Being a 'Train to Gain' provider - a case study

Train to Gain

Leicester College is one of the ten largest further education (FE) colleges in England, with 41,000 students and 1,600 employees. The college has a strong reputation for offering courses tailored to the needs of companies via a specialist business 'one-stop shop' called Skills for Business (S4B). This provides tailored training for companies in a wide range of sectors and already nearly 3,500 students have benefited from S4B, which works with 230 companies annually.
 
"Under 'Train to Gain', skills brokers pass company leads to us and open up opportunities. We then send our team of five experienced training consultants to the company to bounce ideas around and build an on-going relationship with them. It's the training consultant's role to identify training solutions to meet the company's business needs, which in turn help to increase productivity and improve customer service, staff retention and motivation," says Helen Keighley, Head of Leicester College's Employer Engagement Hub.

Leicester College prides itself on offering top-quality training, which fits around an employer's busy work and production schedules. "The bottom line is that the client gets what they want and in as easy a way as possible for them. If they want employees to come into college to train, we can arrange it but most of them are happier for us to send a trainer out to the workplace . at a time that is appropriate and convenient for the employer."
 
When it comes to helping employers develop their skills at the workforce, Leicester College has an impressive track record. "Being a training provider is incredibly rewarding - employers can't believe the impact training has and people, who have never been successful with learning and dropped out of school, say the boost from getting a qualification is fantastic."