Keep up-to-date with the latest L&D trends and research

The Open University (OU) launched its latest Trends in Learning Report at the CIPD’s Festival of Work. Trends in Learning 2021 report highlights emerging workplace learning and education trends. This year’s report explores five innovations:

Social justice, wellbeing and authenticity. These are some of the key themes in The Open University’s (OU) Trends in Learning 2021 report. Launching at the CIPD’s Festival of Work conference, the annual report identifies and explores emerging trends in the learning and education sectors. 

The Open University’s Apprenticeships Ambassador, Laura Burley, recently checked in with 23-year-old Robson Grant, a final year Digital and Technology Solutions Professional Degree Apprentice at Milton Keynes University Hospital.

Sustainability and resilience in supply chains was the focus of a recent webinar hosted by The Open University (OU) in association with the Chartered Institute for Logistics and Transport. Balancing sustainability and resilience looked at the importance of sustainability and resilience in the logistics and transport sector, the impact of Covid-19 and Brexit and lessons learnt through the turmoil of the past 18 months.

Behind masks, in gloves and online, during the Coronavirus crisis, the charity sector has continued to do what it does best: support the vulnerable and deliver vital services in the community.

Apprenticeships are a great way for employers to recruit, develop and retain a more diverse workforce. They enable employers to tap into a broader talent pool, which improves diversity of skills and thinking in the workplace. This makes employers more able to meet the challenges facing them today and in the future, as well as enabling them to meet diversity and inclusion targets. And by widening access to learning and job opportunities, apprenticeships create more equal opportunities for all. 

The Open University (OU) delivers an outstanding social work curriculum, partnerships with employers are exemplary, and learning is flexible and responsive. That is the conclusion of the recent Periodic Quality Review of OU social work provision

The last 12 months have been challenging for employers everywhere, but they have been doubly challenging for employers in Northern Ireland. Not only have they had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions, but they’ve also had Brexit and the fallout from that to contend with.

An expert panel of social care and social work professionals were brought together in a webinar to discuss the findings of a new report published by The Open University. The report, The path forward for social care in England, is based on a survey of 500 leaders from across adult social care and social work. The report offers five recommendations for the future of the sector in England.

Employers in England have a renewed appetite for apprenticeships and work-based learning this year. Almost three quarters (70%) say apprenticeships will be vital to their recovery from the disruption caused by COVID-19, with 72% planning to take on more apprentices over the next 12 months. This approach is supported by the fact that 66% of employers who embraced apprenticeships during the pandemic say it enabled them to recover more quickly. These are some of the many positive findings from the Build The Future Apprenticeship Survey, a new report from The Open University (OU) that explores the outlook for apprenticeships in the coming months.