Skills for Life: useful links

There are many organisations which can help you in supporting your workforce Skills for Life needs. Some of these are listed below:

Read Write Plus
The Read Write Plus website www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus/workplace is a main source of information and advice on all aspects of implementing Skills for Life. It includes a workplace section that has information on skills issues and offers a number of sources of advice, guidance and support. The site also has information on The Employer Toolkit - Skills for Life: Make it Your Business. This is a free publication, aimed at employers, which includes practical ideas and examples from other businesses. To order your copy of The Employer Toolkit, contact dfes@prolog.uk.com quoting ref: ETKV2-2004 or call learndirect on 0800 100 900.

Get On
The Get On campaign encourages the millions of people in England who experience difficulties with literacy, language and numeracy, or would benefit from brushing up on these skills, to enrol on a free course. The Get On website provides marketing information and resources to those involved in promoting Skills for Life learning. For more information visit: www.dfes.gov.uk/get-on

Learning and Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council is responsible for funding and planning education and training for over 16 year-olds. The Learning and Skills Council has launched the new Train to Gain Service (see below).To find out more about your local LSC, or visit www.lsc.gov.uk or call 0870 900 6800 to find the contact number for your office.

Train to Gain
The Train to Gain service offers free impartial advice to organisations, matches training needs with training providers, and makes sure that training and support are delivered to meet business objectives. For more information and details of regional Skills Brokers visit the Train to Gain website www.traintogain.gov.uk

Investors in People
Investors in People encourages organisations to make sure that their workforce has the necessary skills to engage and participate in achieving the aims and objectives of the organisation. For this reason it is essential that people are skilled and feel confident to participate and contribute to the workplace fully. As part of this literacy, language and numeracy is an implicit part of the Investors in People Standard. Since 2005 Investors in People specialists and internal reviewers have been made aware of the impact of speaking, listening, reading and writing on workplace tasks, individual, team and organisational performance. Assessors in Investors in People assessments are also trained to look at the impact of literacy, language and numeracy. For more information visit the Investors in People website at www.investorsinpeople.co.uk email: litlangnum@iipuk.co.uk or to order a leaflet for Employers showing linkages between Investors in People and Literacy, Language and Numeracy. Call 0207 4671946 or email above address to order an electronic version of the leaflet.