Posted 9 January 2026

Skills England recently published the Skills Classification Framework (SCF), which brings together previous skills frameworks of UK jobs and qualifications. It will help to unify the skills conversation and give anyone with an interest in skills a common language. As such, it will be useful for anyone who works with learners to develop their skills, who develops and delivers further or higher-level qualifications, and employers in all sectors.  

How do the classifications work? 

The classifications are broken down into five categories: skills, occupations, knowledge areas, core skills, and qualifications. These each have subcategories e.g. ‘knowledge areas’ is divided into sector type and concept type. 

At Go Higher West Yorkshire (GHWY), we are especially interested in the core skills framework. Core skills are, according to Skills England, “Essential foundational abilities that underpin various skills and occupations.” These are directly applicable to our work to support learners from all backgrounds to develop the skills they need to progress. To do so, we embed core skill opportunities into our programmes and resources, and give opportunities for participants to reflect on which skills they have developed. 

Of the 13 core skills listed – such as digital literacy, numeracy, listening and leadership – there are few surprises. However, the core skills categories are broken down into proficiency levels so it is clear how learners and employees can progress to improve their skills. This universal terminology will help educators and employers support individuals to develop the right skills to progress through their education and into good careers. We are considering how to adopt the new framework into our programmes. 

GHWY resources to support skills development 

Learners have many opportunities to develop their core skills within taught curriculum time, through careers activity such as trips, visits and meeting role models as well as through volunteering, working and out of school activities. It is nonetheless important that they learn to reflect on these opportunities to identify what core skills they have developed, as this is what recruiters want to know about when applying to Further Education or Higher Education courses and jobs. 

Our Uni Connect outreach work embeds skills and reflection opportunities into programme design using our evaluation outcomes framework. We also develop programmes such as Go Higher In Days to develop these skills. We publish learning resources for educators to access for free, such as our Think and Go Higher Programme, which develops metacognitive strategies. 

We also support improvement in the sector by delivering impact reports, such as the recent HE Careers coaching impact report. This recommends activity designers, “provide guided opportunity for learners experiencing inequality to reflect on their skills and strengths as part of planning for the future.” 

Our wide range of free resources focus on skills we have identified as necessary for learners from all backgrounds to progress, such as Digital Skills and Transferable Skills. 

We believe these resources and the SCF will support learners to develop the skills they need to make informed choices for their futures. 

 

Jenny Scannell, GHWY Project Officer and Manager