Skills for Life - Free Employability & Skills Courses
Develop the skills you need to participate fully in modern life, make progress at work and express yourself with confidence.
Whether you are a cleaner or a junior manager, office or construction worker, beginner or advanced level, our courses will help you develop the most in-demand workplace skills and at same time improve your general communication, English, ESOL, Data Literacy, Maths and Digital Skills. Our courses will also improve your skills and competences for life outside work from going to the doctors and filling out forms to talking about politics and discussing art.
Inside and outside work, in all types of jobs, at all levels, adults need to be problem-solvers, analysers, decision-makers, team-players, to see the bigger picture and be detail-oriented. Join our courses, online or face-to-face, and develop these universal essentials skills with our motivating, innovative and professional tutors.
Which course is right for me?
To make sure you book onto the right course, we'll ask you to do a pre-course assessment. A face to face assessment is best and we advise you to do this. If you can’t do a face to face assessment you can do it online.
- Online assessment - Choose a course from the list below and on the next page, click on ‘Start Assessment’.
- Or book a face-to-face assessment - call 020 8078 0482 or contact us by email at universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk for an appointment.
Face-to-face assessments take place every Wednesday evening between 6 and 8pm
Most of our courses are FREE if you are on a low income or claiming benefits. You will also usually need to do a pre-course assessment. For more details contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk or click the links below.
Filters
- English communication skills - for life and work (level 1)Course start date: Mon 16 Jan 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to improve your communication skills and become a more confident reader, writer, speaker and listener in English? On this course, you will develop all your English language skills so you can act confidently in the most important everyday situations inside and outside work. You will become a skilled communicator when writing, using digital resources and in face-to-face interactions. You will develop your active listening skills so you can understand and empathise better. You will work on how to express yourself when speaking in different situations. You will practise your reading so you can see the whole picture and find details, make effective decisions about what you read, and prioritise matters. You will focus on your writing so you can write whole stories, letters, emails and other expressive texts. By the end of this three-term programme, you will be a competent speaker, listener, reader and writer both at work and home and ready to do exams such as Functional Skills Level 2.
Before this course, you need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name). Use Chrome if possible.Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00 - ESOL communicating at work: customer care (entry 3-level 1)Course start date: Mon 8 May 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Are you working with the public – in a shop, at reception, on the phone? Are you a cleaner who needs to talk to members of the public? This course will help you communicate at work with customers, your colleagues and your manager. You will learn how to speak fluently and politely and use the vocabulary you need for work. You will practise how to help a customer or a client, make suggestions, give advice, begin and end a conversation, take messages over the phone, and talk about products.
Before this course, you need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name). Use Chrome if possible.
This course is FREE if a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £35.00 - Business English for professionals: communicating, managing, selling (Level 2)Course start date: Mon 8 May 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to work in business but lack the confidence? Do you already have a job but feel that your language skills are holding you back? This course will help you improve your business and work English so you can approach negotiations, meetings, presentations and workplace communication with confidence. You will focus on the skills that are most frequently called for in London job advertisements including: written and verbal communication, sales, influencing and negotiating, problem-solving and leadership.
You need to do a pre-course assessment face-to-face or online. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
This course is FREE if a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £189.00 Senior fee £151.00 Concession £95.00 - Becoming data literate: how to present data for work or study (level 2)
Course start date: Mon 8 May 2023Location on this date: Keeley Street
Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00 - Getting ready for English Language GCSECourse start date: Mon 8 May 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Are you excited by the English language? Do you want to gain an English language GCSE but are not ready yet to achieve this in a single year? Do you need to test your abilities before attempting the qualification course? Then this Getting Ready for English Language GCSE is the course for you. It will prepare you for the accreditation and familiarise you with its content, level and expectation.
You need to do a pre-course assessment face-to-face or online. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00 - ESOL: develop your English skills to find a better job (entry 3-level 1)Course start date: Mon 15 May 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Are you looking for a better job? Do you need help with your English in order to make successful job applications? This course will help improve your English for doing well in interviews, writing successful CVs, and making good job applications. You will also learn where to look to find new work. You will receive some free career advice, guidance and information to help you make progress in your current company or find a new type of work.
Before this course, you need to do a pre-course assessment face-to-face or online. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
This course is FREE if a) you are on a Low Wage or b) you are either on Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) or Employment & Support Allowance(ESA) or c) you want to get a job or progress into a better job and you receive other state benefits (including Universal Credit). For more information click hereFull fee £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £25.00 - A mile in my shoes: how to tell a story (level 1-2)Course start date: Mon 6 Feb 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
“I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes.....” What would it feel like for someone else to walk in your shoes so that just for that one moment they could be you? This course will help you find out. On this course you will work on creating and telling your own digital story. You will turn an event in your life into a story which you will record digitally. You will then invite other people to wear your shoes (literally), walk and listen to your story. This will be part of a small exhibition within City Lit! This is a unique opportunity to develop your English – your speaking, listening, vocabulary, range of expression, grammar and overall communication skill - as well as learn how to create an engaging and impacting story.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £30.00
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