The Train to Gain programme

Train to Gain is a Government initiative to provide support and funding for employees to gain skills and qualifications related to their workplace.

The recent Leitch Report concluded that the overall standard of educational achievement for the UK population is not going to be good enough in the future when we increasingly have to compete against rapidly-growing countries such as India and China.

As part of its response to the Leitch Report the Government set up the Train to Gain service. This is a service to help businesses get the training they need to succeed.

Train to Gain is important because skills shortages continue to have a negative impact on UK productivity and competitiveness in the face of fast-growing economies. Train to Gain aims to encourage all businesses and individuals to value and realise the benefits that learning and skills can bring and to invest appropriately.

Already over 100,000 employers have benefitted from the Train to Gain programme, and it is expected that by the end of 2010, over 500,000 learners will have achieved a first full Level 2 qualification through Train to Gain.

Small and medium employers (up to 250 staff) can get funding help with full NVQs or with smaller "bite-sized" qualifications. There is also separate financial support to develop management and leadership skills.

Employers with more than 250 staff can still benefit from funding for level 2 NVQ programmes and for some NVQs at level 3. There is also full or part funding for Apprenticeships for younger staff.

NVQs are all about the employee demonstrating their own skills in practice in their own workplace. Previous qualifications and experience might well be counted towards the qualification. You will help to design your own learning programme and you will show our assessor how well you can perform in your workplace in a real-life environment.