Why Consider a Partnership?
A partnership can help when your learners need a course you do not offer. It may also help an employer develop staff skills. Agree the goal first. Then check whether the proposed route can meet it.
The UK Employer Skills Survey 2024 found staff skills gaps at 12% of employers. This represented about 1.26 million workers. Such gaps can create a need for training.
A partnership is useful only when it fits the learners and the work involved. Do not plan around learner numbers alone. Check staff, resources and support from the start.
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What Is Training Provider Collaboration?
A training partnership is an agreed way for two organisations to work together. One may refer learners. Others may share approved delivery or assessment tasks. The model must be clear.
Training provider collaboration does not automatically give a partner permission to teach or award a qualification. Check the approval and rules for the planned work.
When comparing education partnerships UK providers offer, ask who will teach, assess and issue the certificate. Vocational training partnerships must protect the required standards as well as support learners.
Training Partnership Opportunities to Explore
HHF may discuss these types of training partnership opportunities:
- Provider partnerships: help learners access suitable courses outside your own range.
- Employer training partnerships: develop staff for the duties and skills their work needs.
- Corporate training partnerships: plan learning for a team while checking each learner’s needs.
- Referral partnerships: introduce suitable learners under clear consent and marketing rules.
- Progression partnerships: help learners explore their next study or career step.
- International partnerships: explore routes for learners outside the UK, where the rules allow them.
The right model depends on your learners, location, resources and goal. Outline the need before proposing a large programme. Each learner still needs to meet the course entry and assessment rules.
Ten Benefits of Corporate Training Partnerships
Good Training Partnership Opportunities may bring these benefits:
- More course choice for learners.
- A quicker response to a clear skills need.
- Staff learning linked to actual job duties.
- Access to relevant teaching and assessment skills.
- Study that fits around work.
- A planned route for a group of learners.
- Clear next steps to further learning.
- An agreed commercial model for both parties.
- A working relationship that can grow over time.
- Shared skills and resources that help more learners.
These results are possible, not automatic. They depend on the plan, staff, resources and quality of delivery. Start with one clear need. Review the results before expanding the work.
Plan Employer Training Partnerships
Employer training partnerships should start with the work staff need to do. Name the skills gap and the expected change. Then choose learning that fits.
A first discussion may cover:
- Which employees need support.
- What they can already do.
- Which skills the role requires.
- Whether a qualification or shorter course fits.
- What work evidence or observations are needed.
- How staff will get time to study.
- What support or adjustments may be needed.
- How progress and results will be reviewed.
HHF can discuss individual and group learning. Course areas include management, teaching, assessment, care and Functional Skills. Check the current range and discuss the best route for your staff.
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For example, an employer may want supervisors to give clearer feedback. First, ask what the supervisors find hard and what staff need from them. Check whether a short course or a full management award fits the goal. Give staff time to learn and practise. Agree who will support them at work.
Set a simple review date. Ask what staff have learned and where they have used it. Look at the quality of their work as well as course progress. This helps both partners decide what to keep, what to change and whether more training is needed.
Course Areas to Discuss
These areas may be suitable for discussion:
- Teaching: courses for people entering or developing teaching and training roles.
- Assessment and quality: routes for assessors, IQAs, lead IQAs and EQA work.
- Management: learning from team leading through to strategic leadership.
- Care: knowledge and practice routes for care workers and managers.
- Functional Skills: practical English and maths.
- Other work areas: options across business, customer service and the wider course range.
Availability depends on the course rules, approval and proposed work. Confirm entry, practice, fees and delivery before promoting a course to learners. Use the links below to explore current options.
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Build Assessor and IQA Skills
A training provider may need to develop its own staff. HHF can discuss a staged route:
- Assessor: plan assessment, check evidence, make decisions and give feedback.
- IQA: sample assessment, support assessors and check consistent practice.
- Lead IQA: plan and monitor the work of an IQA team.
- EQA: develop the knowledge or practice used to check quality across centres.
Choose the role before choosing the course. Practical awards need access to the right learners, assessors, workplaces or centres. Check those opportunities before you enrol staff. A course alone cannot replace the work its evidence rules require.
Referral, Delivery or Subcontracting?
Use the right model and record it in writing. These three models have different duties:
- Referral: a partner introduces a possible learner. The provider usually handles entry, enrolment, teaching and assessment.
- Shared delivery: a partner carries out agreed teaching or assessment tasks where the course rules allow this.
- Subcontracting: a formal arrangement that may have extra funding, oversight and reporting rules.
The Department for Education rules cover specified funded post-16 provision. They include checks on partners, quality and the use of funds. Read the relevant rules for the actual model.
A referral partner must not claim approval to deliver an award it cannot offer. A partnership is not always subcontracting. The agreement, funding and actual work determine its status.
