2. City College Brighton and Hove

“SHINE”: How courses were selected

In consultation with Jobcentre plus (JCP), City College was able to identify the scale of those who were claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA). At the time of developing the project Brighton and Hove had 6,881 claimants, of whom 27% (1,857) had been claiming JSA for 6 months or more. ‘SHINE’ is a project intended to support the longer-term unemployed and an analysis of information, again provided by JCP, showed that of the 27% most had previously been employed in the construction and retail sectors as well as casual workers in the pubs and clubs in the City. The majority of whom were believed to have qualifications below Level 2, many with   Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL needs.
Having established the scale of the potential audience for ‘SHINE’, the College was able to establish the current labour market information (LMI) to help inform their PEP programme. This was gained through dialogue with JCP and the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, who, together with the College, identified the sectors that had current local job opportunities, as well as critically determining the projected labour market demand.  Internal knowledge from the College’s Skills Advisors also proved invaluable in identifying sectors which presented opportunities for up-skilling, such as Hospitality, the need for legislative training for Door Supervisors and Catering staff needing food handling training.  Infection Control qualifications were also identified as a need.

Shine…was developed based on actual labour market opportunity in Brighton and Hove and we sought views of employers, JCP and the economic forum in order to develop it. Because it is a strong offer which focuses on giving people qualifications to get into work - it is an expensive offer to deliver; it mostly requires us to hire in specialist trainers, certificate/registration/ exam fees, specialist student materials etc; but it will have an impact and make a difference. Vernice Halligan, Head of Employer Engagement City College Brighton and Hove

The College was also mindful of the need to work closely with other local providers in the area to ensure that the provision they were proposing was not duplicating existing offers in the City:

We visited the College and spent time with Donna Keenan to understand their offer and to explain ours. This gave us all a fuller appreciation of the wider PEP provision for Brighton & Hove jobseekers, and avoided duplication between our two organisations. Beverley Foard, Centre Manager, Skills South East, Working Links

Using this information, the College was able to craft a very specific proposal informed by LMI and local knowledge, and set about designing courses that would  up-skill and or re-skill the long-term unemployed  in the following sectors: Hospitality (specifically local hotels – catering/kitchen), Care (including Public Sector), and Call Centres.  A public sector section has also been designed, again generated by demand and includes training for:  Administration, Teaching, and Classroom Assistants.

Key Attributes for Success:

Buy-in

City College Brighton & Hove work in conjunction with the Brighton & Hove City Employment & Skills Plan (CESP), a plan led by the City Council, and which is at the very heart of economic growth for the City. The plan has four core priorities: to support the creation, retention and development of local business and enterprise, to increase the employment rate in the City, to develop and improve Skills for Work, and to develop the infrastructure and intelligence to support the delivery of the actions in the CESP.
The College plays an active role in the CESP and shares a similar ethos, evidenced through their mission statement which informs the steer of their work:

City College will work in partnership to deliver high quality education and training for today’s and tomorrow’s workforce.

With employer- led provision at the heart of the College’s strategic focus the ‘SHINE’ provision was a natural development in response to the economic turndown.  

Strong internal and external partnerships

The success of the programme has been dependant on the strong internal partnerships enabling a cross section of the College to work quickly; these have included Curriculum Heads, the Employer Engagement Department and Planning. However, significant partnerships and relationships have been built externally which have enabled purposeful referrals and an insight into keeping up-to-date with the ever-changing labour market information:

Partnership working will be central to the delivery of this programme and we will actively enhance our relationships with Jobcentre Plus, Working Links, the LSC, Nextstep Advisors and Tourism Futures. We will utilise these relationships alongside our own well established employer network to market and recruit to the programme and to identify viable job opportunities for learners.  Through partnership working we will also be able to ensure that the ongoing programme of training opportunities meets, and continues to meet, the needs of the local labour market and thus offer the maximum benefits for the learners engaged on the programmes. Vernice Halligan, Head of Employer Engagement City College Brighton and Hove

In developing strong partnerships with local services both strategically and operationally, the college is mirroring the desired approach for providers of working towards an Integrated Employment and Skills (IES) model:

With the launch of the Adult Advancement and Careers Service on April 23rd in Brighton and Hove, this is a timely opportunity to work with partner organisations to identify the skills needs of adults who face redundancy or who have recently been made redundant. The intention is to work, and to continue to work, in partnership with other agencies, including the Adult Learning Group, Jobcentre plus and the City Council and to create tailor made programmes in response to this need. Steve Lewis, Head of Higher Education and Adult Learning, City College

WorkSkills

The Edexcel suite of WorkSkills qualifications has been central to the City College ‘SHINE’ offer. WorkSkills, a new, suite of BTEC qualifications, has been designed with flexibility to allow for roll-on, roll-off provision. The qualifications are suitable for learners of all ages and at all stages of their working lives, and aim to build the ‘ABC’ of employability - Attitude, Behaviour and Communication. There are four skills pathways within the WorkSkills framework: Personal Life Skills, Sustainable Employability Skills, Work Placement Skills and Skills for Business and learners are able to combine units from across these pathways to build qualifications of different sizes and at different levels.

