Case Study

Ingeus is passionate about supporting people to return to the workplace. Through our work with local councils we’re helping UK residents to gain access to even more employability resources and expertise – from CV writing to digital skills. For the Restart Scheme in Central and West London, the partnership with Ealing Council is proving particularly successful for its residents who speak little English. 

 

Sonia Santos, Ingeus Local Integration Lead explains: “Restart Scheme participants are all at different points in their lives – some have confidence issues, some haven’t been employed for a very long time, some have skills gaps. One of the biggest barriers for participants at our Ealing office is language, so we decided to do something to address it.” 

 

In January 2023 the Restart Scheme offered its pilot course teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in conjunction with Ealing Council and its Learn Ealing service. It has since been relaunched to offer ESOL and functional skills needed to return to employment; research by Learn Ealing into the needs of participants showed a maths and digital skills gap, something they now bridge. 

 

Although normally held at the Ingeus Ealing office, the current learners are attending the council’s Perceval House, which helps local residents feel part of their community and offers a new perspective on what happens at the council, experiencing its hustle and bustle first hand. The scheme is backed by the Performance Fund, which allows Ingeus to source specialist services and skills training to help Restart Scheme participants overcome their barriers to employment.  

 

The skills taught vary from learning how to use a computer to interview techniques, and all lessons are taught in English to encourage language learning at the same time. Participants have also been issued laptops previously as part of Ealing Council’s strategy to address digital poverty and in recognition of their attendance and achievements during the course.  

 

Yvonne Ogorek-Zarate, Curriculum Innovation and Development Manager, Ealing Adult Learning and Skills (Learn Ealing), explains: “We wanted to focus our energy on those people furthest away from the job market and it’s working really well. Our courses are planned in partnership with the Restart Scheme, mainly helping people who have been out of work for a significant time. 

 

“Our focus is primarily on teaching English. Everyone has an initial assessment before starting the course, so the tutor knows what level to pitch their teaching. It’s very much a beginner’s level, but it all helps towards them gaining a good command of English. For many lesser-skilled roles, a person’s level of English doesn’t need to be fluent, but for a good proportion of our residents it can be a barrier to progressing to better paid jobs.” 

 

People from all over the world attend the courses – a diversity which Yvonne says makes it a “very special place”. 

 

Svitlana has a master's degree in economic studies and was an economist at the National Railway Company in Ukraine before she came to the UK. She explains how the course has helped her: "At first, I felt quite isolated, not being able to communicate with doctors, shop assistants, GPs, or people from the job centre. Coming to this course helped me to make new friends and to work on my dream plan of building a family business here.” 

 

Another ESOL participant, Negassi, never went to a proper school, he speaks Amharic, Tigrinya and Eritrea and learnt to read and write through his church. Negassi says “This course is very important to me because it raised my confidence to work and apply for jobs. I can explain myself better, and I can say exactly what I need. I would say that this course opened my mind and opened many possibilities I couldn't see before." 

 

Learn Ealing has recently undergone an Ofsted inspection which included a site visit to the Ingeus Ealing office. The team received positive feedback and are looking forward to seeing their collaboration develop even further.