Happy 21st birthday SCQF! On behalf of the Board and Members of the Scottish Training Federation (STF) I would like to offer our congratulations on reaching this significant milestone.

STF is a little older than SCQF - 32 this year - and represents over 140 organisations operating in the field of work-based training across Scotland.

STF members comprise a broad mix of independent training providers, group training associations, colleges and local authority training departments – and cover a wide range of occupational areas, from traditional craft apprenticeships through to service sector occupations.

The majority of STF members are involved in the delivery of government-funded training including Modern Apprenticeships and Employability Fund programmes in Scotland.

STF is widely regarded as the ‘voice of training providers in Scotland’ operating in the work-based training industry and is regularly consulted by all of the key stakeholders on policy development and implementation.

My work as Chief Executive is wide and varied but one of my key activities along with STF Board Members is to have regular meetings with senior staff at Skills Development Scotland and Scottish Government in order to lobby on behalf of members.

STF’s members have used the SCQF since its inception 21 years ago in order to be able to understand the level of programmes that they are delivering such as SVQs and in recent years, Apprenticeships which are now also credit rated on the Framework. The fact that these programmes are formally recognised is extremely important and gives confidence to both learners and employers as well as allowing learners to develop their own learning and career pathways.

STF members can also have confidence in the programmes they deliver knowing they have been taken through a robust quality assured process.

In 2019 I was delighted to become a Board member of the SCQF Partnership and this has been extremely beneficial on both sides as not only am I able to offer an employer perspective which is valuable to the Partnership but it also allows me to better understand ways in which the SCQF can be better utilised to further support our own members now and in the future.

I look forward to continuing to work closely with Aileen Ponton and her terrific team at the SCQF. Here’s to the next 21 years!

The SCQF Online Conference takes place on Thursday 24 March. Register to join The SCQF at 21: Recognising Skills in a Changing Landscape.