Home > News > April 2005 > 21-Apr-2005

The Training Foundation wins Queen's Award for Enterprise

The Training Foundation has won a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category for the creation and continuous development of its Certified Trainer Assessment Programme (TAP).

Nick Mitchell, founder and Chief Executive of The Training Foundation, said; "It goes without saying that everyone is really thrilled by this accolade; it’s not often that training gets into the limelight! And that’s what we are most excited about – this Award puts the spotlight on training skills, for far too long overlooked as the engine of effective learning."

TAP starts from basic premise that, as in other professions, the skills of all professional trainers and those supporting learning should be measurable and assessable to best-practice standards.

According to the Training Foundation, the programme provides an integrated framework for career development ranging from one-to-one coaching through to a Diploma in Learning Facilitation Skills. Achievement of any of the six trainer certifications and Diploma within the programme requires successful assessment of the trainer’s skills against the Training Foundation’s best-practice models.

"Research shows that around 90% of classroom learning effectiveness comes from the trainer’s critical skills rather than subject knowledge, yet traditional trainer certifications have made no attempt to model these or ensure that trainers can use them,” said Mitchell. “Far too much training has been lecturing, not training.

"In the past, subject matter knowledge was all too often the only requirement for someone to be called on to train others. This was unfair to everyone and not least the learners who gained little in terms of knowledge and skills transfer.

"Since 1998, we have seen more than 10,000 trainers and others supporting learning undertake intensive short-courses in the TAP methodologies, be assessed to its standards, and achieve certification. Many of these have actually been in tears during their course, asking "Why didn’t I know about this years go? All this time I’ve been lecturing, I’ve never been a real trainer!"

"If we extrapolate the number of individuals that are now receiving better quality training from those 10,000 trainers, we can see that several million people in the UK are now benefiting directly or indirectly each year from the TAP programme. This is fantastically rewarding for us and is why we feel we are on a mission. But there’s still a long way to go. We have only scratched the surface. The next ten years should be exciting!"

The Training Foundation’s award was one of 137 announced today – the highest total for 10 years. In total, 88 Awards were announced for achievements in International Trade, 41 for Innovation and 8 for Sustainable Development.

Winners range in size from a small firm with only two employees to an international giant employing nearly 4,500. 47% of this year's winners employ less than 50 people, and 30% are from the service sector.

Winning companies are entitled to use the Queen's Award Emblem on goods, packaging and marketing materials for 5 years. They are also invited to attend a reception at Buckingham Palace and receive an award presentation at their own premises by a representative of The Queen.

External links

For more information about the Training Foundation, visit: www.trainingfoundation.com

To find out more about the Queen's Awards for Enterprise, visit: www.queensawards.org.uk

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