Pathway Group is a leading skills provider focused on empowering individuals through training and support to enhance their employability and personal development. They offer tailored programs in various sectors, maintain strong employer connections, and utilize an integrated IT platform for client support and tracking. The organization has a proven track record, high stakeholder satisfaction, and a commitment to adapting to market needs while fostering a collaborative and positive workplace culture.

1. Pathway Group Kickstart
Employability Offer
General Information

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The Pathway Group Journey
Our Vision and Mission
Our Vision Our Mission
Changing Lives though Skills and Work
Enhancing knowledge, Developing
Skills and Changing Behaviors to
Transform Communities
The Pathway Group aspires to be an organisation that Changes Lives Through Skills and
Work with the aim of becoming an indispensable partner of choice. In order to achieve this,
a whole organisational approach to engagement is essential. It is important that all staff
work together to create a positive, entrepreneurial culture which is responsive to the needs
of the local, regional and national economy.

3. `
Some background information
• Pathway First Ltd T/A Pathway Group is a leading skills provider with a vision of
Changing Lives Through Skills and Work. For the past 20 years, we have been at the
forefront of supporting individuals through their journey into and during employment
delivering qualifications tailored to job outcomes linked to employers. We exist to
encourage and advance employment opportunities by matching the needs of business,
individuals and communities.
• Pathway Group have extensive experience in delivering training, support and pre-
employment guidance to priority groups and place considerable importance on
supporting the individual in their general wellbeing. We take a bespoke approach to
identifying customer needs, existing skills, aspirations and ability and providing
information, advice and guidance to overcome any barriers they may face in gaining
and sustaining employment. We also have an extensive network of
employer/employment opportunity/placement links
• Pathway Group founded Thinkfest, its events division which holds over 100 free B2B
events a year across the country; established The Asian Apprenticeship Awards, now
known as BAME Apprenticeship Awards, to celebrate the talent and diversity of British
Asian Apprentices, their employers and training providers; and is the founding member
of the BAME Apprenticeship Alliance which is a network of employers that strives to
address apprenticeship diversity through policy, advocacy and conversationsOther
General Information
• Over 7 years’ experience as a Welfare to Work Provider.
• Provider Financial Audit by ESFA in July 2018 as Satisfactory – 0.56% error rate
across Apprenticeship, Traineeship, Adult Education Budget and Advanced Learner
Loans.
• Matrix reaccredited in Feb 2019, having status for 9 years
• IIP Silver status retained in Jan 2019, having status for 13 years

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Track Record
At Pathway our aim is to see people empowered and with the right skills to find and/or stay in
employment or to progress in their career. To do this we offer training in different provisions:
• Work Program 2011-2018 (6,178 starts)
• Troubled Families Program (285 starts)
• Apprenticeships (2988 Starts)
• Adult Education Budget (AEB) (5,646 Starts)
• Advanced Learner Loans (ADVLL) (4,226 Starts)
• Traineeships (301 Starts)
• Skills Support for the Unemployed (SSU) (658 Starts)
• Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) (1384 Starts)
• NEETS (305 Starts)
• Worked with over 2335 employers since 2011
In 2019/2020, we were awarded 2 new prime contracts in the devolved AEB areas of GMCA and
the GLA. In the same period, we were awarded a WMCA subcontract for Serco in AEB and ESF
provision.
Contract values: £5,000,000. Combined Targets: over 3,000 learners.
Implementation included:
• Sourcing and setting-up of 4 centres
• Recruiting/inducting/DBS checking 40 additional staff.
• Sourcing employers
• Sourcing learners
• Administration
• ICT
• Covid Restrictions
This additional infrastructure and resource enabling Pathway to exceed all
KPI’s - overachieving on our contract value, achievement rates and progression rates. Due to this,
we have had growth in all three contracts whilst maintaining a healthy cash flow.
With this experience of Employability/Training, Pathway Group will utilise its current knowledge,
systems, staffing and infrastructure in order to manage a successful project, adding value to the
client’s journey by supporting them into/after work.

