Frances Rowan (Employability Adviser) (Frances.Rowan@uws.ac.uk) 

Anne McGillivray (Dean of Students) (Anne.McGillivray@uws.ac.uk)

Lea Mckay (Director of the Lifelong Learning Academy) (Lea.McKay@uws.ac.uk)

• The overarching aim is to achieve effective and sustainable engagement with selected employers to meet their current and future workforce development needs and satisfy the aspirations of employees focusing on progression of students onto UWS programmes.
• To achieve effective and sustainable engagement with selected employers to meet their current and future workforce development needs and satisfy the aspirations of employees focusing on progression of students onto UWS programmes.
• To better target the needs of both employers and their employees through the development of RPL and WBL opportunities that will give direction to training and link to UWS programmes.
• To develop flexible and responsive approaches to the learning needs of employers.

• Identify a process that can facilitate and support the expansion of employer led provision via part-time delivery, RPL, WBL,  and continuing professional development working with Faculties within UWS to achieve results

• Support development of good practice in partnership working, fostering sustainable engagement to meet existing and future Lifelong Learning agenda

• Increase the B2B CRM functionality by linking into UWS partners in order to develop an integrated service to employers

• Increase awareness of LLA employer engagement partnerships and the skills agenda via RPL and WBL throughout UWS.

• An expansion in the number of RPL and WBL related activity which will be the basis for a flexibly delivered education guidance service with a strong employer relationship.

• An increased number of students enrolled on part-time award bearing programmes,

• Effective linkage of skills development to research and other knowledge transfer activity, working in partnership with internal UWS partners.

3. Programme Design

A significant risk is that employers do not give due importance to the benefits of developing the skills of their workforce or are deterred by costs, thus resulting in lack of engagement. This risk may be accentuated in periods of economic down turn but could be ameliorated by application of RPL and WBL which may be attractive to employers as work based prior learning and training may contribute to a recognised qualification saving time and money, making more efficient use of training budgets, avoiding duplication of learning and identifying the best way to meet skills gaps.

Linked to the above is the risk that employers may be supportive of learning with too narrow a focus reflecting their particular short term business needs. This may not result in a viable programme with the wider application necessary for sustainability.

An increased proportion of RPL and WBL may place demands on Student Link staff to provide equity of student experience.

-Employees within Kibble Education and Care have had a guidance interview with an Education Guidance Advisor. Their prior learning has been assessed and mapped onto proposed programme template.

-An employee has undertaken an Accreditation of Experiential Learning (APEL) claim for 100 credit points at SCQF level 7.  This has been assessed as a pass and will be presented at the Lifelong Learning Subject Panel in February -Introduction to Social Pedagogy - Being delivered to a cohort of students in T1.

-Workbased Opportunities Module Workshop has been delivered within the workplace