Our Impact
Delivering social impact is central to the work we do
We are committed to measuring the impact we are making on people, organisations and wider society, and ensuring that we make more impact, on more people, who need it the most.
New: Read the 2022 Foundation Impact Report now!
City & Guilds Social Impact Reports 2020-2022
Our ambition
Learning new skills is a wonderful gift in and of itself but it is also an essential step for people to progress. Training and qualifications are only worthwhile if they support development and progression, improve productivity or help to fill skills gaps.
At City & Guilds we have long championed the value of skills to help people into a job, progress on the job and move into the next one. In fact helping people, organisations and economies to develop their skills for growth is our core purpose.
That is why we have ourselves a bold ambition to understand, measure and report on the societal impact we are having across every touch point in all of our activities, markets and sectors.
“I hope you will be as motivated as I am by seeing how intervening at the right moment, in the right way, can have a truly transformative, enduring impact.”
Our impact to date
In delivering our goal of enhancing opportunities in skills and work, we are dedicated to ensuring that our work makes a real difference in people’s lives and we are proud of the impact that our work has had to date.
Recent highlights have included:
partner organisations widening our reach and impact
people directly supported through the Foundation in the last six years
%
bursary recipients employed 6 months after course completion (up from 31% at application)
individuals reached throughout our networks
action-oriented pledges made following our Inclusion and Diversity event series
%
Princess Royal Training Award recipients increasing investment into Learning and Development
“This report reflects our intention for the Foundation to be a catalyst for delivering opportunities in skills and work, delivering against our purpose and amplifying what we do across the wider City & Guilds organisation.”
Our theory of change
Over the past year, we have been developing our social impact framework, in partnership with Cranfield University and The Giving Department, and this report shares our process, in what will be a regular and robust measurement of our social impact. This first report is mostly about how we developed our Theory of Change approach, and how it is helping to shape our focus, as well as sharing current baseline evidence of our impact, where that exists. We’re on the right track, and we can now build on that work throughout the Group.
We recognise that this is a long-term commitment, which starts rather than finishes with this report. We are making eight clear commitments to take forward will soon be measuring and reporting all of our social metrics alongside our financial performance to ensure we offer the greatest possible impact through our qualifications and services.
‘Helping people, organisations and economies develop their skills for growth’
People
• Learner reach and completion
• Improving wellbeing
• Progression
• Sustained employment
→ Secure & sustained employment
Organisations
• Reach
• Embedded skills
• Organisational performance
• Added value
→ Strengthened organisations
Wider Society
• Changing the nature of learning
• Addressing skills in need
• Championing vocational learning
• Focusing on sector-based outcomes
→ Skilled & productive society
2022 Foundation Impact Report
In 2022 we’ve published our first ever Foundation Impact Report which maintains our ambition to deliver, measure and evaluate our social impact. We are delighted to share some of the key headlines from the report.
Our work has meant that:
- 552 bursaries have been awarded, demonstrating impact via individual well-being and employment and significant social value, at five times the level of investment.
- £1.8m of social value has been created by bursaries over three years through the economic benefits of training and employment, avoiding public spending, and increasing well-being gains for those involved. This equates to £4.94 of social value for every £1 invested in the programme.
- 428 prisoners and ex-offenders have been supported into work, with many more in the pipeline, thanks to the Future Skills Commission for Prisons.
- 181 action-orientated pledges were made by organisations following Inclusion & Diversity events, with 74% of those who made pledges reporting positive change.
- 100% of attendees of the Neurodiversity Train the Trainer event reported increased confidence and understanding of neurodiversity.
- Recipients of the Princess Royal Training Awards (PRTA) have increased learning & development investment, improved their ability to demonstrate the value of skills and become more abreast of the latest thinking and initiatives.
City & Guilds Social Impact Reports 2020-2022
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