With so much money being made available by various organisations and the EU for training, now is a great time to consider upskilling either yourself or your team.

Who Funds Training Courses?

There are millions of pounds available in funding and grants for training courses and qualifications. Some of these are specific to the construction industry but there are also lots of options available for anybody wishing to learn a new skill or achieve a qualification.

Employers, especially SMEs are not taking advantage of this funding and individuals are missing out on the chance to learn new skills.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) administer the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which is basically a pot of money from the government to help adult learners.

AEB funding used to only to be available to those who claimed benefits and were not in employment, but it was announced just last month, that ESFA would now include those earning less than the National Minimum Wage.

Essential Site Skills deliver a range of AEB funded courses, including Level 1 Certificate in Construction.

Another funding source includes the Enhanced Learning Credits Scheme (ELC) which helps promotes lifelong learning amongst former armed forces personnel.

Essential Site Skills can also help with funding through the European Social Fund (ESF) and CITB Grants, these are discussed in more detail below.

Free NVQs – European Social Fund (ESF)

The European Social Fund (ESF), commonly referred to as 'ESF funding' is money that is set aside by the European Union (EU) for supporting employment across EU member states. The money is spent on a variety of projects to help keep the job market buoyant with a great proportion of the money being allocated towards training.  

ESF Funding is aimed at SMEs with less than 250 employees and qualifications are fully funded by the European Social Fund.

Essential Site Skills have a range of construction, plant and administration NVQs that ESF funding can be used for, including NVQs needed to help employees achieve or upgrade CPCS, CSCS and NPORS cards. Click here to see the areas where we can offer fully funded NVQs.

How is it funded?

Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) is a programme developed to upskill employees within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We provide recognised accredited qualifications and bespoke training courses to enhance your employees’ skills, increase the competitiveness of your business and boost the local economy.

Essential Site Skills is part of Serco’s network of expert organisations chosen to deliver the SSW programme in your area in partnership with the regions Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Because SSW is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), we can support your workforce at no extra cost to your business.

Your Grants Are Safe with Us

CITB Grants are another option for construction bosses looking to upskill their workforce. The scheme provides grants for employers in the construction industry to train their workers. This helps maintain health and safety standards on construction sites and ensures that the right skills are available for the industry to grow.

CITB Grants are now even easier to claim, you will still need to use a CITB Approved Training Organisation (ATO) like Essential Site Skills to access grant money but it’s a straightforward process. Using an experienced construction training provider like us to claim grants means that we can really help maximise your grant. We provide this service free of charge.

There is further good news too; You can now apply for £600 for each NVQ achievement, up to a maximum of 4 at each level per individual.

There is an additional grant of £300 for plant-related NVQ units to add categories to an existing CPCS blue card, up to a maximum of 3 per individual per lifetime.

Visit the CITB qualification grants page for further information here.

Contact us for more information on CITB Grants and how we can assist you.