Turn Unskilled Workers into Valuable Employees through Certification and Apprentice Programs

In the coming months and years, technology companies will face a significant shortfall in skilled IT workers. With 86 percent of hirers saying IT certifications are a priority, they are an obvious choice for individuals looking to improve their career progressions or unlock new opportunities. For organisations too, certifications provide the job-relevant skills to upskill their new and existing staff.

Recognising the growing need for skilled IT workers, numerous funding options have been established to help mitigate the skills shortage both in the UK and across the EU. However, the processes involved to secure this funding can sometimes be laborious and confusing.

At CompTIA’s EMEA Channel & Member Conference, a session was held to help attendees navigate the funding landscape in both the UK and European Union to maximise their chances of securing support for certification candidates. 

Siȃn Owen, head of stakeholder engagement at Pearson, took attendees through the funding priorities for the UK government, and how these are likely to change over the coming months and years.

First, read up on the different options for each age group, she said. There are numerous categories of vocational funding — apprenticeships, traineeships and programs for different age groups — each with different amounts of money and funding models available. Some can be outright funded whilst some will be collaborative, involving funds from the company too. For example, or every £1 that employers contribute to an apprenticeship, the government will pay £2. Others are only eligible for loans, so it’s important to know what’s available before applying. The government’s priorities for full funding include the candidate being unemployed and having low-level skills.

The results of the next general election will determine future funding for vocational training in the UK. A future Conservative government, for example, would use £1 billion in welfare spending cuts to fund 3 million apprenticeships. Whereas a future Labour government wants the same number of school-leavers to go on to apprenticeships as university by 2025.

Other changes are also coming into play for the next year, including a requirement for all candidates at certain levels to have a C in English and maths to qualify for funding. There will also be a need to prove to the Skills Funding Agency that the industry wants the qualifications provided. This means that applicants will need to more thoroughly account for the industry need for qualifications.

A similar requirement exists for EU funding. As Andre Parola, general manager at the European Skills Association (AISBL), explained: ‘The EU are focusing more and more on investment leading to employment — they are more concerned with funding training that links directly to work than training for its own sake’.

In general, Parola pointed out that the EU funding landscape is more complicated and competitive than national ones.  The commission usually requires each call for funding to come from a consortium comprising multiple organisations from a number of member states which means that applicants should think of potential international partners long before applying.

Parola also outlined a number of key tips to remember when applying for EU funding:

• Grants are subject to annual programming not conducted on a case-by case basis;
• It’s very important to stick to administration and deadline requirements, otherwise your application will be automatically discarded;
• Propose things that are achievable and specific;
• Always demonstrate the impact the funding will have;
• Go to Brussels. The commission holds informational days where you can learn a lot about the process and can meet other organisations and form partnerships.

A breakdown of the funding budgets and sources in the UK and European Union can be seen in the conference presentations here. Read more coverage from EMEA on our blog, including ways to maximize relationships between partners and vendors and highlights from the keynote address by legendary BBC presenter Maggie Philbin.