‘SHINE’ integrates core units of the WorkSkills suite into its offer; these include 3 Level 2 units: Applying for a Job, Preparing for an Interview and Searching for a Job. Those wishing to learn more about running their own business or being self-employed are sign-posted to 3 Level 2 core Enterprise Units within the suite: Planning an Enterprise and Running an Enterprise.

The Industry Pathway courses (relating to the sectors identified by LMI) complete the ‘SHINE’ set of courses and suitable progression routes have been highlighted. The current offer, qualifications, guided learning hours and progression routes include:

A ‘SHINE’ learner typically receives approximately 50 guided learning hours, although this is dependent on each learner’s needs and their Individual Learning Plan. The College considers that the offer has been very well received by those wishing to re-train with a view to accessing employment in a previously unfamiliar sector:

The Edexcel suite of WorkSkills qualifications is particularly flexible and responsive to a whole range of employment skills needs at a range of different levels. The College is now a registered centre for these qualifications. It is also an opportunity to explore more Pre-Access provision for those learners who might see the current climate as an opportunity to up-skill and retrain at a higher level with a view to moving into higher education”. Steve Lewis, Head of Higher Education and Adult Learning, City College

Organisational challenges and solutions

As with any new development there have been a few teething problems at an operational level which have needed attention to keep the project moving. Working across agencies has raised issues around procedures and paperwork, and specifically the need to streamline processes between organisations where possible to further speed up the service:

Access to frontline [JCP] advisers is critical and they have been very constructive in feeding back to us what they think works and what doesn't and we expect them to be instrumental in developing our offer further. We have to continue to break down the bureaucracy and be flexible enough to make our systems work together and we are working on this. Vernice Halligan, Head of Employer Engagement City College Brighton and Hove

The College has a range of cluster meetings planned with all parties to agree the best way forward in addressing these challenges and plans to play a central role in helping make improvements in this area.
Early into the launch clarification was also needed about the use of single units and how best to record the information. There was confusion about how single units might be interpreted by the LSC, and how this type of accreditation should be recorded so to avoid funding errors. Both points were clarified by dialogue between the LSC and Edexcel, with the LSC reporting that:

It is, however, perfectly possible to both register for, and achieve, a single WorkSkills unit.  The achievement of a single unit also does not affect a provider’s success rates as single units of this type are exempt from that measure.  If a learner has achieved two units out of the 3 required for the full qualification, then the third unit should be registered on the ILR as the whole qualification and not the single unit.  The other 2 units will then contribute towards the achievement of the full qualification through the Accreditation of Prior Learning. However, in order to draw down the correct amount of funding (i.e. not be double funded) field A51a on the ILR needs to be completed.  This will indicate the proportion of funding which remains to be drawn down for the full qualification.  Guidance on the completion of the field can be found in our Funding Guidance. Completion of the full qualification will also contribute to a provider’s success rates. Val Koffman, Kent & Sussex LSC

Capacity has also been an issue to address. ‘SHINE’ attracted over 300 referrals from JCP in the first 3 weeks of its launch, which resulted in the College having to recruit an additional full-time frontline advice and guidance member of staff to work exclusively on the project. This has taken time, and needed managing skilfully to avoid long waiting lists of those wishing to be seen.

Impact to date:

By working through the inevitable challenges encountered as a result of developing a new offer in a short time frame, the ‘SHINE’ project is getting results. In the first three weeks of the programme the College received 304 referrals from JCP, of whom 258 people have been interviewed, 46 are awaiting interview, 128 have attended courses, and a further 130 jobseekers are enrolled on courses. The more popular courses are: Door Supervisor, Food Safety 2 and 3, Health & Safety and Fist Aid Appointed Persons.
In addition, City College recently received a visit from the Director General of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Adam Sharples, giving the College the opportunity to showcase their work and approach. The results so far, coupled with the interest at both national and regional levels, have given the College greater impetus to roll the ‘SHINE’ model out across East Sussex.
Learners re-skill and re-train with access to the ‘SHINE’ at City College. One learner reported that the courses he attended have given him the relevant skills to get a job in the security sector:

I now have work lined up. I am just waiting on my certificates to come through and I will be working in some of the pubs and clubs in the City. I have a thirst for it now and would like to carry on my learning to improve my chances further.  Traverse Morgan, Learner.

View Traverse's full learner journey