On Course South West Review of 2025
In 2025 On Course South West has continued to grow and thrive while working towards our vision for Plymouth to be a city where ‘Learning is for life and opportunities are for all’. Working alongside our colleagues across Plymouth City Council and our key partners across the city, we want to make sure that our learners have the right skills they need now and in the future for a good career and life, as well as our employers having people with the right skills they need to grow and thrive.
Through our focus on our place, people and collaboration with our partners, we continually evolve our offer to meet our residents at their individual starting point and provide a pathway to existing and future skills need and job roles in the city. By optimising adult skills, 16-19, apprenticeship, skills bootcamp and many other funding streams we maintain an education and skills offer with clear line of sight and credible delivery that has real impact where it is needed.
Looking back over this year there have been so many key developments that have moved us closer toward achieving our vision, here are some of them.
Your Future - Supported Internships
In April this year our Your Future Team started delivering Supported Internships, these are structured, work-based study programme for 16- to 24-year-olds with SEND who have an education, health and care plan (EHCP). The internships are designed to help learners get ready for work by giving you hands-on experience, skills training and support in the workplace. Alongside studying English, Maths and employability skills. We successfully recruited our first cohort of 8 Interns all 23 have successfully secured meaningful work placements and are preparing for their progression to employment. Their experience and progress has been remarkable and is enriched by the added opportunities for learning and development provided by the Your Future Team.
Supported Interns – Christmas Charity Event for Jerimiah’s Journey
Apprenticeships Offer and Growth
In 2024 we have focused on the development and growth of our Apprenticeship provision. With Tim Scott-Lloyd joining us as Apprenticeship Manager in February, we have been able to review the city-wide apprenticeship offer and meet with a wide range of employers to clearly identify the need. Through understanding the need we have been able great good growth for our apprenticeship numbers and with our clear focus on the excellent quality of delivery and the positive impact of our apprentices can bring to their employer, we are very proud of new apprenticeship offer.
Sophie Collecting the Apprentice of the Year Award at Devon Women in Business Awards
We are also very proud of the achievements of our apprentices this year, especially Sophie Piccioni-Vero, who won the Apprentice of the Year Award at the Devon in Business Awards 2024. Sophie’s employer, CATERed have been full of praise for the creativity and professionalism that Sophie brings to her role as a Content Creator This award is a wonderful recognition of all her hard work, and we cannot wait to see what Sophie goes on to achieve next.
Skills Provision and Key Sectors
As we as apprenticeships, we have also reviewed our sector-based skills offer to ensure we are aligning to the needs of employers in Plymouth. Our current sectors of focus include Digital and Data, Business and Leadership, Accountancy, Healthcare, Childcare and Education. We have set up focused curriculum offering apprenticeship, skills bootcamp, professional qualification, and skills training. Building our expertise in these sectors has enabled us to continue to be responsive and deliver the knowledge skills and behaviours needed
Plymouth Learning Hub
We have also launched a new Plymouth Learning Hub, which is targeted at supporting residents who are furthest for learning or work to engage in free shorter workshops and course that will support them in building confidence, improving health and wellbeing, improve skills for living and work, improve community engagement and support progression to further learning. As we continue to develop this offer we aim to work in collaboration with a number of partners to reach learners across our community and for the Plymouth Learning Hub to have the impact needed.
Life Changing Turing Trips
We have successfully secured more funding from the Department of Education to be able to continue with our Turing Trips for 25/26. These trips provide life changing opportunities for our learners to complete study and work placements around the world. Our increased funding allocation mean that we are able to offer 146 places for 2025/26 with 100 places with increased funding to support learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Trips include Venice, Malaga, Valencia and Enschede in the Netherlands.
New Era at Cobourg House
In August this year, On Course South West made the move from Hyde Park House in Mutley to Cobourg House on Mayflower Street. This move has given us more delivery space, bigger and better office space and a city centre location, meaning better travel options and access for our learners. As well as this, the move means that we are now co-located with all of the Post- !6 and Skills Services for Plymouth. Headed up by Tina Brinkworth (Head of Post-16 and Skills) the offer available in one city centre location is growing and includes, Skills Launch Pad, Careers Plymouth, Connect to Work and On Course South West. We are excited to see the collaborations across these services coming together to benefit residents of Plymouth.
Our new home!
Powerful Partnerships
Our partnerships are crucial, we know that when we collaborate with other we can have significant impact with our delivery. Our work with our subcontractor partners continues to ensure we are able to best meet the needs in the city through targeted learning, Discovery College have continued to rapidly growth their 16-19 places, supporting a very high proportion of disadvantaged young learner across the city through technical and vocation programmes that give them a pathway to higher level study and careers. Also. working with Shekinah to delivery learner to support people facing multiply disadvantages with building confidence, improving wellbeing and gaining skills for the future. We also continue to work with Odils Learning Foundation to continue to successfully offer free English language education and skills development for refuges, asylum seekers and migrant groups in Plymouth. Our work with Marjon University on our Access to Higher Education provision is moving forwards successfully, offering more opportunities for adults in Plymouth to study flexibly and progress onto degrees in key sectors aligned to high skills careers. We are also building new strong partnerships across the city, including Plymouth Argyle Community Trust with a schools focus apprenticeship offer and the Inclusivity Group to collaborate on building opportunities to learner and access British Sign Language in the City.
We are also extremely grateful to those stakeholders who give up their time to provide us with their valuable contributions that shape what we do. Our Employer Advisory Group and our Education Excellence Committee provide vital governance and direction for On Course South West. Thank you!
Fantastic Achievements
We continue to be very proud of the achievement of all our learners, having the opportunity to support them in achieving their targets, qualifications and ambitions is incredibly rewarding. Once again, we were pleaser to celebrate a 100% pass rate in GCSEs across Maths, English, and Science. This success is a testament to the dedication, hard work, and resilience of our adult learners, as well as the exceptional support and expertise of our teaching team. We are also very proud of the achievements of our staff and delighted when they receive external recognition such as our Your Future Team being awarded a Silver National Pearson Teaching Award for SEND and Inclusion or being reaccredited with the Matrix Standard for the high-quality information, advice and guidance (IAG) to learners. But it is the day-to-day commitment of On Course South West’s staff that really move us closer to achieving our vision, it is their remarkable professionalism, commitment and ambition for our learners, employers and the city of Plymouth that make On Course South West such a fantastic provider of education and skills.
Our All Staff Training day in November – focusing on Inclusion
The year ahead - 2026
Next year we will continue to build on what we have achieved in 2025, but with a new delivery space, growing partnerships and clear focus on quality and impact it is an exciting time for us all. We will also launch a new strategic plan early next year, which will give us a clear focus and direction for the next four year. We will establish a clear purpose for our work, re-establish our values, as who we are and how we work, and set out our priorities to anchor our work and ensure we move even closer to achieving our vision for Plymouth to be a city where ‘Learning is for life and opportunities are for all’.