UK university receives workforce skills funding

The university has been awarded £5.6 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Strategic Development Fund to establish the team over the next three years.

Duties of the proposed Higher Skills @ Work unit will include liaising with employers to identify opportunities for increasing workforce skills and creating solutions for further education needs.

Professor Michael Thorne, Vice Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, commented: "This initiative will be highly effective for employees in terms of personal career development.”

"It will, at the same time, improve the overall performance of the businesses and organisations they represent.

This initiative will be highly effective for employees in terms of personal career development

Michael Thorne

Vice Chancellor

Anglia Ruskin University

The proposal is designed to increase the skills set of the existing UK workforce rather than those first entering it, with the university claiming employees will benefit from increased job satisfaction, improved career prospects and greater recognition from the employers.

In related news, the Higher Education Funding Council for England has also awarded £4 million to Harper Adams University College to increase its work-focused education.

The university will use the funds to create the Rural Employer Engagement Development Network, which will work with the Royal Agricultural College to provide continuing professional development courses for firms in the land-based sectors.