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A photo of attendees at the Skills Builder Partnership Day 2022, held on the 18th of May 2022.

About Skills Builder Partnership

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Skills Builder Partnership is a global movement of employers, educators, and impact organisations working together to ensure that one day, everyone builds the essential skills to succeed.

Our not-for-profit social enterprise began in 2009 with two employers and a single classroom. Today, the Skills Builder Partnership is international in its reach and supported more than 2.6 million individuals to build their essential skills in the last year alone.
Our awards

Our Awards

Ashoka FellowshipEscape The City's best organisations to escape to awardThe Lord Mayor's Dragon AwardThe Pioneer AwardThe UK Social Enterprise AwardThe PWC Social Impact AwardThe Education Investor's Education Partnership Of The Year Award
A group photo of the Skills Builder team at Partnership Day 2022, held on the 18th of May 2022.

Our Story

Where we started 

Skills Builder Partnership was founded by Tom Ravenscroft in 2009 when working as a secondary school teacher, at an inner-city school in London. 

Combining his background in business working at Oliver Wyman and with a degree in Economics & Management from Oxford he saw that there was a fundamental gap in how we support individuals to build essential skills through education and then in the rest of their lives.

Skills Builder Partnership was founded on the belief that essential skills should be a normal part of a good education and workplace training. And that everyone has the capacity to build those skills.

We committed to using the most cutting-edge techniques and innovation to create new, more rigorous ways to build essential skills for everyone, at every stage of their lives.

Where we are now

In 2020, we launched the Skills Builder Universal Framework – a transformative approach to building the essential skills of individuals throughout their lives, in education and employment.

Powered by 900 leading organisations across education and employment, the Framework has now been backed by the UK government in statutory guidance.

The Partnership now has a touchpoint with 87% of UK secondary schools and colleges, as well as being adopted by a growing range of businesses.

Beyond the UK, the approach is being adopted at a policy level in Uganda, Kenya, and Czechia as well as being delivered in 20 other countries.

In 2022, the Partnership announced the ambition to deliver 10 million new opportunities to boost their essential skills by 2025.

Explore our partners and impact

Our Board & Strategic Advisory Group

Tom Ravenscroft

Founder & CEO

Skills Builder Partnership

Bio

Sam Butters

Non-Executive Director

CEO, Fair Education Alliance

Bio

Alex Shapland-Howes

Non-Executive Director

Co-founder & CEO, Tandem

Bio

Peter Cheese

Advisor

CEO, CIPD

Bio

Dame Julia Cleverdon

Advisor

Vice Patron, Business in the Community

Bio

Sir Ian Davis

Non-Executive Director

Former Chair, Rolls Royce

Bio

Sir Peter Estlin

Advisor

Chair, FutureDotNow

Bio

Professor Lynda Gratton

Advisor

London Business School

Bio

Sir John Holman

Advisor

Gatsby Foundation and Chair, Essential Skills Taskforce

Bio

Professor Tristram Hooley

Advisor

University of Derby and Institute of Student Employers

Bio

Nicola Inge

Advisor

Director of Education and Employability, Business in the Community

Bio

Professor Bill Lucas

Advisor

University of Winchester

Bio

Jo Owen

Advisor

Director, The Leadership Partnership

Bio

Daniel Sandford Smith

Advisor

Director of Education Programme, Gatsby Foundation

Bio

Brett Wigdortz

Advisor

Chair, NCS Trust

Bio

Honor Wilson-Fletcher

Advisor

CEO, British Exploring

Bio

John Yarham

Advisor

Deputy CEO, Careers & Enterprise Company

Bio
John Yarham
Advisor
Honor Wilson-Fletcher
Advisor
Brett Wigdortz
Advisor
Daniel Sandford Smith
Advisor
Jo Owen
Advisor
Professor Bill Lucas
Advisor
Nicola Inge
Advisor
Professor Tristram Hooley
Advisor
Sir John Holman
Advisor
Professor Lynda Gratton
Advisor
Sir Peter Estlin
Advisor
Sir Ian Davis
Non-Executive Director
Dame Julia Cleverdon
Advisor
Peter Cheese
Advisor
Alex Shapland-Howes
Non-Executive Director
Sam Butters
Non-Executive Director
Tom Ravenscroft
Founder & CEO
Meet the rest of the Board and Advisory Group

Our Team

See our job vacancies

Tom Ravenscroft

Founder & CEO

Bio
John Yarham
Advisor
Honor Wilson-Fletcher
Advisor
Brett Wigdortz
Advisor
Daniel Sandford Smith
Advisor
Jo Owen
Advisor
Professor Bill Lucas
Advisor
Nicola Inge
Advisor
Professor Tristram Hooley
Advisor
Sir John Holman
Advisor
Professor Lynda Gratton
Advisor
Sir Peter Estlin
Advisor
Sir Ian Davis
Non-Executive Director
Dame Julia Cleverdon
Advisor
Peter Cheese
Advisor
Alex Shapland-Howes
Non-Executive Director
Sam Butters
Non-Executive Director
Tom Ravenscroft
Founder & CEO
Meet the rest of the team
Explore job opportunities

Our funders

As a not-for-profit, we’re grateful to our partners who support our work to bring the Skills Builder approach to those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to access our work, in UK schools and colleges, and across the world. 
Our Funders
Learn more about our funders and partners

Where we work

We work with a growing number of employers, educators and impact partners across the world.
A world map with Skills Builder Hub users highlighted in red. Countries include: The UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, Isreal, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, The UAE, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, India, Nepal, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Viet-Nam, The Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, The USA, Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Argentina.
A world map showing countries with participating schools and colleges in blue. Countries include: The UK, Czechia, Lebanon, Egypt, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Canada.
A world map displaying countries with participating Impact Organisations and Employers. Countries include: The UK, Czechia, Spain, Lebanon, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, India, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Learn more about our international work
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