Firebrand Training closing skills gap with world class skills boost with WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence

Firebrand Training(@BeAFirebrand) is the only digital independent training provider to be part of the @worldskillsuks Centre of Excellence 

This year is the first year The Centre has accepted applications from Independent Training Providers. The Centre will up-skill 40,000 young students with in-demand skills.

Firebrand Training, a global provider of accelerated digital training, is the only digital specialised Independent Training Provider (ITP) to be selected to be a part of WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence, an elite training programme offering a world-class skills boost to educators and learners, in the first year the Centre has accepted applications from ITPs. 

The current digital skills gap in the UK is currently estimated to be costing businesses around £2billion a year which is only set to grow as the pandemic continues to have an impact on employment levels across the country. Firebrand Training, the only digital specialised ITP selected for the Centre of Excellence, will be one of 11 leading institutions receiving exclusive training and 60 hours of intensive continual professional development to help upskill the nation. 

Ben Hansford, Managing Director of Apprenticeships at Firebrand Training said: “We’re delighted to have been selected as part of WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence, and are proud to be the only specialised digital ITP which is a testament to our dedicated trainers who are still active experts in their various fields. Being a part of The Centre strengthens our commitment to reskilling the UK in much needed digital competencies. We’re looking forward to building upon our already highly-valued training methods and work towards our vision of closing the growing digital skills gap.”

The Centre of Excellence – partnered and funded by the educational charity and awarding body, NCFE – will ensure more than 40,000 young students and apprentices, from all socio-economic groups across the UK, are armed with world-class skills. The three-year partnership deal is the single largest investment ever made by the NCFE Group. The Centre aims to supercharge the quality and delivery of technical and vocational training by transferring world-class expertise and knowledge to help develop educators and learners. 

The effectiveness of the programme will be tested by measuring the impact on learners, educators and institutions to continually develop and innovate. This level of insight will help the organisations involved to develop a programme which will give more young people, irrespective of background, better work and life opportunities, and help boost economic productivity.  

Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, CEO of WorldSkills UK, said: “In order to deliver the world-class skills that employers demand to be internationally competitive, we need to invest in the educators that are training young people for the future.

“The Centre of Excellence is a radical new way of bringing global best practice to local economies. Mainstreaming excellence in training standards and delivering it directly to tens of thousands of young students and apprentices at their places of learning is key to levelling up the economy and attracting inward investment.

“This new phase of the project means that we are now supporting young people the length and breadth of the UK.”