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.
What is the best course for me?
You need to do a pre-course assessment. You can also do it online, but a face-to-face assessment is best.
- Online assessment - click ‘Start Assessment’ on the course page
- Or book a face-to-face assessment - call 0204 582 0423 or contact us by email at universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk for an appointment. You can also come without an appointment.
Times:
- Every Monday 12- 2pm
- Every Wednesday 6-8pm
- Every Friday 11am-1pm (23rd August – 6th October)
Our in-person digital and computer skills pre-course advice and assessment sessions are every Monday 11am-1pm. We also have advice sessions on:
04/09/2023 Mon 11am – 1pm
06/09/2023 Wed 5pm – 7pm
08/09/2023 Fri 11am – 5pm
11/09/2023 Mon 11am – 1pm
13/09/2023 Wed 5pm – 7pm
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
- Grammar in practice: upper intermediate (level 1-2)Course start date: Wed 27 Sep 2023 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Unsure when to use present perfect or past perfect? Is reported speech still causing you problems? Do you need to practise your conditionals? Join this course and put your grammar into practice in speaking, writing, reading and listening. Gain confidence in using grammar effectively through high level and engaging tasks
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment 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 £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £75.00 - Communication skills for business: how to be clear, concise and organised in your writing (level 2)Course start date: Wed 4 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Online
You can have the most amazing business ideas, but if you cannot communicate them, they will be of very little use. Join this course and explore how clear writing leads to clear thinking. You will develop the key skills needed to share information and ideas effectively inside and outside your company whether writing internal memos, emails to line managers, communications to customers, business proposals or reports, By the end of the course, you will be able to organise your business writings to suit the reader, convey ideas clearly, concisely and coherently and be confident you can express complex matters simply and effectively.
Do you manage a team? Are you taking part in work meetings feeling your voice isn't heard? Do you need to give presentations, make sales pitches, or persuade others to follow your proposals? If so, then this course will help you. You will learn different techniques used in drama to enable you to create an effect. You will practise how respond to others so that they engage with you. You will focus on how to manipulate your voice, how to project and how to focus on the emphasising the meaning of what you want to say.
You need to do a pre-course assessment activity to make sure this is the right course for you. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 to book a face-to-face appointment. Or click the Start Assessment button on this page.
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 here
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £75.00 - Grammar in practice: advanced (level 2+)Course start date: Wed 4 Oct 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Is your grammar holding you back? Learn how to communicate more effectively by analysing, discussing and experimenting with English grammar. This course will help you realise that grammar is really about meaning: understanding better the meaning of what someone is saying and expressing yourself more meaningfully.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name). The course runs over three terms (though you may start any term, places allowing).
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 here
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £90.00 - Maths for life and work (level 1)
Course start date: Wed 20 Sep 2023 (and 3 other dates)Location on this date: Online
Do you want to prepare for Functional Skills Level 2 maths? Do you need to improve your maths to become more confident in problem-solving, analysing and making decisions at work and in your personal life? This course will help you with all of the above and make maths come alive. You will see how mathematics is everywhere and you will develop the maths you need to participate, make progress and express yourself in today's society. You will work on tasks which require you to use whole numbers and decimals, fractions and percentages and recognise the relationships between them. You will work on solving problem involving time, money and measurements, as well learn how to measure confidently and convert between units of measurement. You will be able to state properties of shapes, both 2D and 3D and be better able to interpret, discuss and comment on the graphs, charts and tables you see in newspapers, on the internet and at work.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).
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.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00 - Communication skills for business: how to tell a story with data in your writing and presentations (level 2)Course start date: Wed 24 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Online
Data is everywhere and its use is commonplace across businesses of all types and sizes. However, is it enough to be able just to access and read data? Increasingly you need to know what story the data is telling you and what story you are going to tell about the data. This course will help you develop storytelling techniques so not only will you able to convey simplex and complex data to an audience, you will be able to do so in a captivating way. You will learn how to construct clear, relevant narratives, focus on what is important, and practice using your voice and other dramatic techniques to enable your data to be impacting and engaging.
You need to do a pre-course assessment activity to make sure this is the right course for you. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 to book a face-to-face appointment. Or click the Start Assessment button on this page.
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 here
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £111.00 Concession £70.00 - ESOL: Develop your writing: grammar, vocabulary, expression (advanced)Course start date: Wed 24 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you already have a good level of writing but wanting to take it up to a level suitiable for professional work? Are you wanting to develop your expressive skills in general? This course will help you improve your writing by focusing on meaning and how you can become a more skilful user of English, not concerned only with accuracy. You will work on how you can use grammar in different ways to say different things. You will expand your vocabulary so you can say more with fewer words. And you will work on how you can influence your reader.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment 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 £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £90.00 - English Functional Skills (Level 1)Course start date: Wed 31 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you want to develop your English skills to be confident at work and in daily life, as well as gain a qualification? Level 1 functional skills exam is the first step in showing employers and others you have a good level of English reading and writing and that you can speak well in a variety of situations.
Please note: you MUST pass the first 6 weeks of the course. You must attend every class and do the necessary homework. If you do not, you will not be able to continue the course.
Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 4582 0423 for information and to book a face-to-face pre-course assessment. You can also click the Start Assessment button on this page.
This course is free for learners who meet the residency criteria and have not achieved a GCSE grade C (4) and higher in EnglishFull fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00 - Matters of opinion (level 2)Course start date: Wed 17 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Do you need to improve your fluency, your vocabulary and your pronunciation? Join this course and learn how to express your opinion and talk about important topics: love, politics, films, current affairs, morals. This course will help you develop your grammar and to talk in a more complex way.
You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment 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 £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £75.00
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