Digital and Technical Bootcamps
The Heart of the South West LEP was one of six areas selected by the Department for Education in late 2020 to pilot its digital and technical bootcamp learning programmes for adults. Branded as Train4Tomorrow, the bootcamp programme focuses upon 12-16 week bootcamps that have been designed in conjunction with employers, seeks to fast-track new recruits into to work-ready rolls within high demand, high value technical sectors and careers. Training is free to individual, with a guaranteed interview within 6 months of completion.
A £2.2m programmes in total, Train4Tomorrow will offer training to 1000 adults over the first six months of 2021, delivered by a mixed partnership of public and private organisations including Babcock, Cosmic, Bridgwater and Taunton College, Bluescreen IT, Exeter College, The Learning People, Focus Training Group, Train4All and South Devon College. Jobs being offered include design roles working with the MoD; specialist roles leading on software design, cyber security and data science; and additional high value technical pathways into construction, green energy and low carbon roles; and advanced engineering opportunities.
Uniquely, the Train4Tommorrow has seen several of its bootcamps designed specifically for certain employers to develop staff, for example working with Babcock international to meet their growing demand for Naval Engineers, whilst others such as the digital healthcare bootcamp has been designed in conjunction with multiple NHS STP and CCG partners, or Torbay’s growing Photonics’ cluster.
Theme: Partner and Intelligence Led
Skills Launchpad
The Skills Launchpad website was launched in September 2020. The website provides the Heart of the South West with both a responsive platform for existing initiatives such as the Careers Hub and Digital Skills Partnership, as well as a foundation for promoting
and aligning new and arising projects.
Featuring dedicated pages for apprenticeships, t-levels, traineeships and supported internships, skills provider information, job searching information and more, the platform informs and celebrates skills and employment activity across the Heart of the South
West.
Since its launch the website has allowed partners across the Heart of the South West to collaborate and reinforce around core campaigns, messages and schemes; from National Apprenticeship Week 2021; hosting key events / resources; to the ‘rewrite the story’ enterprise adviser campaign, seeking new business people to support local schools and colleges around careers advice and guidance; to the promotion of National Careers Service events and the digital bootcamp campaign.
During COVID, the website has also played a crucial role as a hub for intelligence and support for those at risk of losing their job or seeking new career options; hosting virtual job fairs, signposting to new learning or training offer; and providing links to fast track recruitment and deployment opportunities across the HotSW’s growth sectors.
Growing to over 4,500 user and over 10,000 page views in January and February 2021, the website is increasingly a key resource for customers, businesses and training providers in the Heart of the South West, with the Skills Launchpad brand has now expanded to include social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn) and tailored local offers, such as Skills Launchpad Plymouth.