Search the site

 

Skills - Third Sector and other skills organisations

Skills - Third Sector is an independent charity but we share some similar functions and responsibilities with other skills organisations. In particular, these are the Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and the Standards Setting Boards.

Sector Skills Councils

Skills - Third Sector is responsible for fulfilling role of the Sector Skills Council for the voluntary sector.

Sector Skills Councils are employer-led independent organisations that have been set up by government to improve the skills of the British workforce. Each one covers a particular business sector such as health, transport, IT etc. There are 25 SSCs that cover approximately 85 per cent of the UK workforce.

The SSCs are licensed by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, in consultation with Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) oversees their work and distributes funding.

Collectively the Sector Skills Councils are referred to as the Skills for Business Network (SfBN) and have banded together to form the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils (TASCC).

The role of SSCs is to improve the skills of the workforce, they also have a number of goals including:

  • reducing skills gaps and shortages
  • collecting reliable data on the workforce, its skills needs and gaps
  • improving productivity, business and public service performance
  • increasing opportunities to boost the skills and productivity of everyone in the sector’s workforce
  • improving learning supply including apprenticeships, higher education and National Occupational Standards (NOS).

Standards Setting Bodies

Skills - Third Sector is the Standards Setting Body for the voluntary sector.

Standards Setting Bodies are employer-led organisations that are responsible for identifying and representing the skills needs of the sector they represent. Their responsibilities include:

  • Carrying out information and research into the skills needs of their sector (Labour Market Intelligence)
  • Working with other organisations to define the national skills standards people need to do jobs that are particular to their sector (National Occupational Standards)
  • Writing qualifications strategies
  • Writing frameworks that set out the skills and knowledge people should gain when following a particular learning route (such as an apprenticeship)

Skills - Third Sector has worked with other organisations to develop the national skills standards for the following role that are found mainly, but not exclusively, in voluntary sector organisations.

We are currently developing national standards for monitoring and evaluation.

For information on other Standards Setting Bodies, visit the Sector Skills Bodies group website.

Back to top