At Blackpool Aspire Academy, we recognise that essential skills are the foundation of employability and lifelong success. Our new Skills Builder Programme is designed to help every student develop the core, transferable skills they need to thrive in education, employment, and beyond.
These essential skills — such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and self-management — are those that almost everyone needs to do almost any job. They are the abilities that make knowledge and technical skills truly effective and productive (UKCES, 2009).
While schools and employers have long worked to strengthen these skills, national surveys continue to show gaps. The CBI’s 2018 Education & Skills Survey, for instance, revealed that many employers still have concerns about young people’s readiness for work.
That’s why at Blackpool Aspire Academy we are taking action. Through the Skills Builder Programme, we are embedding structured skill development into every stage of learning. Our aim is to ensure that all students leave school not only with strong academic results, but also with the confidence, creativity, and resilience to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
As research from Nesta’s Future Skills report (2017) shows, the skills that will define the future are those that cannot be automated. By focusing on these essential skills today, we are preparing our students for the opportunities of tomorrow.
At Blackpool Aspire Academy, we are proud to be part of the Skills Builder Partnership — an exciting, nationally recognised programme designed to equip students with the essential skills they need for success in learning, work, and life.
https://www.skillsbuilder.org/
The Skills Builder Framework
The Skills Builder Framework is used by more than 700 organisations across the UK, including 520 schools and colleges, 130 employers, and 50 skills-building organisations. It has been adopted by leading national initiatives such as the Careers & Enterprise Company, the National Citizen Service, and is endorsed by the CBI (Confederation of British Industry). Each year, over 250,000 children and young people develop their essential skills using the Skills Builder approach.
At Aspire, we focus on eight essential skills that students will learn, practise, and apply across the curriculum. These are:
Listening, Speaking, Problem Solving, Creativity, Staying Positive, Aiming High, Leadership, and Teamwork.
We value these eight essential skills with the same importance and rigour as literacy and numeracy. Through the Skills Builder Framework, each skill is broken down into a clear sequence of steps — from early development through to high-level mastery — allowing every student to make visible progress over time.
Students are expected to be working at Steps 9–12 by the end of Year 11, ensuring they leave Blackpool Aspire academy with the confidence and capability to succeed in further education, employment, or enterprise.
Information for Parents/Carers
As a parent or carer, you might be thinking about how best to support your children to build their essential skills. The good news is that there are lots that you can do that will have a big impact, including:
Talking about how you use these skill steps in your own life
Trying to show how to use the skill steps, and explaining why you are doing what you are doing
Praising your children when they show they are using the skills well, and help them to see that as a worthwhile achievement Parents/Carers can have a look at the Universal Framework and click on each skill and explore each step in more detail.
https://www.skillsbuilder.uk/universal-framework/listening
Information for Students
As an individual, you might be thinking about how best to support your own essential skills. The good news is that there are lots that you can do that will have a big impact, including:
Looking at the Universal Framework to spot skill steps that you think you need to work on. It is normally best to start from the lowest step that you don’t feel confident on, and go from there.
Keeping a record of the skill steps that you want to work on, and writing down when you practice them, and when you feel you are making progress.
Talk to someone you trust about what you are trying to do – whether a teacher, family member, manager or a peer. They can help give you feedback on how you are doing, and celebrate your progress with you.
You can have a look at the Universal Framework and click on each skill and explore each step in more detail.
https://www.skillsbuilder.uk/universal-framework/listening
Information for Employers
Within organisations, the Framework can be used to support:
Employability outreach – using the consistent language that is already used in a lot of educational settings to join up initiatives like employability workshops, work experience or other volunteering
Recruitment – by helping to structure the design of job roles, thinking about which essential skills are required at what steps and developing interview questions
Training – using the Framework as a set of learning objectives to help structure training in essential skills alongside technical skills
Personal Development – allowing individuals to reflect on their own essential skills, and to work individually or with a mentor or manager to build them
The Universal Framework is available for all organisations and there is a Toolkit for Employers available here to support organisations in developing these skills.