Annex E - English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
To be an inclusive economy we need as many skilled workers as possible in jobs. To achieve this the WMCA’s approach is to remove as many barriers as possible for individuals to secure work such as been able to communicate in English.
WMCA ESOL investment for 2021/22 funding year will be similar level as 20/21. (£13m)
WMCA have set clear expectations from Grant Providers that 25% of ESOL delivered should be vocational ESOL. (3.3m)
For ESOL provision for health and well-being our intent is to work with our community learning providers to provide a high-quality offer of ESOL, we expect to see this in place both at pre-entry and entry level to support personal and social development. Through community learning our approach is for ESOL provision to be visible through the community settings where community learning takes place.
For ESOL for work, our approach is to a see a greater alignment of ESOL with the development of occupational skills development. Too often the delivery of ESOL is characterised by the rigid delivery of ESOL qualifications as opposed to an embedded approach within wider occupational skills. Therefore, our intent is to see ESOL becoming more bespoke in developing language skills more appropriate to employment sectors and embedded within occupational skills development.
ESOL provision will continue to be available for free to eligible residents over the age of 19 who are unemployed or employed but earn below the real living wage.
To shape ESOL provision in the region, a sector led review was undertaken. The review titled Unlocking Potential – Making Sense of ESOL in the Region can be found here.
The report included a number of findings, and makes recommendations for the 2020/21 academic year that the WMCA intend to implement including:
- Developing ‘ESOL for employment’ courses to provide bespoke language skills more appropriate to the jobs market
- Embedding ESOL into vocational training provision across the region
- Developing online learning modules to make ESOL training more accessible
To enable individuals to progress and move into work it’s important that delivery of ESOL is contextualised to job opportunities as opposed to broad range of ESOL specific qualifications. Through the use of ESOL qualifications delivered at scale we can see that it drives the delivery model and not necessarily responds to the specific need of the individual, this then can lead to inefficiencies in the £11m that the WMCA invest in ESOL.
The Offer
Our intent is to fund a high-quality adult offer that enables residents to develop ESOL communication skills to support both their own personal health and well-being, secure work or support in-work progression.
As set above, we want to see ESOL become embedded within the delivery of occupational training. To support people into work providers can establish a non-regulated offer in ESOL contextualised in line with the language expected within the sector e.g. care, retail and construction.
We also want to see the development of online delivery to make ESOL training more accessible to residents. For all ESOL training either accredited or non-regulated It’s important to us that individuals are clear on what they can progress to following successful completion of their learning.
Role of providers
Community learning plays a significant role in engaging those residents isolated in communities who need to develop their English communication skills to support both their own personal health and well-being and secure work through ESOL.
We expect community learning providers to have offers of both regulated across the levels and non- regulated in ESOL to support resident’s progression to further learning and work. In addition, we expect community learning providers to establish on-line learning related to ESOL this could be through collaborative working.
Colleges and ITP’s offer accredited ESOL across the levels based on need and where residents are at in current levels of English communication skills. Our expectation is that colleges and ITPs will also develop contextualised ESOL embedded within wider occupational skills development to support residents into work.
We also expect colleges and ITPs to establish on-line learning related to ESOL, this could be through collaborative working.
Supporting our inclusive growth agenda, we expect to see an improvement in progression to further learning and work through the development of essential English communication skills for our communities.