The Education Trust: closing Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire’s skills gap

Employers report there is a gap between the skills young people have when they leave education and those that businesses really need.

With this in mind the Education Trust has been created to ensure that the county’s young people have the education, skills and attitude that local employers need to develop and grow their businesses.

Our role is clear: to narrow the region’s skills gap and help boost the economy.

The Education Trust will work with education providers and businesses across the county to undertake some truly ground breaking work. Over the coming months and years, we will identify existing and future skills gaps, map clear pathways to work and develop a continuous and comprehensive careers and skills offer from primary school through to work – something that has not been done before.

We will run four pilot locality projects to identify industry hubs and clusters of businesses in Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Cannock and Tamworth. By working with businesses in these areas the Education Trust will be able to identify existing skills gaps and where gaps are likely to arise in the future. The data we collect from our research will be used to map routes to qualifications and on to work: clearly defined pathways into a specific career or a range of career prospects.

The Education Trust will work with schools to develop services and events, modernise work experience, improve information and guidance on future careers and offer new ways to expose young people to the world of work. The Trust’s aim will be to partner with schools, colleges and employers to develop generic business skills needed for employment – all based on hard data about future jobs opportunities.

Whether you are a business, an education or training provider, an adult or young person in Staffordshire, the Education Trust is here to help you secure a profitable future.