Project: TransQual: English Language Training

The TransQual English Language Training project offers migrant workers and those from BME communities who are in employment a range of courses from pre-ESOL to Entry 3 with embedded work-based language, to support their progress and integration both in the workplace and the community. Supported throughout the programme by Level 4 Matrix advisers, participants receive information, advice and guidance sessions to complement their improving language abilities with appropriate learning and career progression routes.

Project feature

Pre-ESOL and work-contextualised language courses for migrant workers promotes improved social integration

A number of migrant workers who come to this country find themselves in a place of employment where they are working with others from their own country; they speak their native language and manage without English language skills for their day-to-day needs. While this may appear acceptable in the short term, it means that they are restricted from interaction and a fuller engagement within the British society in which they live. The TransQual English Language Training programme aims to help migrant workers and employees from BME communities overcome initial barriers and acquire basic English skills sufficient for communicating effectively at work and in the community. Recognising that there is potentially a wealth of underutilised skills and experience within these groups, the programme offers pre-ESOL and Level 3 training, delivered within the local community or in the workplace.

The training is available to people from the BME communities who are in employment as well as migrant workers. The course options include pre-ESOL, Level 3 Certificate in Adult English for ESOL (for those working with migrant workers and BME communities who have sufficient skills and experience to become bilingual class assistants) and Level 3 Certificate in Leadership and Management (developing language skills in the linguistic context of the working environment). The courses are designed to meet employers’ and employees’ needs: to improve communication and productivity and to encourage progress within the workplace.

Pre-ESOL training must take into account not only a general lack of knowledge of the English language but also, in some cases, perceived barriers to the difficulty and the learner’s ability, which may have been caused by previous tuition or attempts to learn the language. The courses are shorter (twelve weeks of three-hour sessions) and more work-focused than traditional ESOL qualifications. Workplace language content – such as health and safety and customer service – is embedded within the course material.

The Level 3 Certificate in Adult English for ESOL is offered to people working with migrant workers and/or those from BME communities who do not speak English as their first language. Participants with Level 2 English skills, GCSE grades A–C or equivalent, develop their understanding and skills to support ESOL learning and can become part of the pool of staff and volunteers who deliver the pre-ESOL course.

The Level 3 Certificate in Leadership and Management is offered to qualified migrant workers with good basic English skills who wish to improve their use of English in the working environment in which they are employed. The Pre-ESOL course content is contextualised to construction, health and social care or land-based industries and includes health and safety, first aid, team-working, supervision, timekeeping and communications (written, spoken, listening and reading).

Embedded into the programme is a well-structured support process. Participants receive individual information, advice and guidance (IAG) sessions provided by Level 3 Matrix accredited advisers at the beginning, mid-point and conclusion of the programme, to help participants review their options and identify appropriate learning paths consistent with their needs and abilities.

A web-based ‘knowledge pool’ of learning resources is available to all participants, providers and tutors allowing ease of access to a range of helpful materials. Advisers are knowledgeable about possible progression routes and facilitate a smooth transition to other ESOL programmes, where appropriate.

Although they offer the full programme, the pre-ESOL course is particularly popular at the Great Yarmouth Community Trust at the Priory Learning Centre. This delivery partner met their participant numbers midway through the programme and attribute this, in part, to their staff. ‘We are all passionate about learning and genuinely care about the students. We try to make everyone feel included. It’s a delicate balance between maintaining a professional relationship and giving them warmth and support, knowing they are on their own’, said the learning development manager, Rosie Marler.

The TransQual English Language Training project is complemented by the TransQual Migrant Worker Qualification Conversion project, which offers guided access to the government approved NARIC system of qualification comparison, to assist migrant workers in making fullest use of their qualifications and skills.

Contact details

Kevin Mcilhagga, English Language Training Project Co-ordinator
The Learning Partnership – Bedfordshire and Luton Ltd
1 Sunbeam Road, Woburn Road Industrial Estate, Kempston, Bedfordshire, MK42 7BZ
(01234) 851745
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