New Award for Higher Education Partners to Deliver Innovation in Higher Level Skills

A project to deliver Innovation in Higher Level Skills will be led by Truro and Penwith College, in partnership with The Cornwall College Group, University of Exeter, Falmouth University and the University of Plymouth and has secured £1.97 million from the European Social Fund.

This collaborative project will deliver a co-ordinated employer-led approach to facilitate and expedite greater engagement in higher level skills through the co-development and trialling of innovative new provision, alternative delivery models and high-quality work placements.

An employer-led project, partner institutions will work directly with SME and Micro-businesses in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly through marketing and consultation activities. Businesses will then be supported to engage in projects that will allow them to articulate their specific needs, identify short-term solutions to catalyse business growth and inform the development of new higher level skills programmes that will have a legacy beyond the conclusion of this ESF project.

Participating businesses will be supported to engage in open dialogue about quality and access issues with existing higher level skills provision and to understand the potential benefits to upskilling their workforce in increased productivity, improved competitiveness and the development of new products or services. Additionally, through employer engagement and the co-design of higher level skills provision, individuals will be able to gain labour-market relevant skills and qualifications that will enable them to develop their careers and access new opportunities for high value employment.

This collaborative project will build upon the good practice, infrastructure and professional relationships established to date through co-delivered initiatives undertaken by the partnership over the past sixteen years. The five partners engaged in this project, who together deliver over 290 full higher education programmes in Cornwall, will employ this substantial collective capacity to develop a co-ordinated employer-led project to facilitate and expedite greater engagement in higher level skills through the development and trialling of innovative provision and models.