National Transition Training Fund (NTTF): year 1 report

Strand 3 – Tertiary Education Support

In Strand 3, individuals were able to access a wide range of college or university training in sectors relevant to local and regional labour market needs. Colleges across Scotland provided training in sectors such as health, digital/cyber security and manufacturing.

This was delivered through the provision of short higher education micro courses and longer Skillsboost college courses, as well as projects to support at risk and growth industries. These courses were centred around job opportunities and were aligned to the Scottish Government's labour market priorities. Individuals have benefitted from university level training in a wide range of subject areas including decommissioning of offshore installations, cybersecurity, climate change, sustainability and adaptation.

Overall, 5,139 individuals were supported in Strand 3. As with Strand 2, due to the diverse nature of projects under Strand 3, reporting has been summarised at project level. SFC managed the projects and the collection of statistical data on behalf of the Scottish Government. As noted previously, uptake was significantly higher in Strand 3, confirming the findings in Strand 2 that suggest that when targeted at particular sectors with skills or labour shortages, demand for support increases.

Sectors Impacted by Covid-19

Micro-credentials

NTTF funded a series of Micro-credential Upskilling Courses for universities. This built on their existing sector-wide Upskilling Fund allocations, with a view to developing sector-wide Micro-credentials in the longer term. Over 120 micro-credential courses were developed and offered by Universities in this academic year.

Courses covered a variety of sectors, many of which were impacted by Covid-19, such as the creative industries. Other courses focussed on areas with significant opportunity for growth, including delivering courses with a sustainability focus within the energy sector. Overall, 1,800 students were supported in NTTF-funded Micro-credentials Upskilling Courses.

Skillsboost

To support NTTF at vocational level, Scotland's colleges delivered a programme called Skillsboost. Courses were aligned to local labour market needs and offered sector based skills and employability support which was mirrored under the Young Person's Guarantee so that students of all ages could take part. Skillsboost was aimed at providing individuals who had identified barriers to employment such as IT skills, interview skills, entry level qualifications with a tailored approach to helping them back into jobs where there were emerging skills gaps in the local economy.

As with the Micro-credentials Upskilling programme, Skillsboost targeted both sectors that had been impacted by Covid-19, such as hospitality, as well as areas with opportunity for growth, including cyber and digital technologies. Overall, 1,942 students aged 25 and over undertook training courses through Skillsboost funded by NTTF. 52.6% of enrolments were from the 4 most deprived SIMD deciles, 64.8% were recorded as female, and 19.5% identified as disabled.

Sectors with Opportunity for Growth

Aerospace

To promote growth within the aerospace sector, the Aircraft Decommissioning project was introduced under NTTF and administered by SFC. This was a 6 week training course developed in partnership with Ayrshire College, Chevron Technical Services and 4 other training providers. To date, around 30 students have completed the training. This course has received significant interest from employers, which would suggest a strong demand for training within the aerospace sector. The final course is currently underway, as it experienced some delays in its development as a result of the pandemic.

Another NTTF-funded project was the Aircraft Electrification project. This project invested in equipment and developed four of the electrification courses, building a good mix of training content that encompasses presentation material and innovative practical exercises that reinforce learning. These courses were offered and warmly welcomed by the sector. However, unfortunately it became apparent that the challenges being experienced by the sector were impacting on the availability of Scottish delegates to join the planned multi-day courses. As such, the courses are now being delivered in the 2021/22 academic year.

Construction

Targeting the construction sector, the Energy Efficiency Transition Support and Heat Pump Training was introduced. This programme aimed to enhance construction workers and support substantial employment opportunities, as well as reposition those who had been made redundant or were under threat of redundancy into growth sectors creating good quality, green jobs and ensure a fair and just transition to net-zero. Overall, 60 individuals benefitted from training under this programme, supporting skills development within the energy, engineering, and construction sectors. Initial demand was estimated at 250 individuals, however Covid-19 restrictions impacted on delivery capacity.

In addition, the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) Transition Training was developed in response to the Scottish Government's Net Zero emissions ambitions. It aimed to upskill and reskill the current workforce who had been made redundant or were at risk of redundancy with the ambition to increase the adoption of Passivhaus standards, and secure a long-term, sustainable, and inclusive pipeline of work for the industry, and improve supply chain capability and resilience.

The programme reached over 800 online participants and practical training was delivered to 100 participants in the CSIC factory. The project also upskilled 70 educators. The project succeeded in reaching a much wider audience than anticipated, attracting a broad range of disciplines within the industry, upskilling the current workforce and helping people transition into new roles. To promote diversity and inclusion, CSIC worked with Equate Scotland to deliver dedicated workshop sessions online and in person to support women in construction to upskill in Passivhaus standards.

