Message #70840

[Cathy S]

Yes - being in the Education Sector it is fairly much a given that it does.  The options over the past 4 years have been expanded and there are regular changes in the provision to accommodate a very diverse group of employees. 

The majority of development options for Secretarial staff are IT training modules (classroom or online) and soft skills courses.  However there is the possibility of completing units towards a BA degree and there are a couple of one year long courses which are aimed at developing managers.

Outwith the direct provision there are funds available each year to contribute towards external courses that are relevant to an individual's role which is usually paid 1/3rd by the Employer, 1/3rd by the department and 1/3rd by the employee.

I have been fortunate - I gained my LCCI PESD through career development with a previous employer and have benefitted from many soft skills courses at my last employer.  However I have worked in smaller companies where there was little investment in career development for the staff; in these companies it is either no development or fund it oneself which isn't always possible. 

In Scotland there are Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs) available to many people which are small contributions towards training courses and of course if one is self-funding other contributions can be helpful.  ILAs are available in England as well but with slightly different rules - not sure about the rest of the UK ...