Funded educational opportunities?

Hi i was wondering if anyone knew of any funded educational opportunities that would give you for example the teaching qualification to teach activity first aid. I did see the city and guild stuff but they do not do funding in scotland , so can only do it if are willing to pay for it. any help would be appreciated.

Hey, there’s no way afaik that you can get a qual like that completely free - unless your Civ Com agrees to pay/subside it for you.

CV College (formerly known as CVQO) runs the Level 3 C&G qual, the one I presume you’re referring to. I don’t think they fully fund it anywhere in the UK, you’re not missing out on account of being Scottish, but they do appear to be offering a discount if you help deliver the BTEC Level 2 content.

In short, if you want the qualification cheaply, look to get the discount from CV College, then see how much your Civ Com would be willing to reimburse.

The adult education offer is definitely getting worse though, we don’t even have the ILM Level 4 in Leadership and Management option anymore for newly commissioned officers, despite the course still being more or less aligned to that standard. @Cab seeing as lots of other volunteering ‘incentives’ are going down the swanny - is there any possibility of improving this element of the offer? Helping staff gain quals that can help out in our careers and real lives matters far more to me than a CFM or Lord Looey’s Certificate.

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Have you tried engaging with Wg Cdr Matterface?

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It’s feasible to get the Level 3 E&T cheaper than CV college if you shop around and look at other providers.

A few years ago, one of our local community cohesion organisations ran it for a cohort of other charities and trusts in our local area. We got places on the course for a nominal fee (£50) - which, as a personal qualification, I was more than happy to pay (although CivCom would have undoubtedly offered as well!).

I’ve seen similar offers from around the country too - but I don’t keep an eye on this area North of the border. It may also be worth a conversation with Skills Development Scotland as they may have insights into local funds and pots of money for this stuff.

Can’t say I have to be honest sir, I am a lowly APO after all, and in truth I don’t know all the POCs at HQ - I would probably get slapped down from on high by the OC Wg if I dared communicate with Clan Cranwell.

Luckily, this topic was slightly touched on during the Town Hall, with HQ seemingly looking to reinstate a form of accreditation for CLS courses. No specifics or implementation date though, so I imagine I’ll miss out on my CIC unless they make arrangements for those of us who were too late for one scheme and too early for another.

Worst case scenario, presuming UCC will also be accredited, I’ll pick something up then when I inevitably have to go through that course.

Jill would, I am sure, welcome your direct engagement (tell I said it was ok)! She’s on a variety of SM platforms. Go for it, it’s a good question.

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yes i feel like that too i wouldn’t dare contact wing co Jill as my wing i imagine wouldn’t be happy either especially as i am bottom of the pile CI and have had my fair share of speaking to officers etc which went badly.

That is what is definitely bad about it as no volunteers should be paying for these courses when it’s required to do certain things. They are benefiting from it not us really. Ideally what they should do which would save money overall is don’t make it a requirement in the first place. Like requiring it for teaching first aid course is just ridiculous and makes no sense compared everything else you can go on a course to then be able to teach that course. Especially a course like first aid which are important life saving skills and there should not be a barrier to this. It also i imagine makes wing first aid officers etc job very difficult leaving alot of the work of doing these courses solely on them.

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You have evidence of explicit consent and encouragement from both Wing Commander Matterface and AOC 22 Grp, so go for it if you feel it’s relevant and helpful.

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what evidence do you mean?

The comment directly above yours, and Jill’s comments in the last town hall.

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