Thousands of Liverpool City Region residents are to benefit from enhanced employment opportunities after one of the UK’s leading training providers was awarded a five-year contract for the area.

Realise, which trains more than 7,000 learners across the country each year, will deliver functional skills in English, maths and IT, as well as pre-employment training to better prepare people for the workplace.

Individual Adult Education Budget courses will also be provided in specific sectors, including health and social care and hair and barbering.

All courses will be open to those over the age of 19 and living in Liverpool, the Wirral, Sefton, Halton, Knowsley and St Helens.

Gregg Scott, managing director of Realise, said: “Despite the difficulties of the fallout of Covid-19, there are many fantastic opportunities for individuals in Liverpool City Region looking to enhance their skillset and their employability moving forward.

“Our job is to deliver training to make those opportunities a reality and to give people the chance to start and then build careers in their chosen field.

“The number of people in Liverpool City Region who have no qualifications has halved over recent times and we want to continue that trend.

“Due to the devolved powers the region enjoys when it comes to the Adult Education Budget, we will be able to deliver an innovative and flexible approach designed to meet the requirements of employers in the region.”

Realise has delivered Adult Education provisions in Liverpool City Region since August 2019 and successfully tendered for the new contract after a highly competitive process.

Gregg added: “We worked hard throughout the pandemic to ensure adult education and training continued in Liverpool City Region and we were proud to ensure training programmes were delivered to more than 1,200 adults during the height of lockdown through virtual learning.

“We want to build on that momentum and deliver programmes for well over 1,000 adults every year, making a real difference to their lives and the overall economic performance in Liverpool City Region.”

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “For too long, too many in our region have been held back from fulfilling their potential, not because a lack of ambition, but because of a lack of opportunity. I’m incredibly proud of the investment we’re making to improve people’s life chances, creating opportunities for them to build new skills and flourish in secure, well-paid jobs.

“The skills sector has always been vital to our economy, but it’s going to have an even bigger role to play in the coming years as we look to establish our region as a leader in some of the industries of tomorrow. By helping providers with a strong track record of delivery to expand their training services further, we can help even more people on their journey to building a brighter future for themselves – and our region too.”