AO of the year

Inspiring confidence in employability at Belfast Metropolitan College

Inspiring confidence and employability at Belfast Met!

English Speaking Board (ESB) launched an Entry Level 1 qualification in employability last academic year.

Inspiring Confidence in Employability is aimed at learners with learning or physical difficulties and designed to give them skills for entry into employment.

Craig Bennett, Deputy Head Teacher at Calthorpe Academy, who developed and piloted the qualification for ESB said:

The development of [ICE] is groundbreaking and helps fill the niche that currently exists for people working on this level.

Belfast Metropolitan College have just added ICE to their taught portfolio. Ian Patterson, tutor at their Centre for Supported Learning said:

We are delighted that Inspiring Confidence in Employability is now being delivered to adults at our centre. The student cohort have completed other accredited courses and the progression route to ESB is a positive next step.

Although ICE is currently offered at Entry 1 and students may have completed programmes at Entry 3, the skill set is very different with the inclusion of spoken criteria in the mandatory unit, Interview Skills. Staff view this as a very useful component in equipping learners for the world of work.

Clearly defined criteria and concise worksheets greatly augment the students’ work based practice and meaningfully enrich the learner experience. The staff teaching on the programme value the materials and report using them as a framework on which to base lessons.

Not only are the teachers impressed, the learners love it too. Ian added:

The students on the course are very proud of their portfolio of evidence to date and look forward to displaying their speaking and listening skills to the ESB examiners.

Find out more about Inspiring Confidence in Employability (Entry 1).

Employability Learning

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