Ufi VOCATIONAL LEARNING TECHNOLOGY FUND Webinar Q & A's - 6th May 2015 Question Answer 1 What are the grant intervention rates? We don't have a specific grant intervention rate. We fund projects out of our endowment, which means that we don't have any state aid restrictions and it is not linked to ERDF. It would be a clean match against any other funding. We are interested if you are bringing additional funds into the project, although in some instances that's not appropriate because the projects will be small and very early stage. We don't fund organisational overheads but we are happy to fund 100% of the direct costs if you can demonstrate that's what's needed. That's not to say that bringing additional funding isn't seen as a good thing. 2 Are there any specific guidelines for partnership workings. The simple answer is no. We like partnership working. We look for 3 strands within every project so we look for the educational side of it so what's the learner going to learn and have you got a sensible approach to that. What's your tech, do you understand what you're doing on that? What's your route to market. Have you thought about how you're going to actually get your product to people. If that can be best achieved by bringing in additional partners, then that's great. 3 What scale of organisation are you interested in funding? Every organisation is eligible. We have no preconceptions about what the size, shape or nature of the organisation is. We don't fund schools based projects and we don't fund pure universities projects. That really is the only limitation. 4 Can you explain vocational learning a bit more? Vocational learning, as I'm sure you are all aware, means many things for many people. But for us it is very much a focus on the workforce. We are looking for skills that will help you do a job and are focused on adults so 16+. We don't fund the softer skills e.g. presentation skills, how to write a CV or how to get an interview or any of those things but we do fund skills such as managing your business or hairdressing, plumbing, care, all of those sorts of things. If you can think of a job that the skill is applicable for then it's probably within scope.
5 How many adults to you envision the demonstrator project supporting? Our ambition is ultimately scale. What we're looking for are projects that can demonstrate they have the potential, if the product is successful, to reach high numbers of people and to change the way that learning is delivered. We recognise that at this level of funding and at this stage of development it may be about demonstrating the product that works in a smaller community. But what we want to see is the potential that that product has beyond this project. 6 Our e-learning product is currently in development and would not be ready to demonstrate by 15th May, is that a problem? We are looking for projects that are going to take a product to demonstration level. So we aren't expecting to see any demonstration of products are part of the call. What we're looking for is that you're not just coming up with the initial idea but that you're taking something that is at a reasonable stage, so it's a formed idea and you are going to use the grant funding and the time to develop something that will be demonstrable by the end of the 12 month period (May 2016). 7 You mention there's a focus on England, Wales and Northern Ireland but I assume there's no restriction on a Scottish based organisation applying. No. When we were first set up we did have a legal restriction that prevented us from awarding funding to Scottish organisations but that has now lapsed. We are able to fund Scottish organisations. We would look for that organisation to be delivering the benefit across the UK. We are highly unlikely to fund a project that would be based in Scotland and only delivering benefit to Scottish learners. 8 We are not a formed limited company however are planning to Yes it would be. so. If this evidenced within our application would this be accepted? 9 Is the Stage 1 application available as a Word or other doc so we Yes it is. It's on our website as a PDF at the moment and you can download it so you can prepare your can prepare our answers in advance of completing the online answers in advance of filling them in online. form? 10 If successful at Stage 1, what does Stage 2 involve? Stage 1 is a deliberatly tight set of questions because we've given a fairly limited word count for each question. So it's about a fairly short and succinct description of your project. Stage 2 will then go into that in more depth and look at more detailed costings about the way in which you intend to deliver the project. WE may ask for a 2 minute video pitch to go alongside it. 11 How many projects are funded? I'm presuming you mean how many projects will we be funding through this call? We have said that although we have put aside a nominal amount, we would like to fund as many projects as we think meet our criteria and are good enough. 12 We are a community interest company. Do you have a preferred No, we have absolutely no organisational structure in mind. We are looking for a variety of projects so we organisational structure in mind? would hope to see a lot of different organisations of different shapes and sizes applying through this call.
