College Launches Innovative Employer Support

On Tuesday 10th May at Portcullis House, Westminster, London, Walsall College launched its own awarding organisation, asfi (accredited skills for industry), to lead innovative partnerships between further education and industry.

Walsall College is one of the first colleges in the UK to establish its own awarding organisation and enhance the support it offers to employers. asfi has been created in close partnership with employers and focuses on supporting companies to develop and accredit training programmes to meet their bespoke needs. It allows employers to create qualifications that are required now and for future sustainability.

Over the past 12 months asfi has embarked upon a programme of developing a new generation of industry led vocational qualifications in a range of areas including engineering and sustainable construction. This has involved creating new qualifications for companies that are not currently available but are in demand by industry.

For instance, the Diploma in Sustainable Construction was created for Accord Housing Group in partnership with Green Gauge and the Oxford Construction Training Group to address the shortage of skills in climate change and sustainable energy technologies, allowing its workforce to be more equipped to deal with this work in the coming years.

The formal launch aimed to showcase the new alliance between FE and industry and saw a range of attendees from businesses across the country gather to celebrate the new awarding organisation. Guest speakers on the day included Valerie Vaz MP, Member of Parliament for Walsall South; Martin Doel OBE, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges; and Allan E Cook CBE, Chairman of Semta, the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies.

asfi prides itself on producing units and qualifications that are employer-led, primarily available as small segments of learning. asfi collaborates with Walsall College using the vocational talent of the staff when developing the qualifications and ensures the qualifications offer real value for money.

asfi has worked with companies including The Accord Housing Association, Roland Digital Graphics, Oxford Construction Training Group, Green Gauge, Walsall Manor Hospital, Francesco Group, and The New Engineering Foundation, creating bespoke qualifications across a range of sectors.

Sue Reynolds, Managing Director of asfi commented: “It is a pleasure working with employers and creating qualifications that we know meet their needs and requirements. We are committed to creating bespoke qualifications that really make a difference to the businesses we work with. The launch event was a fantastic way to celebrate the tremendous success we have achieved so far, whilst also inviting more employers to get on board”.

Amarjit Basi, Principal and Chief Executive of Walsall College said, “The establishment of asfi, our awarding organisation, marks a significant milestone for the College and presents a unique opportunity for the next phase of our work with our employers. We now have the ability to support local, regional and national employers in developing training programmes to meet their specific needs and enable their employees to gain nationally recognised accreditation at the same time.

“Not only will these bespoke qualifications meet the demands of industry by training employees with skills specific to the needs of their business, they will also be gaining nationally recognised qualifications. All of this enables Walsall College to better support industry in developing the skills that are currently in high demand”

Brett Newman, Technical Director of Roland DG (UK) commented: “Working with Walsall College and accredited skills for industry, individuals are able to keep up with the fast moving technology within the sign making and graphics industry. Students are able to attend training programmes that keep their skills set up to date. This enables them to maintain the best use of the Roland technology, resulting in the ongoing profitability of both Roland DG and our customers.”