The Skills Toolkit - new course additions

Tuesday, 2 June 2020 00:01

On 28 April, we launched The Skills Toolkit, an online platform giving people access to free, high-quality digital and numeracy courses to help boost the nation’s skills and confidence during the coronavirus outbreak, while people are staying at home, and beyond. Tens of thousands of people have already taken advantage of the courses on offer from everyday maths and tools for using email and social media more effectively at work to more advanced...Request free trial

Tens of thousands of people have already taken advantage of the courses on offer from everyday maths and tools for using email and social media more effectively at work to more advanced training. You can learn how to create great online content (courtesy of the University of Leeds and the Institute of Coding), understand the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing thanks to Google Digital Garage or learn how to code for data analysis with The Open University.

From tomorrow (2 June) four new, free to access courses have been added:

an introductory course from Microsoft on using Microsoft Outlook,
an introduction to bookkeeping from the Open University,
an introduction to finance from independent training provider Corndel,
an advanced course on how computer networks operate from the Open University in collaboration with Cisco.

All the courses have all been selected on the advice of experts and leading employers to make sure they meet the needs of business, not just for today but in the future.

Please see further information on the additional courses below, and a comment from Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Gillian Keegan and from an individual who has completed one of the courses.

Gillian Keegan, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills said:

“I’d like to congratulate the tens of thousands of people who have already taken advantage of the range of high quality courses The Skills Toolkit has to offer. We’ve had a fantastic response so far with more than 136,000 starts on the courses featured since the platform launched last month. The good news is we have now added four new courses, expanding the range of free digital and numeracy courses available.

“It is a difficult time for everyone, but we want as many people as possible to be able to continue to gain the skills and confidence that could help them to get ahead. With 82% of all job openings requesting digital skills, I’d encourage anyone looking to learn something new, or any employers keen to help their employees keep up their development, to take a look and see what’s on offer.”

Oli Adams said:

“I was keen to find some digital courses to provide me with a good grounding for my masters and future jobs and I’d 100% recommend The Skills Toolkit. It’s set out in levels which makes it easy to navigate and there are a wide range of courses to choose from. And because it’s from government you feel confident that the content is good quality. I wish I’d had access to it earlier as it would have given me a better start in the workplace.”

Further information:

More details of the new courses available is below:

Course	Provider	Level	Description
Microsoft Outlook	Microsoft	Introductory	Teaches learners how to get the best out of the Outlook tool. Covers topics such as organising your inbox, managing your calendar and more.
Introduction to Finance	Corndel	Introductory	Teaches the essential analytical tools and financial reports used to manage organisations, such as understanding balance sheets, profit & loss accounts and cash flow forecast and managing budgets.
Introduction to Bookkeeping	Open University	Introductory	Provides an introduction to the essential skills and concepts of bookkeeping and accounting.
Discovering Computer Networks: hands on in the Open Networking Lab	Open University (in collaboration with Cisco)	Advanced	Covers how computer networks operate, how data is sent around the internet and allows users to put their understanding into practice using an inbuilt network simulator to create their own simulated computer networks.

A recent poll carried out by the Open University showed that almost one in four employees (24%) are taking on additional learning opportunities to boost their employability as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

· If you’re ready to look for a new job, or want to check what roles are available in critical sectors, then visit gov.uk/jobhelp for vacancies and advice on applying for jobs.

· Support is also available from the National Careers Service, which is available to provide free personalised careers advice from 8am to 10pm seven days a week. Get in touch at nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/contact-us or by calling 0800 100 900.