Get the Nation Learning Award categories
Awards sponsored by
Healthier Futures Award
Learning for any reason and none is good for mental health and wellbeing. Over 1.3m adults in England are currently in contact with NHS mental health services, while 2.8m working age UK adults are not seeking employment due to ill health. That’s why this award Celebrates organisations improving health and wellbeing through learning in workplaces and communities across the UK, as well as individuals who have transformed their mental and/or physical health through learning.
Stronger Communities Award
Recent social unrest shows the need to build a more cohesive and integrated society, with stronger and more resilient communities. Levels of loneliness and social isolation are also on the rise among all age groups. Adult learning of all types reduces social isolation and makes people more confident, trusting, and resilient. It also increases levels of social interaction between people from different backgrounds. That’s why this award celebrates organisations creating stronger, more inclusive communities through adult learning provision.
Talent is Everywhere Award, sponsored by Kaplan
Place, social class, ethnicity, age, employment status, prior learning – all these things shape adults’ ability to access learning, build successful careers and lead fulfilling lives. There are persistent and significant inequalities in access to learning across different geographies and groups. Where opportunity is thwarted, employers and our economy also suffer, missing out on the diverse skillsets people possess or have the potential to develop. That’s why this award celebrates organisations breaking down barriers to learning for people of all backgrounds.
Essential Skills Award, sponsored by The British Army
There are an estimated 8.5 million working age adults in England with low proficiency in literacy and/or numeracy. Digital skills deficits are also striking, with less than half of adults able to complete the 20 tasks of the Essential Digital Skills Framework. As well as impacting people’s ability to get into the labour market and get on in their career, lacking these skills can also hamper people’s ability to navigate, access, and engage with public services. That’s why this award celebrates organisations equipping people with the essential skills needed for life and work, or adults who have engaged with learning to gain literacy, numeracy, or digital skills.
Net Zero Hero Award, sponsored by NOCN Group
For the UK to reach net zero and reap the rewards, a truly national effort is required. Be it skilled workers deploying clean energy infrastructure, or consumers lowering energy use and emissions, we all have a role to play. That’s why this award celebrates organisations equipping people with the knowledge and skills needed in the green economy, or adults who have engaged with learning to gain ‘green skills’, upskill or retrain.
Learning with Technology Award, sponsored by Ufi VocTech Trust
Technology is constantly changing the world of work, and the skills people need to succeed. The same is true for how we teach and learn, with new technologies providing opportunities to help people gain skills more flexibly in innovative and imaginative ways. That’s why this award celebrates organisations, projects, or provision using technologies to enable and enhance learning for work and extend the reach of learning opportunities.
New Directions Award, sponsored by City Lit
As working lives get longer, lifelong learning needs to both be and feel possible for everyone, particularly for those lacking confidence and essential skills. Too many people lack the essential skills for life and work, and feeling too old is the most common barrier to learning. Celebrates a learner who has taken a first step or new direction in their career or re-entered the world of work.
Regional Growth Award
More powers are being devolved to English regions to engage adults in learning and create programmes that respond to local need. Regional skills inequalities are larger in England than most other countries, contributing to substantial regional inequalities in GDP per capita, productivity and disposable income. That’s why this award celebrates Strategic Authorities, Combined Authorities, and Local Authorities integrating adult learning into local and regional growth plans and supporting great outcomes for people from all backgrounds.
Employer of the Year Award, sponsored by NOCN Group
Investing in skills and training helps employers increase productivity, harness new technologies, and build happier workplaces. The best firms know this, but total employer investment has fallen sharply, and the UK is lagging behind internationally. This is holding people, businesses, and our economy back, with the lowest paid most likely to miss out on training. That’s why this award celebrates employers boosting investment in skills and reducing inequalities in access to workplace learning.
Learning Provider of the Year Award, sponsored by UVAC & HOLEX
Community-based adult learning providers, universities, colleges, independent training providers all have a vitally important role to play in getting the nation learning and narrowing inequalities in access to learning between groups. Be it helping people gain the skills for life and work, or enabling people to lead healthier, happier lives, learning providers are on the front-line, delivering for individuals and communities, day-in day-out. That’s why this award celebrates adult learning providers of all types delivering life changing adult education and/or training.
Patron’s Award
HRH Princess Anne is L&W’s Patron. This award celebrates inspirational adult learners.