The Essential Skills Support Unit (ESSU) is a centre of excellence for the professional development and quality improvement for organisations, managers and practitioners involved in Skills for Life and generic teaching. It is also a resource for businesses and other organisations seeking to improve the skills of their workforces or the communities in which they operate.“Skills for Life” has become the generic term for literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages since the Government published its strategy with the same name in 2001. The strategy drew attention to the profound impact on the economy, and on society, of under developed Skills for Life. It also raised a number of concerns about the quality, quantity and relevance of Skills for Life provision available at that time. It proposed a radical overhaul of teacher training, methods of teaching and the qualifications available to learners.

 

There is an extensive network of Skills for Life providers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. An early report, following the publication of the strategy, proposed that a unit should be set up to support this network to meet the challenges of the strategy. The ESSU was created, as a direct result, in 2002. The unit was one of the first in the country and has been hugely influential on local, regional and national policy and provision ever since.