Why vocational education reform makes learner experience more important than ever

Supporting diverse learner journeys

Learners are not a single group. They include post-16 school leavers exploring vocational routes in colleges and sixth-forms, apprentices training on the job, adults re-skilling later in life, and learners returning to education after a break.

Good learner experience ensures these different journeys are supported consistently, without compromising quality or credibility. This inclusive approach is especially important during periods of vocational education reform, when learners may already feel uncertain about their choices.

At City & Guilds, inclusive product design is fundamental to our purpose of helping people develop the skills they need for growth. It ensures our commitment is translated into everyday practice by removing barriers and designing products and services that reflect individual needs.

Inclusive design considers the full learner journey – from determining the purpose of qualifications, ensuring content is clear, meaningful and adaptable to different learner needs, and addressing inclusive approaches to assessment methods. It helps providers to offer a fair, supportive and confidence-building experience for all learners, regardless of background or circumstance.

We have created our Inclusive Design Framework as a shared commitment that touches every person, every process, every product and every service we create. We will continue to work closely with providers to ensure qualifications and their assessment requirements are clear, accessible and realistic to deliver across diverse learner cohorts – helping learners develop the skills needed to succeed in workplaces that are increasingly global and diverse.

To help us further understand the learner experience, we also created Learner Voice, a community for our learners to share their thoughts with us and one another, including what they think of our qualifications and programmes, and how they have supported them on their learning journeys. This helps us identify how we can continually develop and improve our services relative to their needs as the education landscape evolves.

Why learner experience supports progression and employability training

Learner experience does not end at certification. When learners understand what they are learning, why it matters and where it leads, they are better prepared to progress into work or further learning. Confidence built through positive employability training supports successful learning journeys.

Employers value learners who can apply skills in real-world contexts and communicate their capabilities clearly. Outstanding learner experience helps develop those skills, and our qualifications and programmes are designed to be practically applicable in the workplace.

That’s why 80% of learners secure employment within three months of completing a City & Guilds qualification or apprenticeship, with 65% of City & Guilds learners in employment six months after completion, compared to 56% of learners using other providers (source: City & Guilds Learner Outcomes Survey).

How learner experience supports providers during education reform

Outstanding learner experience benefits providers as well as learners. When learners feel confident and supported, providers see improved retention, fewer assessment queries and clearer progression outcomes. This becomes especially important as providers navigate education funding reform.

At City & Guilds we design and deliver support to education providers to help them ensure the highest quality of learner experience. Each qualification or apprenticeship is supported by practical teaching resources to help tutors feel fully confident with day-to-day delivery, no matter how the educational landscape shifts.

Our specialist teams of industry, education and digital platform experts are also on hand at every stage, including our technical advisors. A key part of our service for education providers, technical advisors offer webinars and face-to-face visits to support with delivery and assessment so that learners receive the very best experience, in turn maximising their chances of success.

What this means for providers planning ahead

As providers plan for the year ahead, especially as new qualifications and apprenticeships emerge and pathways evolve, learner experience should be treated as a design priority.

Working with City & Guilds means supporting outstanding learner experience that is:

Aligned to vocational education reform

Built around industry recognised qualifications 

Supportive of employability training and training for employment

Robust during periods of education funding reform

You may also be interested in:

• Why first-rate provider support is the difference between surviving reform and thriving through it
• Why effective qualification and assessment design matters during vocational education reform
• From policy updates to assessment changes, learn more about apprenticeship reform
• Learn more about post-16 qualification reform, including updates on level 2 and 3 pathways