Press Release

National Skills Academy for fashion, textiles and jewellery to become a reality

14 June 2007

Skillfast-UK, the Sector Skills Council for apparel, footwear and textiles, announced today that it has been given the go-ahead by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to turn the dream of a National Skills Academy (NSA) for the fashion, textiles and jewellery sector into a reality.

Backed by a consortium of Further Education establishments and Centres of Vocational Excellence (COVE) across the country, the National Skills Academy will be a ground-breaking virtual hub, spreading learning provision across the UK. The NSA will use the existing resources of the learning providers, coupled with a newly developed range of training modules which can be combined to make a learning program tailored for each individual and their employer.

Linda Florance, chief executive at Skillfast-UK says “The concept of National Skills Academies was developed as a solution to the widening skills gap in the fashion, textiles and jewellery industry. One of our aims as a Sector Skills Council is to transform learning provision across the UK and to ensure qualifications are relevant, not only in their content, but in the way they are delivered. A National Skills Academy will be superbly versatile offering people the chance to take on bite-sized chunks of learning which are designed to address the needs of employers with specific skills needs.

“The mix and match approach to learning that will be so important to the NSA is a direct reflection of the way employers in our sector need to structure their teams, training people to be multi-skilled in order to meet the changing demands on their businesses.”

Now that go-ahead has been given to establish the National Skills Academy, Skillfast-UK will be working with employers in all relevant areas of the sector to ensure that their needs are met. The NSA will have a wide geographical spread thanks to a network of learning providers including Bridgwater, Blackburn and Burnley Colleges, Huddersfield Textile Centre of Excellence and Newham College in London, making it accessible to as many employers and trainees as possible. Skillfast-UK is hoping to complete a detailed business plan for the Academy early next year with the first courses starting in September 2008.

Linda Florance adds: “We really welcome the opportunity to put the Academy into practice, because it means that employers across the country will be able to get involved with shaping qualifications and their content giving them a say in what should be taught.  Businesses will then be able to benefit from access to a more appropriately skilled pool of recruits who have completed one of the courses at the academy and are keen to stay in the UK and put their creative talents and practical skills to use here.”

More information on the National Skills Academy for fashion, textiles and jewellery will added to Skillfast-UK’s website as it becomes available www.skillfast-uk.org/employers.

• Copyright 2008 Dod's Parliamentary Communications Ltd
• About ePolitix.com
• Stakeholders
• Contacts
• Terms & Conditions
• Blog guidelines