The skills gap

Get in on the action
So what exactly is currently out there? Learndirect on 0800 100 900 is staffed by qualified career advisors and is open 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 9am to Mid-day on Saturdays. They can help with information on any educational course and course provider in the country. The country’s largest database, Learndirect has information on over 500,000 courses. Over 75% of courses are available through the Internet. This is currently the largest e-learning network in the UK, which means once you’ve registered, you can learn wherever there’s a computer.

Highlighting just how huge the information generation has become, 400 courses alone cover the subject of information at Learndirect, from communication technology to designing your own web pages. For those wanting to work in small businesses there are courses on dealing with angry customers, understanding accounts and team-building exercises. Learning is vital to the UK’s workforce, where over 7 million adults currently have difficulty with reading. ‘What a lot of us fail to realise is that, most of these people would struggle looking up a plumber in the Yellow Pages – they can’t do the simple things that we often take for granted,’ says a spokesperson for Learndirect.

There are 900 learning centres across the country, usually in accessible locations, such as shopping malls, schools and local community centres, which allow you to study en route to collecting the kids from school, or even after some shopping. Learning can now be adapted to your own personal timetable.

Underpinning this is the Independent Learning Account, a government initiative aimed at local skill shortages.

Next page: who can apply?