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What makes our employability offer a winning programme?
Our success to date is credited to the level of support we provide to our clients, whether through
our dedicated Sector-based Work Academy Programmes or specific sector routeways such as
Health & Social Care, Digital, Customer or Warehousing. Thanks to the diverse range of
programmes we support individuals to develop techniques required for successful independent
living, into work as well as those in low paid unstable work into sustainable and better paid
employment, successfully progress within a chosen field alongside adopting our lifelong learning
philosophy through further training with our own and other institutions.
The personal development for employability skills is firstly determined and outlined in an
individual Personal Development Plan needs which includes but not exclusive to;
• Self-Assessment – This looks at how we set ourselves goals and what we can do to help
clients career goals and aspirations as well as a current state assessment
• Personal Behaviour for Success – The impact behaviour has on others and what we can do
to change it
• Effective Teamwork – Why is being part of a team important, the benefits of being in a
team and how we maintain a team
• Managing Your Health at Work – This is from the point of view of both employer and
employee ( how can we maintain our health so that we are able to work)
• Learning to be Financially Aware – What do we use money for, how can we save money and
budgeting
• Job Searching – Covers CV’s, cover letters, application forms, registering on job websites
and the best ways to job search
• Preparing for an interview – What is an interview for, questions you could be asked in an
interview and questions you can asked to show interest
• Interviews skills – The process of an interview and what to expect
• Personal Presentation for the workplace – Appropriate and inappropriate forms of dress in
different work sectors
• Time Management Skills – How we can manage our time better and the impact it can have
if we don’t
• Customer Service – The different types of customers, their wants and needs and the best
ways to deal with queries, problems and complaints
Employment support continues throughout the period the individual is on the Kickstart
programme and will be delivered in a blended way, using traditional face to face and on-line
methodologies, which were honed during the ‘lockdown’ period. Our support offer will include CV
development, job searching skills (to ensure a proficiency in on-line activity), support and
guidance on completing on-line applications, interview preparation, interview skills and
pastoral/motivational support should job applications not be successful. Pathway will monitor the
support given using a Learner Management System Aptem (further detailed below), which will
track the support given and use distance travelled measures to monitor and track the
development of employability skills and individuals’ confidence in applying for jobs. This approach
enables the employment support team to continually tailor support throughout the Job
Placement and ensures that all participants are highly employable at the end of the period.
We will complete participant surveys at 2, 4 and 6 months of the Job Placement. This survey will
measure satisfaction with the processes (e.g. recruitment/induction), enjoyment and value (to the
individual) of the job role being completed, the employability/job search support being offered
and the individuals confidence in competing in the labour market.
Pathway Group will utilise our existing knowledge to implement an employer package offer for
Kickstart Scheme participants to give them the opportunity to develop their skills, which includes:
• An individual Personal Development Plan

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• Weekly / Monthly 1:1 support and mentoring
• Careers advise, information and guidance
• Employability qualification including communication skills, mind set and motivation
• General day to day work behaviours such attendance, timekeeping, teamwork, etc
• Job search and preparation, application forms, interview preparation
• Creating a CV for visual engagement and impact
• Effective Communication that inspires
• Access to live online job skills workshops
• An individual Personal Development Plan
• LinkedIn Profile support, creation and Improvement
• Access to our online resource which allows members to refresh skills gained from the
online workshops and extend their learning. Subjects include workplace etiquette, careers
advice, wellbeing, personal safety, money management and much more
• ICT
• Emotional Wellness
• Financial Wellness
• Life skills
• Effective use of LMI, job sites and job portals
• Accessing the Hidden Job Market
• Use of Labour Insight Tools such as Burning Glass
• Job insecurity and the GIG economy
• Utilising IT platforms (Aptem – Evidence based job tracker)

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Client Tracking/Support
All clients and staff will be optimising the IT platform Aptem. This system does the following:
• Attendance
• Reviews
• Job Search
• Integrated Zoom for meetings
• CV builder
• eLearning
• Onboarding
This system will be reviewed by the Kickstart Team every week and actions implemented where
necessary. This will then get audited by the Quality Assurance team on a monthly basis.
Please refer to additional attachment for more information.
APTEM.pdf

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What people have said about us
• Much more than “just a training provider” they are prolific users of social media, they
have developed a series of different networking meetings / opportunities for people
and organisations and they initiated and organise the Asian Apprenticeship Awards.
• At all levels in the organisation, staff are passionate about the work they do and the
difference it makes to peoples lives
• They are keen to use their knowledge of the local labour market to provide relevant
skills training to support people into sustainable employment
• Staff could describe the progress their learners have made and the benefits they have
gained from the help and support provided
• The business is adapting to the changing external environment to ensure sustainability
Matrix Standard Feb 2019, Kathy Leahy
• Clear focus on empowering every individual to develop and innovate the approach to
conducting business to achieve high performance through transactional efficiency,
speed of search and the delivery of customer excellence
• A strong collaborative culture that is encouraging and nurturing at every level
• Extremely well understood vision, values and how this relates to individuals, their
behaviours and the work they do.
• 91.8% positive response for people feeling that the organisation’s values and
behaviours are amply demonstrated at all levels
• A culture of openness from leadership team and staff that works alongside
consultation to deliver continuous improvement
• Pathway Group has demonstrated a high level of agility and resilience over the years
they have been involved with Investors In People to produce a consistently good
performing enterprise
Investors in People Dec 2018, Terry Jones
Silver Accreditation awarded until 2021