Education & Training overview
Choices at 14
Choices at 16
Choices at 18/19
Adult Education/Continuing Education
Additional support
Volunteering
Apprenticeships & Training
If you want to study for a degree but need flexibility to study around your current job, family and commitments or you don’t have traditional entry qualification then The Open University may be an option for you.
Adult Education/
Continuing Education
Whether you want to change careers, are looking for promotion or just want to ensure you stay employable, increasing your skills and knowledge is important. It’s never too late and there are lots of opportunities to learn and develop.
Ask yourself whether you need to learn:
a small, specific skill, tool or process that you might be able to learn in a few hours
a skill that requires practice and gradual improvement to help you change jobs
a new set of skills to help you change career
core skills such as English and Maths. These are skills very often needed to access a wide range of jobs.
Once you know this, you’ll have an idea whether the new skills you want are something you can learn yourself, through your employer or something you need help with through a short course or part-time or full-time learning.
Did you know that if you are over 16 and left school and need basic English, Maths and/or IT skills you may be able to get these FREE? See the Adult Learning information below for more information.
Please follow this link for information on financial support available.
Skills health check
The National Careers Service offers a free Skills Health Check. Working through it can help you decide what kind of jobs might be right for you. You’ll be able to download your report once you’ve completed at least one assessment.
Funded Local Authority Adult Education Provision
Bedfordshire Employment and Skills Academy (BESA) is the internal training provider within Central Bedfordshire Council and the provision is funded by the government. You can access funded education and employment support if you’re aged 16 and over, and live or work in Central Bedfordshire and Bedford Borough (subject to eligibility).
BESA can help you:
get back into learning
gain skills and qualifications to help you into work
gain skills and qualifications to help you progress at work
To discuss your options, please complete an online enquiry form and one of BESA’s friendly Advisors will contact you.
Free courses
There is also a range of FREE training on offer.
Open Learn aims to break the barriers of education by reaching millions of learners around the world, providing free educational resources and inviting all to sample courses that our registered students take – for free! These are free online courses from the Open University
Future Learn offers a diverse selection of courses from leading universities and cultural institutions from around the world. These are delivered one step at a time, and are accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop, so you can fit learning around your life. They cover subjects such as business management, health and psychology, languages, law, computer science and more
Other ways to self-learn include visiting your local library. You can access books of all kinds including online books and audio books. The libraries also offer learning events throughout the year: Central Bedfordshire Libraries.
Other providers of further education
Further Education
Apprenticeships - Apprenticeships combine practical training in a job with study. More information can be found on the Apprenticeships and Training page.
Higher Education
University of Bedfordshire
University of Northampton
The Open University
Open University
If you want to study for a degree but need flexibility to study around your current job, family and commitments or you don’t have traditional entry qualification then The Open University may be an option for you.
