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Skills News

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Leeds City College signs skills agreement with Leeds Playhouse

Students at Leeds City College will benefit from training initiatives and work experience as a result of a newly signed agreement with Leeds Playhouse.

LEP widens criteria for Apprenticeship Grant for Employers

The criteria for the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE) has been widened to encourage more businesses to apply.

Partners going higher with Channel 4

Go Higher West Yorkshire’s partners are well prepared to support the growth of a skilled workforce to Channel 4, which recently announced it will be opening its new national HQ in Leeds.

Degree Apprenticeships on the rise in West Yorkshire

Partners are gearing up to deliver an increased number of degree apprenticeships across our region. This has been made possible through the highly innovative and fruitful ‘Driving Social Mobility through Degree Apprenticeships’ project.

Education the answer to future skills challenges

Employers, educators and policymakers need to collaborate more closely to address skills needs, according to a new Universities UK report.

In order to meet the rapid pace of change driven by factors such as technological advances it will be necessary for them to adopt more flexible partnerships, different modes of delivery, quicker responses, and new combinations of skills and experience.

‘Solving Future Skills Challenges’ also highlights the need for greater work experience provision and calls for more flexibility within the student funding system.

Read the full report.

The Impact of Family Estrangement

Work by the GHWY partnership to develop a collaborative Stand Alone pledge has been backed-up by a new research paper.

Estranged young people (18-24 year olds studying without the support and approval of a family network) have been highlighted as a vulnerable group.

Unstable housing, financial difficulties, and an inability to prioritise their course of study have a negative impact on the chances of estranged young people succeeding in higher education.

The report concludes that poverty is the prime reason for such students to discontinue their education, and urges institutions to think innovatively about how to offer better support.

Recommendations include Higher Education institutions becoming part of the corporate parenting structure for estranged young people, and introducing a specific bursary to help them afford accommodation over the summer period. GHWY partners are responding to the needs of this group of young people through pledging whatever support they can offer in key areas.

Read the full paper in Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning.

Next month its Estranged Students Solidarity Week and we'll be raising awareness across the partnership.