Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre

There are 25 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), supported and funded through, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.  The formation of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills was a key recommendation in Lord Leitch's 2006 review of skills. The UK Commission was created by the merger of two predecessor organisations, the Sector Skills Development Agency and the National Employer Panel.

Each Sector Skills Council is an employer-led, independent organisation that covers a specific sector across the UK. The four key goals of a sector skills council are:

1. to reduce skills gaps and shortages
2. to improve productivity, business and public service performance
3. to increase opportunities to boost the skills and productivity of everyone in the sector's workforce
4. to improve learning supply, including apprenticeships, higher education and National Occupation Standards (NOS).

All SSCs are licensed by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, in consultation with Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Together, the SSCs cover approximately 85% of the UK workforce. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills has responsibility for providing cover for those industries that fall outside the SSCs and actively engages with trade unions and professional bodies in this role. The Engineering Subject Centre is liaising with the SSCs that have been identified as having cross-cutting themes with the Centre.

The Briefing Paper 'What are Sector Skills Councils?' provides more information about SSCs and the relevance to engineering higher education and can be downloaded from.

The Engineering Subject Centre is a partner in the ACBEE (Accelerating Change in Built Environment Education) programme which was set up in 2003 by the Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) and funded by Construction Skills. The project has sought to encourage improved dialogue between industry, universities and professional bodies with a view to shaping more relevant educational provision for the future of the built environment. Information on the aims and objectives of the project along with case studies can be found on the CEBE website.