Skills for Life courses

Other personal benefits can include taking a more active role in the community in which you live; better health and being more able to help your children.

You can also benefit if you run a business by ensuring your workforce have all the skills they need to do the job efficiently and effectively.

Poor English and maths skills can affect performance. Improving those skills benefits performance and increases productivity. Staff will also be more aware of the quality standards expected and communication will improve, which will in turn improve staff morale.

All our Skills for Life courses are free and we are the largest provider of adult Skills for Life courses in English, maths and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) in Derbyshire.

We have been offering Skills for Life for many years and at our last inspection were graded as a very good provider.

Some of our classes are supported by childcare provision and many are sited in local schools and village halls as well as our own centres. This makes our provision very accessible to all learners. If you prefer to learn using computers, we have courses available in our Learndirect suites.

You can work towards a nationally recognised qualification in English or maths or you can take the opportunity to brush up your skills or plug a gap in your CV.

Courses can be tailor-made to meet your needs and you can work at your own pace. We can even put on classes to fit in with shift patterns.

We also can offer our courses in the workplace. We work within the council providing Skills for Life that will enable participants to do their job more effectively.

For example, Teaching Assistants wanting to go on to the Higher Level Teaching Assistant course need level two maths and English. We have been working with schools to put on courses for teaching assistants and the Probation Service where we are providing courses for offenders.

Learners can progress from a level two qualification in English and maths to GCSEs in both subjects. Alternatively you could move on to one of our creative writing courses.

You are advised to enrol early to avoid disappointment. To find out what's on offer please call at your local adult community education centre or library, visit the brochures page and download one from this site or Call Derbyshire on 08 456 058 058.