Manufacturing

To support growth within the manufacturing sector, the Supporting Skills 4.0 project by the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland was introduced under NTTF, which consisted of a series of sub-projects.^[12] The main sub projects were to support upskilling to adopt industry 4.0 manufacturing techniques and processes, and a pilot graduate trainee programme which placed 30 graduates with employers for six months, offering practical experience in relevant areas. Other sub projects involved establishing capability in net zero carbon skills with partners, and creating content targeted at both individuals and SMEs to increase awareness of new manufacturing techniques and UK funding landscape respectively.

Overall, 30 graduates were successfully placed within training programmes in 11 businesses across Scotland and 307 engagements via registration were received, with 61% going on to complete the training. For the NTTF graduate trainee programme, the post code analysis on the first 24 placements revealed that 54% were SIMD 0-40. Training programmes helped individuals, the majority of whom faced the risk of redundancy, to upskill and supported them to gain new employment or retain their jobs.

Skillsboost Gateway to Health and Social Care: Project Profile

West Lothian College teamed up with the Scottish Ambulance Service to promote a new national Skills Boost - Gateway to Health and Social Care for key staff working at their Mobile Testing Units (MTUs) and who were at risk of unemployment when their temporary contracts came to an end.

West Lothian College provided initial feedback on the training programme:

"Working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service we saw a perfect opportunity to develop a training course for the MTU Operatives to formally demonstrate their current skills and knowledge which they have developed over the past year.

"The brief we followed was to produce a course that was relevant to their current role, consolidated knowledge and skills, provided opportunity to develop knowledge and engage with further learning. The use of SVQ units would also enable an opportunity to progress on to the full SVQ award and gain a registerable qualification with the Scottish Social Services Council which is attractive to recruiting employers.

"Due to current Covid restrictions and the demographic of the students which included full time workers with family commitments, we developed the course as online delivery via Workshops on Microsoft Teams at a range of days and times to fit around working shifts.

"Thanks to excellent work by both the college marketing team and the Scottish Ambulance Service Communications team the course was advertised out to the MTU Operatives and we have had 90 new students commence the course on the 15th June 21 with a another cohort due to commence in August. At the end stages of the course we will provide further opportunities for them to step into employment in the care sector through input with CV development, interview preparation and look at ways to introduce them to employers looking to recruit.

"We are absolutely delighted to be involved in such an innovative project to help support individuals who have stepped up during the Covid pandemic to provide a key service to the Scottish population. We look forward to supporting them with their continuing professional development and learning, see them secure care sector employment and gain their full SVQ award in the future."

Construction Scotland Innovation Centre: Transition Training

Project Profile: Passivhaus in Practice

Passivhaus in Practice is a programme developed in response to the Scottish Government's net-zero emissions targets set out in The Climate Change Act (2019), that commits Scotland to net-zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045.

Training for a Low Carbon Career in Construction

The Passivhaus in Practice programme aimed to upskill and reskill the current work force who have been made redundant or are at risk of redundancy with the ambition to increase the adoption of Passivhaus standards (which seek to cut energy use in buildings), and secure a long-term, sustainable and inclusive pipeline of work for the industry, and improve supply chain capability and resilience.

Funded by the National Transition Training Funding, Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) have created Scotland's first National Passivhaus standards training programme. Working in collaboration with industry partners and educational experts, the programme has delivered training to over 800 people, including 600 industry, 80 students, 70 educators.

Highlights

5 Rigs: Design and manufacture of 5 travelling Passivhaus rigs which can be made available to colleges and universities for use within curriculum delivery.

100+ introduced: Building Research Establishment (BRE): Introduction to Passivhaus.

120 working towards accreditation: Association for Environmental Conscious Building (AECB) Carbon Lite Contractor Training.

600 trained: A webinar series in Passivhaus running from April to July.

100 hands-on: Practical hands-on training in Passivhaus at CSIC's innovation factory to educators and industry.

Building Diversity: Collaborating with Equate Scotland we delivered a dedicated 3-day course at the end of July 2021 for women working on Passivhaus projects.

3 online modules + augmented reality: Creation of 3 interactive online learning modules in Passivhaus Standards and an Augmented Reality learning experience in Passivhaus.

"The rig will allow us to build on our commitment to upskill our local supply chain and individuals." - Morrison Construction