NCFE announces Campaign for Learning acquisition

Education and skills charity NCFE and independent learning charity Campaign for Learning have announced plans for further alignment of their organisations.

Campaign for Learning has been delivering campaigns, training programmes, research and delivery projects and policy work to the education sector since 1997. It coordinates Learning at Work Week, which promotes a culture of learning at work and is marked by employers across the country, and also plays an instrumental part in the annual Family Learning Festival, which sees organisations hosting events that celebrate and inspire the role of learning in family life.

Joining the NCFE family, which also includes education, childcare and health qualifications brand, CACHE and end point assessment provider, EPA Plus, will help to safeguard Campaign for Learning’s future and its ability to understand and represent the needs of learners across all parts of society, with a particular focus on family, adult, community and workplace learning.

David Gallagher, chief executive at NCFE (pictured), said: “Campaign for Learning is a fantastic organisation, which has played a crucial role in establishing and developing best practice in learning, in key segments of society and the economy. Campaign for Learning has also been a valuable ally to NCFE for a number of years.

“With undeniable synergy between NCFE’s core purpose to ‘promote and advance learning’ and Campaign for Learning’s commitment to ‘the advancement of education by encouraging the active participation of individuals in all sections of society in the process of lifelong learning’, we can continue to work together for the benefit of the sector but with renewed focus, leveraging each other’s strengths in core areas of education to help engage more people in learning.

“Campaign for Learning brings an energy around learning, particularly around the widening participation agenda, something which NCFE is keen to explore further. Its hands-on experience of engaging directly with learners in a non-awarding capacity, will prove invaluable to NCFE’s core teams to help us better understand our target audience and streamline our services.”

“In light of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the education sector has found itself in unchartered waters, with mass school closures and unprecedented uncertainty for the economy. During these difficult times, it’s important for organisations to collaborate where they can for the good of the sector, for families and for communities.”

Campaign for Learning and NCFE have already worked together on a number of policy-led research projects and publications. The new agreement will see the brands continue to operate independently from one another to achieve their aims, but with a united core purpose.

Juliette Collier, joint national director at Campaign for Learning, added: “This partnership with NCFE marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter at Campaign for Learning.

“Despite being a small charity, we have worked hard to build up an impressive network of more than 3000 learning and development focused employers and key stakeholders across the education sector to help us achieve our ambition to promote lifelong learning.

“Political and economic uncertainty in light of Brexit and now, the COVID-19 outbreak, has caused a great deal of instability in the charitable sector. In the coming together, with NCFE, we will not only be able to expand our reach into new areas to help take our work to the next level, we will also be able to ensure the future of the charity and the benefit of its work for years to come.”