Skills Development
Arming British people with the skills required to compete in the global economy is one of the most important challenges facing the Government and industry today, particularly in face of the increasing competitive threat from growing economies such as India and China and the higher productivity levels of our closest competitors in France, Germany and the USA.
Chamber Skills Network
The Chamber Skills Network – part of the BCC Network – is one of the largest providers of both Government-funded and commercial Skills Development Services to UK businesses. Every year, the Chamber Skills Network trains well in excess of 200,000 individuals, has more than 18,000 learners on work-based learning programmes and delivers more than 6,000 training courses nationwide.
The Chamber Skills Network is the only national training provider to cover all occupational areas and aspects of Skills Development for young people before they leave compulsory education, as well as apprenticeships for 16-24 year olds, workforce development for employers and employees and business start-up programmes.
With such close ties to local business, the Chamber Skills Network is also able to design courses and programmes to meet the specific needs of local businesses while retaining nationwide relevance.
Skills Programme
The Skills Programmes run by the Chamber Skills Network are open to the entire UK business community, not only Chamber members. The full range of Courses and Programmes run by the Chamber Skills Network can be found by clicking
here.
Working in Association
The BCC is also working with a number of educational bodies and associations such as Foundation Degree Forward to encourage employers from all sectors to take proactive steps to plug skills gaps within their workforce and support the development of high quality Foundation Degrees based on the needs of both business and students.
Simplifying Qualifications: A Guide For Employers The British Chambers of Commerce has been working with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to produce a leaflet to publicise the new Qualification and Credit Framework to employers. The new Framework, which is due to be launched in 2009/10, will introduce the unitisation of qualifications. This will mean that employees will be able to take 'units' of different qualifications or 'credits' to make up whole new qualifications based on their needs and those of the business they work for.
Click here to find out more.