Adult Learning and Employment

Adult Learning

Below is a list of adult based learning opportunities and resources available to you.

The Lincolnshire Adult Skills and Family Learning Service offers a wide range of courses supporting and enabling people to enhance their quality of life and opportunities. Courses are delivered in community venues, local colleges, schools and children’s centres, and online.

Some courses are specifically designed to support parents and their families and are likely to be available in the daytime, evenings, and weekends.

Courses funded by the government, including ESOL and Level 3 - Courses for Job Offer, will be free of charge to Ukrainian nationals living in the United Kingdom under either the Ukraine Family Scheme, or the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine). Local training providers may charge a small fee for private classes.

To find out about opportunities in your area:

Visit www.2aspire.org.uk or ring 01522 782011 to find out about courses and training providers in Lincolnshire
Use the National Careers Service website which offers advice on choosing courses and a postcode search to help you find a suitable class
Read notices in local newspapers or on noticeboards in schools, children’s centres, doctors’ surgeries, community centres, libraries or voluntary groups
Speak to friends, neighbours, and colleagues to find out what’s happening locally and what courses are on offer

Skills Bootcamps provide learners with technical skills that employers need. They are free to learners and can be online, face-to-face, or a mixture of both depending on the subject. Working in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership has secured funding to lead the development of Skills Bootcamps locally.

They are flexible courses of at least 60 hours of learning (and no more than 16 weeks), giving people the opportunity to gain sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer or gain new skills in an existing job.

Skills Bootcamps are for most adults over the age of 19. Learners who are employed, self-employed or unemployed can attend Skills Bootcamps to gain skills for a new job or a new contract.

Find out more on the Greater Lincolnshire LEP website.

Boston College offers a wide variety of part time courses for Adult Learners (aged 19+). There are many opportunities to gain new skills and qualifications for your career. Courses are available in the daytime and evening at our campuses in Boston, Spalding, and Horncastle.

Courses include:

Adult Bite-size
English and Maths
ESOL
Part time Technical Training
Distance Learning
University Level

To find a full list of adult courses and to apply online, visit the Boston College website or for further information email info@boston.ac.uk or call 01205 313218.

For information about Adult Learning courses at the Louth Learning Centre, including Maths, English and IT, please visit the Grimsby Institute website.

Refugee Education UK (REUK) is a charity that helps young refugees get into higher and further education within the UK.

They have compiled a list of useful resources and information on access to further education for young people on Ukrainian scheme visas.

Please visit the REUK website if you want to find out how to progress in further education and need help with:

Choosing a course
Enrolling at college
Funding to access college
Previous qualifications

Transport and childcare support for adult learning

Adults can sometimes get help with the costs of childcare and transport to help them attend adult learning courses.

Please contact the course provider for further information – they should be able to advise you if you qualify for financial help with transport and childcare.

Filing for employment in the UK

There are many employment agencies around Lincolnshire who help find jobs for candidates that are registered with them. Typical roles may include manufacturing, IT or agriculture.

There are many different routes into employment, below are several useful links to job search sites where vacant positions can be applied for:

Lincolnshire Police

There are also a lot of tools online to help with CV writing, topic areas to be covered within an application, interview skills and interview preparation.

Careers in Care

CareinLincs supports people who are looking for a career in care. Any guests interested in working within this sector can register for job alerts to keep up with the latest opportunities available or submit their CVs to the CareinLincs jobs pool.

Current vacancies can be viewed here.

Learning to Speak English

We understand how important learning to speak English is to help with finding a job. There are lots of opportunities in Lincolnshire to learn and improve your English. English language courses are sometimes referred to as ESOL – English for Speakers of Other Languages.

The Learning to Speak English section on Connect to Support includes a lot of information about the different opportunities to learn to speak English in Lincolnshire. Some of these are formal educational settings like colleges, some are informal places like community groups.

Employment rights

When offered a job or start work, there are a number of things you should be aware of while working in the UK.

When you go to work, you have the right to be treated fairly and work in a safe environment. Organisations and businesses have a legal duty to treat everyone fairly in the workplace and in the way they recruit people for jobs. Men and women have the right to work. Men and women have equal rights and duties in employment. It is illegal to discriminate against anyone applying for a job or in the workplace on the basis of gender, race, religion, being married or in a civil partnership, disability, age, sexual orientation or if they are pregnant.

You also have the right to be able to work without fear or harassment from your employer, colleagues or customers. Workers over the age of 18 are usually entitled to three types of break – rest breaks at work, daily rest and weekly rest.

If you work more than six hours in a day, you have the right to one uninterrupted 20 minute rest break during your working day. The break doesn’t have to be paid – it depends on your employment contract. Almost all workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year (known as statutory leave entitlement or annual leave). An employer can include bank holidays (also known as public holidays) as part of statutory annual leave.

Every employer in the country must pay their employees a minimum amount per hour. How much this is depends on how old you are.

Find out the national minimum wage and living wage rates.

Professional Qualifications

For information and support with getting your professional qualifications recognised in the UK, please see the Ecctis support leaflet. Guests on Universal Credit can seek support with any associated costs from their DWP Work Coach before progressing their enquiries.

Achieving qualified teacher status in the UK

From 1 February 2023, teachers with a teaching qualification from nine countries, including Ukraine, will be able to apply to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) for qualified teacher status (QTS). Read more on the government website.

Starting your own business

When setting up a business, there are considerations about what type of business, where you work and whether you plan to employ people within your business. Information on setting up a business can be found here. If you are considering starting your own small business, but unsure where to begin, you can contact your Jobcentre Plus work coach for more information.

There is also the government-backed business support schemes.

We have worked with NBV Enterprise Solutions Ltd in 2023 to deliver some training sessions to Homes for Ukraine Guests who were considering setting up their own businesses. NBV is a not-for-profit organisation who offers support and advice in the form of Starting in Business programme including training course led by an experienced business trainer, one to one advice and mentoring with a business adviser. They can help you transform your idea into a business by sharing their knowledge and expertise including help to explore what funding and finance options are available.

This programme is fully funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity fund and delivered locally by NBV enterprise Solutions Ltd.

For more information, visit the NBV Website: Start-Up Business Support for small to medium businesses (nbv.co.uk).

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