Funded by York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) as part of the Mayoral Investment Fund worth £27.5million over 4 years, the overarching aim of the fund is to provide funding to implement the YNYCA Skills Strategy.
Our partnership of 9 colleges and adult learning providers, led by York College & University Centre, secured £1,203,204 out of the fund to deliver a range of innovative and exciting initiatives to learners, tutors, businesses and employees in York and North Yorkshire.
The SIF is designed to support the delivery of projects focused on innovation, collaboration and capacity building in skills provision across York and North Yorkshire.
Our partners
Our partners are;
- York College & University Centre
- Askham Bryan College
- Craven College
- Darlington College
- Harrogate College
- City of York Council (York Learning)
- North Yorkshire Council Adult Learning and Skills Service
- Selby College
- Scarborough TEC
The project started in June 2025 and runs until June 2027.
The nine partners in the partnership have a united vision and drive to contribute to the Mayoral vision, through our collaborative Digital Innovation and Low Carbon Skills project.
The partnership builds on the work and infrastructures previously developed and delivered through the Local Skills Improvement Fund, the Yorkshire and Humber Institute of Technology and the Strategic Development Fund.
Working together as a partnership creates opportunities for collaboration, sharing best practice, creates efficiencies and raises the collective knowledge across all partners.
Aims of the fund
The project aims to address the following:
- Address skills mismatch by investing in physical equipment in key sectors to ensure learning infrastructure reflects the skills required by the YNY economy.
- Create new courses which meet the needs of learners and businesses (short, bite-size, modular).
- Develop FE workforce to ensure they have up to date, industry standard expertise.
- Engage with learners (particularly those not in work or underemployed people) in new ways to create an upturn in adult learner numbers.
- Use technology to address barriers to learning, particularly rurality and access to learning for vulnerable groups.
Project objectives
The SIF will deliver through two project strands:
- Digital Innovation
- Low Carbon Skills
Project objectives include;
- Capital investment in growth sectors and core sectors e.g.
- Upgrading equipment and facilities with cutting edge technology
- innovating teaching and learning practices using Immersive Technology, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence.
- Focus on digital technology
- Low carbon technology such as solar PV and retrofit
- Skills sector workforce recruitment and development.
- Development and delivery of flexible, bitesize, and modular provision
- Development and delivery of bridging provision
- Innovative approaches to engaging individuals/ businesses
- Build capacity and enable collaboration
Cross-partnership roles
Partnership and Digital Education Coordinator
This role works across all the partners to:
- Part time role hosted by Askham Bryan College.
- Coordinate digital initiatives across the partnership of colleges and LAs, promoting collaboration and sharing of good practice.
- Deliver on-site and virtual training for partner institutions.
- Explore and address shared digital challenges and barriers to innovation.
- Support the development of collective digital projects and pilots.
- Evaluate and report on partnership outcomes and progress.
- Coordinate Digital Educators Forum.
Curriculum Bridge Manager
This role works across all the partners to:
- Full time post hosted by North Yorkshire Council to enhance progression between adult learning and FE provision.
- This role aims to increase participation in adult skills provision
- Increase the number of adults gaining skills in priority sectors by creating pathways between cohorts of adult learners and progression courses in colleges.
- Create bridging provision between courses where the gap tends to cause drop off.
- Coordinate Curriculum Managers Forum
Impact on local people and businesses
- New courses developed so that people can upgrade their knowledge, utilise skills more effectively at work, use digital skills in education to enhance learning, or become more employable or advance at work.
- People gaining new skills or progressing to higher levels in digital skills and in low carbon technologies.
- Tutors enhancing digital skills to embed the use of digital technology particularly immersive technology, AI and VR.
- Employers working more closely with education providers to enhance classroom experiences and to encourage businesses to use digital technology in the workplace.
- Facilities enhanced with innovative equipment to enable students to learn the latest technologies.
Progress so far
- We have developed 16 new courses
- We have improved 5 classroom facilities with upgraded equipment
- We have trained 395 tutors in industry related skills
- We have trained 97 adult learners
- We have engaged with 57 employers
"There is so much to be proud of here in York and North Yorkshire: we are home to world‑class businesses, pioneering research organisations, and a thriving community of small and micro‑businesses that demonstrates the strong entrepreneurial spirit running throughout our region. Together, these strengths have helped make York and North Yorkshire one of the most productive economies in the North - a success we should rightly celebrate.
As Mayor, I am clear that this success is built on the talents, skills and dedication of the people who live and work here. It is vital that as our economy grows, everyone has access to the skills, training and opportunities that this growth creates. That principle sits at the heart of the Skills Innovation Fund.
Through this fund, we are investing in locally led solutions that respond directly to the skills and training needs of our communities and employers. We recognise the barriers that many people face when looking to upskill; whether that might be living in a rural area with limited access to education centres, balancing learning with work or caring responsibilities, or difficulties re‑engaging with education later in life. At the same time, the fund is focused on supporting our priority sectors to ensure our workforce is equipped for the future.
Central to the first phase of this fund has been the partnership of local further education colleges and adult learning services that has been established. They have been working hard to deliver programmes aligned to our key sectors, including digital, low‑carbon and creative technology skills, and have been making sure that we have substantial numbers of tutors and facilities to support the region’s skills needs.
The Skills Innovation Fund demonstrates what can be achieved when we invest in people and work in partnership. I am proud of what has been delivered so far, and I am excited about the opportunities this fund will continue to create for residents across York and North Yorkshire."
To discuss all things Skills Innovation Fund, please email Nada-Tokos@yorkcollege.ac.uk.
