Chelmsford College takes inclusive employment to the national stage

Chelmsford College took to the stage at the Association of Colleges (AoC) Annual Conference today, sharing how further education can help people who are often shut out of traditional recruitment find lasting work.

Jon Edwards, Commercial Manager at Chelmsford College, co-presented the session alongside Danny Brett, Managing Director of ThinkMove. Titled From Exclusion to Employment: How FE can unlock hidden talent and transform recruitment, it drew on the College’s award-winning Steps 2 Inclusive Employment programme, which supported 194 participants and helped 144 people into employment.

Rather than simply looking back, the session focused on what happens next. Jon and Danny explored how colleges can bring people facing barriers to work together with employers struggling to recruit and retain staff, and how FE can use the expertise and employer relationships it already has to make that connection work.

The presentation took an unusual approach, built around a daytime TV schedule. Familiar favourites including Cash in the Attic, Judge Judy, Porridge, Homes Under the Hammer, The Repair Shop and Kitchen Nightmares each became a chapter in the story of inclusive employment.

Behind the humour was a serious message, and one that is already shaping the College’s work. Start Well Employability Training, developed with ThinkMove, supports people through their first 90 days in a new job. The Inclusive Employer Blueprint CPD helps employers rethink how they find, interview and welcome new staff. Employability support is also built into the College’s Skills Bootcamps and SWAP (Sector-based Work Academy Programme) courses, which give jobseekers short, focused training linked to real vacancies. The new Adult Skills Hub opening in Chelmsford city centre in 2027 will expand this offer further.

Jon said: "We were really proud to be invited to speak at this year’s conference. FE already has so much of what’s needed to turn exclusion into employment. The opportunity is to think differently about how we use it, for the benefit of individuals, employers and our communities."