Deadline: 28 June 2019
Ufi Charitable Trust is seeking applications for its funding program entitled “VocTech Impact 2019” to support projects that show the potential to have a real impact in the world of vocational learning and to ultimately make a difference to how people learn and to the number of people gaining new skills – helping us to build a better, quicker, digital future for vocational learning.
Focus Areas
They are particularly keen to support projects focused on areas, sectors or communities where the existing vocational learning system fails to adequately address vocational learning needs and where digital technology could make a difference. This might include:
- areas where geography makes it harder to access learning;
- sectors where industry structure, low productivity/low margins etc makes it difficult for employers to provide training;
- communities of learners who (for social, economic or other reasons) have not engaged with traditional learning approaches earlier in their lives and might be better engaged by new approaches.
Eligible Projects
Projects must:
- Provide an innovative digital solution to a defined issue for vocational learning
- Offer a high quality digital learning solution, which makes full use of the potential of technology to provide new approaches to learning for work
- Have a well-developed, tested proposal, ready to be rolled out to a significant number of vocational learners, with access to a population of learners who will develop new vocational skills during the project duration
- Include realistic plans for ongoing tests with relevant users/learners and incorporating feedback from testing into product development
- Have a clear vision and ambition for the further growth of the project and its potential to be scaled up to impact on more learners and change how UK vocational learning happens
- Be able to show how the project can provide a cost effective and efficient learning solution and meet business needs
- Clearly show how Ufi support is needed to enable digital learning innovations to happen that could not otherwise happen, make them happen more quickly or at a greater scale.
Funding Information
VocTech Impact 2019 will award funding between £150-£300,000 for projects of 18 -24 months duration. The funding level and timescale are intended to encourage applicants with innovative projects able to deliver a significant volume of activity and level of impact which can demonstrate their wider applicability; and the broader applicability of digital vocational learning.
Eligibility Criteria
- For the VocTech Impact call, Ufi is looking for projects which will impact on large numbers of learners, with the potential for further roll out to an even greater number. They therefore anticipate working with larger, more established organisations, including employers, colleges and other existing learning providers, charities and trade bodies.
- Applicants may benefit from working in collaboration with others to ensure that the idea is addressing a recognised learning need, has access to relevant learners and benefits from expertise in digital learning. They are flexible about the structure of collaborative projects but expect to see this clearly described in project management arrangements and for all partners to be active project participants. Where a project is a collaboration, please note that Ufi will only enter into a funding agreement with a single lead applicant who will be responsible for project management and any supplier or collaboration agreements, which may need to be put in place.
- Whenever Ufi funds an organisation which is not a charity, they have a legal obligation to ensure that any private benefit that arises is not more than is necessary to deliver the public benefit that is the stated purpose of the project. (See the additional explanation below)
- The majority of organisations they fund are UK-based. They will consider applications from outside the UK if they can clearly demonstrate how they will address vocational learning challenges faced in the UK. They only fund projects that can demonstrate their impact in the UK.
How to Apply
Applicants can apply via given website.
For more information, please visit https://www.ufi.co.uk/voctech-impact-2019-guidelines