University for Industry
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| Limited company | |
| Industry | Education |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Dearing House, 1 Young Street, Sheffield S1 4UP |
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Area served
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| Products | Training courses |
| Owner | Lloyds Development Capital |
| Website | www |
Learndirect Ltd, stylised as learndirect, is a private company owned by the private equity firm Lloyds Development Capital (LDC). Learndirect was formerly owned by the Ufi Charitable Trust, a not-for-profit organisation which sold Learndirect and its parent Ufi Limited to LDC in 2011. Ufi was created in 1998 to take forward HM Government's stated vision of a University for Industry in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and launched learndirect in 2000. Learndirect Scotland was the public-facing brand of the Scottish University for Industry, but has since become part of Skills Development Scotland as 'My World of Work'. Learndirect still operates in Scotland, and has offices in Glasgow.
Learndirect has a network of learning centres in England and Wales, and also runs some courses online. By 2006 the organisation was assisting half a million learners per year, and in January 2013 the cumulative number was in excess of 3.5 million. In 2004, an average of 65% of students completed their courses but this figure had improved to 92% by 2009. Learndirect participated as a "provider" in the UK government's mandatory unpaid work experience programme (commonly known as workfare, described by Learndirect and DWP as "Mandatory Work Activity") for those on Jobseeker's Allowance. Nearly the whole of Learndirect's revenue is from government contracts.
In March 2017, Ofsted inspectors gave the company the lowest possible rating, leading to Learndirect to seek court review and an injunction on the publication of this poor result. The court lifted the reporting restriction on 14 August 2017. Subsequently, the Department for Education stated that it would withdraw all funding from Learndirect, placing the future of the organisation at risk.
The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts undertook a review of the programme in 2005–2006; it found that the programme had received a total of £930 million in public funding, and was critical of the poor involvement of businesses, the high cost of marketing, and the low number of learners recorded as meeting their training objectives.
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