Retraining: What you need to know

by Amber Rolfe

Thinking about retraining? It’s never too late…

Whether you’re looking to change careers, you need to develop your skills to get a promotion, or you’re just keen on broadening your skill set – retraining is a great way to make sure your skills and abilities are relevant and up-to-date.

To help you figure out if it’s right for you, here’s everything you need to know about retraining:

What is retraining?

Retraining is when people refresh, revisit, and develop their skills through continuous learning, training programmes, and courses.

It allows them to keep their abilities up-to-date with technological and business developments or facilitate a career change – and may also be needed to ensure employees are eligible to work under updated policies or new working conditions.

If any employee leaves a position and comes back, they could also be required to carry out retraining.

Who is eligible for retraining?

Anyone is eligible for retraining, no matter what your age or experience level.

However, it’s particularly common amongst long-term workers, or those who have been made redundant and are looking for a career change.

How to: Deal with redundancy

Career change CV template

Will I have to pay for retraining?

The cost of retraining will depend on how you get it.

If you’re currently in employment and your organisation offers you retraining, they’ll usually cover the costs.

However, if you’re seeking retraining independently – there may be fees involved.

Luckily, there are a range of financial support options available to help you fund your learning – from adult learning and higher education grants to career development loans and government retraining grants.

For more information on funding, visit gov.uk.

What types of retraining are available?

Retraining can be carried out in a range of ways and levels – whether it’s done on-the-job or independently. And you don’t necessarily have to sacrifice your job to do it.

Here are just a few types of retraining.

• Distance learning/online
• Classroom study
• Part-time study (while working)
• Full-time study
• Industry training
• Apprenticeships

You can often do the same type of training in any (or most) of the above ways, so all you have to do is make sure it works well with your current commitments.

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What are the benefits of retraining?

Retraining is a great way to broaden your skillset – whether it’s to increase your chances of employment or improve your skills within your current job.

Here are some of the key advantages of retraining:

For the employee

• Enhanced skills. By developing deeper skills within their industry, employees are able to do their jobs more easily and effectively.
• Better career prospects. By retraining, employees are able to learn the most in-demand skills and competencies within their chosen industry – making progression opportunities and future employment more obtainable.
• Increased job satisfaction. Retraining allows employees to learn and develop, meaning they feel more valued within their position.

For the employer:

• Better products and services. As a result of better informed employees, companies are able to produce the best possible products and services – whether it’s through refining processes with innovative ideas or improving customer service.
• Increased team morale. With employees happier in their jobs, staff turnover will be reduced. By educating current employees, employers could also save time and money on recruitment.
• Fresher outlook. Retraining allows companies to evaluate the way they do things, and improve where needed.

Six reasons you should start studying

Things to consider before you retrain

Although retraining has many benefits – it can also be a costly and time consuming process.

So if you’re not sure on what you want to do, you could be wasting your time developing the wrong skills. That’s why thorough research and thought is essential.

Before you commit to retraining, here are a few questions to ask:

• What career do you want to do?
• How do you know you want to do it?
• What skills do you need to develop?
• Will these skills be in-demand long term?
• What type of retraining suits you?

Once you’ve researched exactly how these new and developed skills will help you, you’ll be far more likely to gain from retraining.

Ready to start learning? View all available courses now