13 I haven't carried out a pilot yet. Is this essential for Stage 1? It's a slightly vague answer. It depends on your project. It's more about whether or not you can deliver something demonstrable at the end of the 12 months of this project. Because it's such a broad remit for digital, so from networks through to hardware, in order to reach a demonstration level, the starting point will be different for different tech. So you need to think about what your product is and whether you can realistically get it to a level where you can demonstrate the product within the 12 month period of the project. 14 Would the fund cover hardware installed in the workplace? Because I'm not entirely sure of the specifics of what you're asking I'll give you a fairly generic answer, but come back to me if I haven't got it right. Our funding does cover hardware if you need hardware to deliver the project. 15 Would training for teachers to work better online be within It would, but I feel I should say that we have just signed a contract on a MOOC for blended learning for FE scope? teachers which is now going to go under the project title of #LearnerSuccess So you would need to take a look at our website and check that you are not directly duplicating something that's already been funded. 16 Would you fund projects that would support engaging the learner and enabling more person-centred differentiation of education methods based upon the individual learner? We are looking at projects that cover the whole spectrum of vocational learning, from course content through to assessments and how people access them. So if you can demonstrate that the project you're talking about changes the way people access learning and would have a large scale impact on the number of people gaining vocational skills, then it would be eligible. 17 My business teaches British Sign Language through the levels within the training room, we are looking to reach our learners within the technical world and ease of learning by teaching BSL It slightly depends on the nature of your project. If you're talking about developing something using digital technology that enables people to learn BSL then that would be eligible. If you're talking about training people in sign language, that wouldn't be eligible. and BSL Linguistics online. Can you fund? 18 We are still at an early stage with our idea, would you fund projects that also involved physical delivery of adult learning? i.e. at libraries as part of a blended learning programme? We are interested in funding adult vocational skills that use digital skills. We would want to see routes to market for delivering this. If you believe one of the routes to market for your product is to reach people through non-digital means to enable them to access digital tools, then that's eligible but you would need to explain it clearly in your application and give us a sense of how that would ultimately achieve scale and where the digital tech is in your project. 19 As part of the digital solutions would working with maker lab In very broad terms, yes. equipment be suitable for the grant? 20 Are you looking for a full learning solution including education elements and assessments or elements of? We are looking for all the elements of learning. We don't expect that every project will have all the elements. Although it is always nice to see whether people understand where their project fits and how it could link into other elements of the learning life cycle. But also with projects at a demonstrator level we don't expect to see an end to end learning soloution.
21 What kind of accreditation do you recognise? Is CPD enough? We are looking at both formal and informal learning. Because it's vocational we want to see what the learner gets out of it and how they get some sort of recognition. That may be work based learning where the recognition is relevant. It doesn't need to necessarily need to be accredited but you need to evidence that the person who has learnt it will have learnt something that will be used in their job or the job they're aspiring to do. Is CPD enough? Yes, as long as you can evidence that someone has learnt something. 22 In case we miss the current deadline, when is the next round of This is the first time we have done a demonstrator call. Our aspiration is to make this an annual call for funding? demonstrator projects. 23 Would training for teachers to produce online content be within In broad terms yes it is but we have just funded a MOOC for blended learning for FE teachers and it's scope? This would be via online learning and accredited to quite a big project for us, so you would need to demonstrate how your proposal fitted with and enhance teacher skills. To enhance apprenticeship courses etc. complimented the project already that we've already funded. 24 Would the fund cover hardware installed in a number of workplaces? Re: hardware and workplace - project is to reach as many learners with online learning etc., as a pilot may not be able to have all employers purchase screen or device. We do fund hardware, although we wouldn't fund a project just to put hardware into a range of employers. What we're looking for is to fund something that if it were to be duplicted it would start to achieve scale. It would be difficult to demonstrate if for instance you just wanted to put five sets of kit into five employers. If the money was just buying the kit it would be very difficult for us to see how that's a scalable project. If what you're doing is developing a digital tool and you want to demonstrate it and in order to do that you have employers that would need kit to go in there then a portion of the funding is going towards that as well as going towards developing a digital tool then that could be eligible 25 Would you support a project providing digital tools to support Yes we would. English language needs in a vocational learning context? 26 Would you fund a project that leads to a level 3 professional No it wouldn't be classed as HE. What we mean generally by HE projects is the research type projects or qualification in HR where the focus in on giving access to work in projects that are much more about an academic view of education and the learner experience, rather the profession - would this be classed as HE? than practical delivery of skills. 27 We have submitted a project for funding from another source, Yes, I can't see why not. We would always be disappointed if you withdrew, obviously. but it may not be successful. Could we submit to the call and obviously withdraw if we received funding from the original bid?