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Set Quality Checks First
Agree quality checks before you recruit learners or start delivery. Check:
- Learner entry, ID and registration.
- Who approves course adverts and claims.
- Who teaches and supports learners.
- Who assesses and carries out IQA.
- How evidence is checked and kept.
- Support needs and reasonable adjustments.
- Complaints, appeals and malpractice reporting.
- Progress reviews and contact with learners.
- Who arranges certificates.
- The awarding organisation’s rules.
Use the official register to check award details. HHF will not approve a model that weakens standards or harms learners. Volume does not take priority over sound assessment and support.
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A clear handover also helps learners. Name the person who will answer course questions and the person who will deal with payment queries. Tell learners where to submit work and how to ask for support. Check that both partners give the same information.
If a learner falls behind, agree who will make contact and what support can be offered. Keep a record of the action and the next review date. Do not wait until the course ends to discover that support was unclear. Review concerns early so the learner has time to act.
Keep Learner Data Safe
Partners may need to share learner data. This could include ID, study records or support needs. Agree what is needed and why. Name the party responsible for each step.
Use a lawful basis and give learners clear privacy information. A broad expression of interest is not enough on its own to justify sending private records. Use a secure, agreed process.
The ICO’s Data Sharing Code explains these duties. It recommends a data-sharing agreement as good practice. This can set out the purpose, roles, standards and stages. Read the guidance below and get suitable advice for your own arrangement.
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Check a Potential Partner
Check the partner before committing learners, staff or funds. Ask:
- Who is the legal organisation?
- What is it approved to offer?
- Who teaches, assesses and supports each learner?
- How are entry and progress managed?
- Which courses need practical work?
- How are assessment decisions checked?
- What data will be shared?
- What fees, payment stages and refunds apply?
- Who approves logos and marketing claims?
- What happens to learners if the agreement ends?
Ask for evidence as well as answers. Checks should fit the scale of the work. A sound partner should be able to explain its duties, limits and support arrangements.
How Training Partnership Opportunities Are Reviewed
HHF reviews Training Partnership Opportunities in four stages:
- Introduce your organisation. Explain who you support and what you want to achieve.
- Discuss the need. Identify courses, learner numbers, countries and likely timescales.
- Agree the model. Set out duties, quality checks, data handling and commercial terms.
- Support and review. Follow the agreed plan, check progress and review results.
An enquiry does not approve a partnership. It also does not grant permission to deliver courses or use HHF materials. Wait for the agreed terms before promoting the proposed arrangement.
Start with the partnership page below. Give a clear account of your plan so HHF can assess whether it fits.
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Prepare Your Enquiry
Prepare these details for your first enquiry:
- Legal and trading name.
- Website, address, country and main contact.
- What your organisation does.
- The partnership model you propose.
- Courses or staff skills you want to develop.
- Likely learner numbers and locations.
- Proposed start date and study timescale.
- Your teaching, assessment and IQA staff, if relevant.
- Access to workplaces or practical tasks.
- How learners will be recruited.
- The support you need from HHF.
- What your organisation will contribute.
Do not attach private learner records to a first enquiry. First check that there is a suitable route. Then agree how any necessary data will be shared safely and lawfully.
Work With Learners Overseas
HHF welcomes suitable enquiries from outside the UK. These may involve referrals, group study, staff learning or progression routes. The detail must be checked before making an offer.
Confirm these points:
- Whether the award is available to the intended learners.
- Entry and English-language requirements.
- ID and registration evidence.
- Online access and time-zone support.
- Assessment, observation and workplace needs.
- Acceptance for the learner’s intended purpose.
- Fees, currency and certificate delivery costs.
- Which partner contacts learners at each stage.
Do not promise a job, licence, visa or university place. A UK award does not guarantee those outcomes. The employer, regulator, institution or authority makes its own decision.
Why Discuss a Partnership With HHF?
HHF can discuss Training Partnership Opportunities across a broad course range. Its experience includes teaching, vocational assessment, IQA, EQA and management learning.
Online study may help working learners fit study around other duties. Support and practice requirements still depend on the course. Each proposed arrangement needs its own checks.
HHF first looks at your learners, goals and resources. It then considers whether a suitable model can be agreed. The aim is a clear plan both parties can deliver and review.
For example, start with the staff who need one specific award. Check their entry and evidence access. Agree a study plan and named contacts. Review their experience before extending the route to a larger group.
Take the Next Step
Training Partnership Opportunities work best when the goal and duties are clear. Decide what learners need, who will do the work and how quality will be checked.
Confirm the full terms before recruitment begins. Keep marketing accurate, records safe and support clear. Review progress and deal with problems early.
If you want to refer learners, develop staff or explore an overseas route, contact HHF. Explain the result you want and what you can contribute. HHF will review whether a suitable opportunity is available.
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