Representation

The Consortium’s staff sit on numerous groups across the county, which meet on a regular basis.  This provides an opportunity for concerted opinion-forming and lobbying.  The Consortium was cited as an example of good partnership working in the Learning and Skills Council’s (LSC) national strategy document “Working Together” which was published in July 2004.  An independent evaluation of VCS Learning & Development Consortia, conducted by NIACE on behalf of the LSC in 2006, ranked us in the top ten Learning & Development Consortia in England.  

For a list staff members and what meetings they attend, please click here.

Accreditation Centre

We hold accreditation status for National Open College Network (NOCN), City & Guilds and Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) qualifications which have been specifically developed for the Sector.

As part of the Accreditation Centre, we offer information and advice to guide you through the whole process from writing a course, setting up a course, registering your learners, delivering a course, gathering evidence and finally submitting portfolios for Moderation.

If you don’t currently deliver any formal training and would like to consider this, we can give you guidance to support you develop your capacity to deliver training.

We deliver a ‘Tutor Development Programme’ which offers reduced rate courses to your tutors, keeping them up-to-date with teaching practice and their Continuous Professional Development (CPD) obligations.   As part of our quality assurance we maintain delivery of current qualifications inline with our ‘Learning Delivery Policy’ which ensures your learners’ learning experience is of a high quality.

Information, Advice & Guidance

We offer IAG to help you achieve recognised quality standards which help you face inspections with confidence and to enable you to comply with the LSC quality standards required of training providers.  These include Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations (PQASSO), MATRIX, Ofsted’s (Office for Standards in Education) Common Inspection Framework (CIF) and The Recognition and Recording of Progress and Achievement (RARPA).

Communication Channels and Networking

Our staff team in their every day roles are constantly cross-sector networking, gaining information, advice and key contacts.  This information is digested and disseminated to you to save your valuable time trying to research information and find relevant people to speak to.

We provide this information through our various communication channels, which are our website www.consortium.org.uk, Members’ Forums, Tutor Development Seminars, Annual General Meeting (AGM), face-to-face contact, verbal communication and events.

Investment & Funding

Through accessing funding we offer you the opportunity to work in partnership with us to deliver contracts, benefit from resources and contract directly with funders allowing sustainability of projects and organisations across the Sector.

Over the past three years we have been contracted, by the LSC to manage their Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities Fund (NLDC), which specifically targets those individuals who need the greatest of support.

To view current funding opportunities, please click here.

Capacity Building

We promote the benefits of investing time and resources in your staff for personal / organisational development and support organisations in engaging effectively with publicly funded workforce development programmes.

Our networks facilitate access to providers and sometimes funding for workforce development.

Over the years we have provided members with funding and support to develop their workforce through the implementation of organisational / training plans and the importance of conducting Training Needs Analysis (TNAs).

To find out how to become a Member of the Consortium, please click here.

Further details will be available in due course through our Membership Pack which has been developed to provide members with detailed information on the services we offer.  The Pack will be electronic and updated on a regular basis.  If members require a hard copy, please contact the office on Derby (01332) 265960.