28 re: hardware - small part of the project I think it probably would be eligible but if you want to get some more specific advice, you could send your query to info@ufi.co.uk and we can give you a more specific answer. We obviously can't enter into correspondence on it but we will send you a reply. 29 The MOOC for FE teachers sounds very interesting. Is it possible I think so. If you can send in an email to the info@ufi.co.uk address then we can arrange an introduction to get involved in the development of this, possibly using the between you and the project. teachers at my FE college for testing etc.? 30 Would successful projects be allowed to use funding to finance We do fund connectivity if the project requires it. We wouldn't fund a project that was just about learners internet connectivity, if working with vulnerable people connectivity. So if sorting out the connectivity was part of the project then that's eligible. If the project is without finance to engage with the project over the 12 months? just to get vulnerable people online then that's not eligible. 31 In the application can you include training costs to fund training Again, it's really about proportion. That's not what the project fund is there to do. It's not what we're staff to provide online learning? looking for. But if what you're talking about is a very small proportion of the overall project going towards providing some training to allow the project to proceed, then that is eligible. 32 Would training in removing social barriers blocking disabled people from employment be allowed? If you're talking about training people who work with people with disabilities to behave in a different way to ensure that they do prevent discrimination, then that would be eligible because you would be talking about training the people in their job. If I haven't answered the question properly, please feel free to email info@ufi.co.uk if you would like a more specific answer. 33 We have amongst our board members colleges and universities, although we are independent in design and delivery of our No. We are open to universities etc. being a partner in a project we just don't want a university only project or academic project. projects - would our associates/partners affect our qualification for the funding? 34 Would funding possibly be allowed for a project that uses an Absolutely, definitely yes. In fact we like people to use tools that are already available because if you're existing commercial technology platform such as Moodle? going to achieve scale, it's easier for other people to work with tools that are either open access or readily available. 35 You mention that soft skills are not funded, the examples you It's a slightly grey area. If you're talking about skills for a specific job, so say contact centre skills, so you're refer to are presentation skills, CV building. What about skills actually giving someone job training and that includes customer service skills that is eligible. So it's a including customer service skills, complaint handling skills etc.? slightly fuzzier area. You would have to demonstrate it is job specific.
36 As a limited company would you fund a project which is currently You would need to demonstrate what our money is paying for and what specific part of the project. We being developed with the support of ERDF and the Yorkshire are perfectly happy to be part of a portfolio of funders but what we don't want to be is just throwing Innovation Fund? money into a bigger pot without clarity. 37 Would you support a project that is demonstrated in only one county but could be scalable? At this level we would expect projects to demonstrate what the project does and have a view to what happens next so if you were looking for say further VC funding or roll-out in the public sector or whatever it is, if you can get to the end of this project and demonstrate that it works (in whatever community), then that is a success. 38 Could you clarify the term digital tool? We both design and Our definition of digital is extremely broad. We go from web tools through to kit and wearables, games, deliver web based tools and physical digital manufacturing - our apps, anything that's digital that you can use to learn is eligible. 'digi-tool' tools, would the funding invest in both? 39 Is Health & Safety considered a soft skill? No. We consider Heath & Safety to be a vocational skill. 40 I am building and expanding a web presence of knowledge sharing (inclusive of sign posting and self-led referral) - through, the initial introduction of Life Coaching as a modern link of support-within-practice. Could this working initiative be I think based on just that question, it doesn't look to me like it would be. Because one of the questions we have to ask is, what does the learner learn and how is that job applicable? And from what you've said it sounds quite generic. If you want to get a more specific piece of advice and you think I may have misunderstood, please email info@ufi.co.uk and we can get back to you. considered as an initiative that will be adaptable and, inclusive of associated NOS standards and, in some instances, new ways of working for many? 41 If a product taught social workers a specific person centred care Yes, it does sound fundable. approach when working with elderly people does this sound fundable? 42 Could you be clear on what you consider to be a soft skill? I can be as clear as possible, because obviously it's a slightly grey area but the very specific way of looking at it from our point of view is, is this a skill that helps a person do a specific job. So Health & Safety for instance is not a soft skill because it helps the person to do a specific job. You actually need to have Health & Safety training that is appropriate to your job role. Presentation skills are a soft skill because although they help you in your role, they are a generic skill that goes across many roles and the same with interview technique or CV writing. We have a lot of people asking about getting jobs rather than doing jobs. Customer service is a slightly fuzzy one because again you can have generic customer service or very specific customer service, so that's not so quite cut and dry.