ESOL Plus Employment Hub

Published in 2025, the Inclusive Talent Strategy (ITS) is a vital early step in delivering the London Growth Plan. It aims to ensure that all Londoners can benefit from growth by building a skilled workforce and helping more people access high-quality jobs, while making it easier for employers to find the talent they need. London’s government, the Mayor and London Councils, are leading this work, but the ambitions in the strategy can only be achieved together with partners across London. We are inviting employers, employment and careers providers, health services and community organisations to get involved in shaping the city’s future workforce. Find out more on the dedicated ITS webpage. 

Between September 2018 and September 2019, the Mayor’s ESOL Plus Employer Partnership Pilot funded partners to identify and fill gaps in ESOL provision for workers, particularly those in low-paid and insecure employment. Battersea Academy for Skills and Employment (BASE) was awarded £20,000 match-funding to pilot ESOL provision for employees, and to evaluate this work to support the case for employer investment in ESOL. You can find out more about the provision in the case studies section.

The ESOL Plus Employer Partnership guidance has been formulated from the project's learning, and is designed to provide practical advice to adult learning providers and employers on how to set up or improve access to ESOL provision for people who are working. 

In 2012, the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion was commissioned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) to examine pre-employment English language provision in London and how it could be improved to help support Londoners in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), and Employment and Support Allowance Work Related Activity Group (ESA-WRAG) into work. 

Following the report, in 2013, a workshop titled ESOL Works: building on best practice for supporting people into work, convened by the GLA, Jobcentre Plus, Skills Funding Agency, Association of Colleges and National Careers Service, brought together JCP officers and local ESOL providers to discuss in detail the steps needed in order to successfully support people into work. A report of the discussions which took place and the resulting action plan can be found below, alongside the Analysis of English Language Employment Support Provision.

High Trees Community Development Trust is based in Lambeth, delivering services across education, employment, youth work and community action. English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is a key strand of our community education work, supporting over 200 learners each year to improve their English, build confidence and participate more fully in local life. Many of the learners we support face multiple barriers to mainstream education, particularly those in low-paid, insecure employment. 

In 2023, we launched Strength in Words, a three-year research and delivery project in partnership with The Bell Foundation, focused on improving access to ESOL for people in work. While ESOL is often available during the school day, this model does not work for people with shift-based jobs, zero-hours contracts or caring responsibilities. Our aim is to better understand the barriers that prevent people in work from accessing ESOL and to co-design practical, inclusive models of delivery that can shape future provision. 

To inform the research, we worked with our ESOL learners to co-design a survey exploring experiences of speaking English in the workplace and accessing ESOL. This has now reached over 100 people through local events and drop-ins, supported by other grassroots partner organisations. Alongside this, we have been engaging with ESOL providers to understand what needs to change within the current system and speaking with employers to explore how they can play a more active role in supporting language learning among their staff. 

As part of the pilot phase, we introduced flexible evening drop-in ESOL classes and sector-specific courses, such as for the cleaning sector, shaped around real workplace communication. We also co-designed and delivered our first workplace-based ESOL course with Lambeth Council, involving 12 grounds maintenance operatives from the parks team. The 10-week course focused on employment-related vocabulary, speaking and listening skills, and building confidence in professional contexts. Learners reported improved communication and independence, and a stronger sense of connection with their colleagues. Due to the success of this pilot, the group returned for a follow-on course with strong support from their employer. 

We are now developing further employer partnerships and expanding our ESOL-for-work offer to other sectors, including hospitality, construction, and health and social care. We will continue to build on the flexible and co-designed approaches that have proven effective so far, while documenting our learning to share across the wider ESOL sector. 

At the same time, the research strand of this project will continue – we are working with learners, providers and employers to generate practical insights and recommendations that can support system change. Our aim is to influence how ESOL is commissioned and funded, and to demonstrate the value of integrating language learning into workforce development and community-based education strategies. 

Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that ESOL works for everyone – not just those who are able to attend daytime classes, but also those in work, often balancing complex lives, who need flexible, relevant and inclusive provision. Through a combination of research, delivery and advocacy, we hope to contribute to a stronger, more equitable ESOL system for the future. 

We maintain traditional weekly ESOL classes at all levels – including those hosted in Lambeth Children’s Centres – with free on-site crèches for children aged 0–5, to support ESOL parent of young children who would otherwise be excluded from attending ESOL provision. 

Additionally, our flexible delivery model includes a weekly drop-in Conversation Club, open to all learners, with no eligibility restrictions, creating a truly welcoming space for anyone looking to improve their spoken English, including newly arrived people seeking asylum who would otherwise have to wait six months to access adult learning provision via the Adult Skills Fund. 

For further information about our ESOL programmes, please contact Morgana Zuccoli, Head of Community Education and Training, at [email protected]. 

Battersea Academy for Skills and Employment (BASE), working in partnership with their ESOL delivery partner, High Trees Community Development Trust, received funding from the GLA and Battersea Power Station (BPS), as part of the Mayor's ESOL Plus Employer Partnerships Pilot Programme, to work with partners to identify gaps in ESOL provision for local workers.

The initiative sought to support workers to progress in the workplace, address barriers to participation, build confidence and increase engagement of employers with learning providers at BPS. BASE coordinated the pilot and recruited participants – BPS employers – with the offer of free onsite English language classes for their staff. The key innovation of the programme was conducting the lessons at an onsite location at BPS, just minutes away from the learners’ workplaces.

The ESOL courses were delivered by High Trees, which customised its standard ESOL syllabus for the pilot to match the needs of BPS employers. This involved retaining the same format and teaching methods of traditional provision, while incorporating  content focused on customer service and hospitality.