How International Projects Drive Innovation in the UK Skills Sector
I’ve worked for TVET Awarding Organisations for 20 years in Marketing and Business Development and have been fortunate to operate at director level with responsibility for qualifications development. I have huge respect for the integrity of the sector and the opportunities vocational training creates for individuals and the benefits delivered to industry. The question is how, in a regulated and highly structured sector, can you drive innovation and respond swiftly to changing business requirements? This has been an enduring challenge for those in the sector. One potential approach is to do this by having an international division as this not only delivers additional income, but equally importantly offers space for innovative thinking and new developments.
An Awarding Organisation’s main purpose is to operate in a standardized and consistent manner, ensuring that qualifications are appropriately run, and regulator and trade body requirements are met. Another driver for qualification development in the UK are the diverse funding models which can create programmes which make limited sense for delivery outside the region which funds it.
To grow and to create sustainable business outside the UK, product and service innovation is essential to allow UK qualifications to be delivered outside of their home nation. Both small incremental innovations such as changes in assessment methods and operational processes, or much larger innovations creating new collaborations and new skills eco systems can make a difference. In both instances it’s important that organisations allow this flexibility while still operating within the boundaries of regulation.
The opportunity in front of the sector is not just to allow such flexibility but to actively encourage it and to see international business as a space to develop new products and services which have the potential to come back into the UK market. At the very least this approach will open more doors to collaborations and partnerships which will deliver long term business. It is often said that innovation happens ‘at the fringes’ of core business, and International Projects can offer that space for the UK Skills Sector.
Over the last 7 years working on international projects for UK Awarding Organisations I’ve been involved in such projects, some successful, others less so, and some which have led to lasting changes in the services offered back in the UK.
Recent innovations include qualifications delivered or assessed in multiple languages and offering combined regulated and non-regulated programmes to meet local requirements with international recognition and adapting assessments to meet local regulatory requirements. Also working in collaboration with overseas national partners to create skills systems designed to deliver the specific needs of the region including sustainable agricultural practices in Southeast Asia, training and assessments for analytical and critical thinking, and ‘green’ Solar and Hydrogen related skills.
The restrictions of the pandemic drove the need for innovations in the awarding sector, and as a result remote working, online learning and remote assessment methods which previously would have been deemed unacceptable are now seen as standard practice.
The challenges of international business can have the same positive impact of driving innovation and changing how we operate to create more global opportunities for the sector. Get in touch if you’d like to continue the conversation and discuss the opportunities in this area.
Tim has worked for some of the leading Awarding Organisations in the TVET sector in the UK operating at Director level in Market Development in the UK, and Globally.
Now operating as a consultant on international market development projects he has experience of establishing regional offices for UK education organisations in the Southeast Asian and Middle East markets. Tim has led on a number of innovative projects to bridge the gap between UK and International skills sectors, including the development of the ‘Indonesia UK Skills Alliance’ initiative while working with NOCN Group.