A qualification is not a career: Ian Bennett calls for clearer routes into skilled work
Thousands of adults across the UK are already choosing to invest their own time and money in vocational retraining, yet privately funded adult learning is still poorly captured in national data and therefore remains largely hidden from policymakers.
A new paper by Ian Bennett, Group Founder and CEO of Access Training, explores how the skills system could better support adults who fund their own retraining and create clearer routes for them into work and further learning.
A Qualification Is Not a Career: What the skills system can learn from adults who invest in their own future, written for the Lifelong Education Institute, draws on Access Training’s 20+ years of experience helping adults get into the electrical, plumbing, and gas trades.
The paper frames an uncomfortable reality: even after gaining a qualification, learners can still be left without the supervised workplace experience they need to start their new career.
Ian argues that those who have invested in their training should be able to move into work or further study without unnecessarily repeating what they’ve already learned.
The paper also looks at where public funding can add value without replacing the commitment learners have already made themselves. It considers how apprenticeships and the Growth and Skills Levy can add new occupational skills, while the Lifelong Learning Entitlement can open routes into higher technical study.
Mark Morrin of the Lifelong Education Institute said:
“Private investment is an important but often overlooked part of the lifelong learning system. Adults are willing to invest their own money, as well as their time and effort, when training offers a credible route to better earnings, greater job security or a new career. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement should build on that willingness to invest by giving people a clear line of sight from learning to employment and progression. Access to finance matters, but it will stimulate demand only when learners can see a tangible return on their investment.”
For Ian Bennett, Group Founder and CEO at Access Training, the point is what that support enables learners to do next:
“A qualification is an important milestone, but our responsibility to the learner should not end there. We need to help people develop the confidence, competence and ability to apply their skills in the real world, and continue adapting as their careers evolve. That is how training creates lasting opportunity.”
Read A Qualification Is Not a Career below.