About Us

About the City and Guilds of London Institute

The City and Guilds of London Institute was founded in 1878 by the Corporation of the City of London and 16 livery companies (the Guilds) to protect and promote the standard of technical education. It was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in 1900 and has been linked with the Royal Family since 1881 when the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VII) became its first President. The current President of the Institute is HRH The Princess Royal.  The City and Guilds of London Institute carries out its purpose via the City & Guilds Group – which includes a group of businesses which generate money that is reinvested into its charitable purposes. Therefore, we do not seek charitable donations.

Today, the Group is made up of City & Guilds, ILM, Kineo, The Oxford Group, Gen2 and InterTrain, and operates in over 100 countries across the world. Not only do our businesses make money which we can reinvest in our purpose – all of them carry out our purpose through the products and services they sell. Our businesses all focus on different areas of skills development:

• City & Guilds is a global market leader in skills education. It develops programmes of learning, certification, assessment and learning technology to support colleges, training providers, and governments. Its wide range of globally recognised and respected qualifications span across eight levels in 28 industries.  City & Guilds has a presence in every further education college in the UK and delivers its products and services through over 10,000 approved centres worldwide.
• ILM is a global brand of leadership and management qualifications offered by City & Guilds. They help managers, education providers and employers to develop leadership and management capability to improve productivity and drive business performance. City & Guilds awards ILM qualifications to over 95,000 managers every year, and ILM products and services are available in over 80 countries.
• Kineo is a global workplace learning company that helps employers improve their businesses’ performance through learning and technology. It offers a fresh approach to eLearning management systems and managed learning services for corporate clients. Kineo has provided its award-winning services to some of the world’s leading companies including McDonald’s, BP, Marks & Spencer, Sony, Nikon, and Microsoft.
• The Oxford Group provides management training, leadership development and executive coaching across the globe to businesses, blue-chip companies, and the public sector. Since 2010, it has worked in 40 countries across five continents. The Oxford’s Group’s success and its long-term client relationships is its ability to measure the impact of its solutions on its clients’ businesses. Client satisfaction is very high, with over 80% of its business coming from referrals.
• Gen2 is a leading Cumbrian-based specialist training provider, offering technical and skills development in STEM-related industries. It is the largest training provider to the UK civil nuclear industry, working with over 250 employers – including the likes of Sellafield Ltd, Iggesund, and British Steel – across six sites.
• InterTrain is the UK’s largest commercial railway infrastructure training provider, with training centres across the UK. Intertrain is an NSAR ‘Gold’ Railway Training and Assessment provider, delivering a wide range of training, including Level 2 and 3 apprenticeships in engineering.

Together, we set the standard for professional and technical education around the world. Everything we do contributes to achieving our purpose, helping to change people’s lives for the better, and helping businesses and economies grow. And our Group values – leadership, imagination, and integrity – guide how we deliver our purpose by shaping everything we do, from the way we work to the quality of our products and services.

Making Money to Make a Difference

The desire for learning, for self-improvement, for the knowledge and skills to achieve goals in life is a universal demand.  Governments and business also understand that the education of their people is what makes their country and companies competitive. Education breeds economic and commercial self-determination.

This is a complicated and challenging time, and we are witnessing major shifts in the skills landscape – whether in terms of demographics, technological advances, legislation, or funding. Such challenges also breed huge opportunities, and the City & Guilds Group is well-placed to seize these.

We have been working to 5 strategic priorities:

1. Maximise market positions to exploit 14-19 reforms (T-level, maths, English).
2. Secure market leading profitable EPA position in our chosen markets.
3. Secure technical training acquisition(s), develop and deliver integrated engineering offer.
4. Materially improve performance and profitability in Corporate Learning.
5. Build and strengthen Group capability to support our long-term strategy.

We have a bold and ambitious agenda to:

1. Extend our leading positions in vocational awarding into technical training and securing greater scale and diversification in corporate learning markets with brands that are trusted by industry.
2. Develop a product and proposition philosophy built on developing people into a job, on the job and onto the next job.
3. Amplify our impact through Bursary Programmes, our Future Skills commission for Prisons and Princess Royal Training Award initiatives and extending our internal work experience and apprenticeship programmes.
4. Reinvest our surplus to improve lives, business performance and the landscape for education through:
5. Acquiring attractive complementary businesses in higher growth sectors.
6. Creating a rewarding environment for our people – ‘pay, progression, development’.
7. Providing thought leadership and policy input to the professional & technical skills and corporate learning sectors, in the UK and abroad.

The City & Guilds Foundation

The City & Guilds Foundation is an integral part of City & Guilds and has a specific focus on high impact social investment, recognition, and advocacy programmes as well as senior stakeholder engagement including activating our royal patronage. We are committed to removing barriers for individuals getting into work and celebrating best practice in training that delivers measurable benefits.  We are driven by evaluating the impact we have against the Theory of Change in conjunction with Cranfield University.

Our flagship programmes include:

Future Skills Commission for Prisons

Over the past five years, the City & Guilds Foundation has focused on supporting the rehabilitation of offenders and reducing reoffending through the proven vehicle of skills development.

There is a recognised and agreed need to reduce reoffending and evidence shows that upskilling prisoners, together with stable accommodation and support is the most effective way to counter recidivism. The Foundation is amplifying its work in this area through the launch of The Future Skills Commission for Prisons. The Commission has been established to support inspirational organisations who are delivering innovative programmes that support offenders to build their skills and move into employment through either grant funding or partnership working.

More information can be found here: https://cityandguildsfoundation.org/future-skills-commission-for-prisons/.

Bursaries

Our bursaries are designed to change people’s lives through skills. We know that for some people the cost of training can be a huge barrier to developing the skills needed to find jobs and progress in their chosen careers. Recent research indicates that without the support of bursary funding, those hardest to reach will find it harder to enter the labour market which favours those already in work. The bursary programme, first established in 2000 to celebrate our royal charter centenary, helps people in genuine financial need access training programmes so they can develop skills for meaningful employment. Research shows that participation in the bursary programme almost doubles progression into employment.

More information about our bursaries can be found here:  https://cityandguildsfoundation.org/bursaries-funding-for-training/.

Princess Royal Training Awards

The Princess Royal Training Awards provide royal recognition for employers in the UK who have invested in outstanding training and skills development programmes and which have resulted in exceptional benefits for their organisation and people.   The Awards are evidence based and recognise employers who achieve a demanding standard of excellence.  Although extremely robust the application process is designed to provide applicants with an opportunity to reflect on their training. All applicants are supported through the application process and provided with feedback on their programmes.  Successful organisations join an alumni community where they can share the impact of their training and learn from one another.

The Awards are actively supported by the President of City & Guilds, The Princess Royal, and are presented by her at St James’s Palace.

For more information please visit: www.princessroyaltrainingawards.com. 

Social Impact Framework

Evaluation is at the heart of what the City & Guilds Foundation delivers and has led to significant benefits for partner organisations.  Given the experience of the Foundation, the same evaluation framework is now being rolled out across the whole of City & Guilds to demonstrate our societal benefit and the wider impact we have.  Trustees have committed to reporting against impact for all the work of City & Guilds.