Sheffield Hallam is one of 22universities and colleges that have been awarded funding by the Office for Students (OfS)to develop pilot short courses in higher education as part of a pathway towards the delivery of the government’sLifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) policy.
The courses are designed to enable flexible learning and to help students develop skills needed by employers and the economy while also enabling progression to a full qualification.
As part of the pilot, Sheffield Hallam will deliver two short courses, developed in consultation with local employers, in early years education leadership and data analytics in healthcare.
Developing skills needed by employers and the economy
Developing data analytical skills in the healthcare sector short course has been designed in response to the NHS Long Term Plan (2019) to address the digital capability needs of current and future healthcare workforce.
The course will enhance the skills of managers working in the healthcare sector in different aspects of data analytics and data management strategies to support better quality decision making and organisational performance.
Developing leadership skills in the early years sector aims to address a significant shortage of trained and skilled leaders in the sector.This short course is designed to upskillcurrent practitioners to ensure they have a good academic and practical understanding of leadership issues, both to progress their own careers but also to support and retain new entrants to the profession.
Conor Moss, Professor of Work Based Learning at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “These courses are designed to enable flexible learning and to help learners develop skills needed by employers and the economy. They will allow people in employment, or looking to reskill, to develop their practice and advance their career.
“As part of our Civic University Agreement we have committed to helping to achieve consistent high-quality education and skills provision in the region as well as developing a highly skilled public sector workforce.
“These courses will help us to deliver on those commitments and will also support the development of flexible lifelong learning in higher education.”
The Office for Students, in collaboration with the Department for Education, launched a challenge competition in August 2021 seeking bids from universities, colleges and other higher education providers who wished to trial courses as part of the programme.
Sheffield Hallam University successfully bid for £100,000 to deliver two short courses which will start from September 2022. Learning from the programme will help inform future LLE policy development.
