Severn Trent is supporting learners in the Severn Trent region with more opportunities to develop the essential skills they need to thrive in their lives.

The water company has supported the  Skills Builder Partnership, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the teaching, learning and assessment of essential skills, through its Severn Trent Community Fund.

The Partnership was awarded £43,200 in funding for the 2024-25 academic year, which will allow 15 schools across the Severn Trent  region to participate in Skills Builder's Accelerator programme. The programme supports education institutions to train teachers and create a long term plan to build the essential skills children and young people need alongside their academic achievements.

Essential skills are the highly transferable skills such as creativity, problem solving, and teamwork that everyone needs to succeed. Research shows that higher levels of essential skills unlock higher wages, job satisfaction, life satisfaction and social mobility. 

There’s overwhelming demand for essential skills from teachers (92%), yet less than a quarter (24%) agree that essential skills are currently being taught sufficiently in education. Accelerator schools and colleges demonstrably bridge this gap, with students in participating schools making 2.7 times more progress in essential skills compared to non-participating schools.

Natalie Cunningham, Severn Trent Community Fund Officer said:

“The Skills Builder Partnership is such a fantastic project that is working across the Severn Trent region to help children. We are so pleased to have been able to support the Partnership with the funding and boost the skills of young people for the future. We cannot wait to see the partnership develop and children flourish as the project continues.”

Ruby Mir, Head of Development at Skills Builder Partnership, said: “We’re pleased to have Severn Trent joining us as a Collective Impact partner, working together to transform essential skills. We are grateful to our supporting organisations for making this possible through funding for Accelerator programmes for our state school and college partners to make the programme accessible to everyone.”

To find out more about becoming a Collective Impact partner and support schools and colleges to build essential skills, contact John Sampson.