Short courses help adults to a second career

By Lucy Tobin. Demand is soaring for short courses, from drumming to shoe-making, among people seeking a portfolio career – and it's good news for colleges and universities.

Sue Baughan spent a week of this summer decamped to London to learn how to shape patterns on leather. The summer before that, it was sandal-making, and the one prior to that was spent making boots. By day, the 39-year-old from Boddington in Northamptonshire works full-time as a team co-ordinator for an environmental organisation. But in her evenings, holidays and weekends, thanks to that bevy of short courses, Baughan works on shoe-making. She's part of the new breed of Britons aspiring for a portfolio career using different skills to earn money – either at the same time or across a working life – and the country's higher education institutions are reaping the benefits.
Demand for short courses in subjects ranging from African drumming to accountancy via French and family history is soaring.
"Initially, I enrolled on a short course because I wanted a pair of fitted knee-length boots and had difficulty finding any to fit, so I thought I would try making some," Baughan explains. "I enjoyed the boot-making course so much that I decided to carry on learning about shoe-making and working with leather. The more I'm learning, the more I think I would like to change my career in the long term."
Baughan believes the current economic climate means it's a "good idea to have a variety of skills in different areas – it should make you more employable". She's now making shoes for her friends and family, signing up to more London College of Fashion short courses and setting up a workshop at her home. "In the long term, I hope to have enough skills and experience to start my own bespoke shoe-making business," she says.
Baughan is not alone. The LCF reports a burst of interest in short courses from portfolio careerists: from the 400 it ran two years ago, there are now more than 450, on subjects ranging from bridalwear to PR. The number of enrolled students has grown about 6% in the same timeframe, to 5,300 students this year. "The current working environment means far more people are signing up for short courses to invest in themselves," explains Linda Roberts, senior business manager for short courses at LCF. "When the crunch hit a few years ago, students began telling tutors they wanted to take more control over their lives and didn't want to be at the mercy of their employers. They wanted extra skills and resources up their sleeve to help stay financially afloat. That sense has only grown since then."
That was the reason Natalie James, 33, spent £800 and nine weeks' worth of Wednesday evenings learning fashion and editorial makeup at LCF. She had a full-time job in advertising, but was keen to expand her career. "Thousands of people were losing their jobs every day, with many looking at ways to transfer their skills," James explains. Since completing the course she has built up a portfolio of makeup work and established contacts in the industry; she is now combining advertising with teaching her own makeup lessons, and planning to launch her own consultancy.
It's not just creative subjects that are growing in popularity: so, too, are marketing and commercial courses, as hobbyists look to commercialise their skills. "We've seen a surge in demand for business-related courses from people who are already working on crafts and who want to start selling their products online and running a business in the evenings and weekends," says Roberts. "Seminars in online retailing, e-commerce and social media marketing are really popular."
Meanwhile, tutors at Anglia Ruskin report strong interest in short courses in its publishing department, with lecturer Leah Tether explaining: "The take-up for our six-week courses on editing, marketing, magazines, publishing and design software and web design surpassed our wildest expectations. The evaluation surveys carried out at the end of each course revealed that students are increasingly aware of the need to make themselves desirable candidates for employment. These courses make it possible to show tangible experience of certain skillsets on a CV and, even better from the student's point of view, don't cost several thousand pounds."
Around the country, colleges are responding to higher demand with free taster sessions. Pitman Training in Luton is offering free accounting, secretarial, PA and IT taster courses; would-be sports reporters can sign up to news agency Sports Beat's free introduction to sports journalism workshops in London and Manchester, and Beecome is offering a free introductory course in bee-keeping over a weekend in May.
Tutors say this kind of short course is often as popular among those just looking for a hobby. That's the case for lawyer Sam Ross, 27, who has just spent £199 on a 10-week course in songwriting at the Institute of Contemporary Music in Kilburn, north London. "I have been working as a corporate lawyer for four years and wanted to find some constructive time to work on my hobby," he explains. He's not about to turn away from the law to become the next Elton John, but is enjoying involvement in both worlds. "The legal market is so competitive and the job requires a lot of time and attention," Ross adds. "But I still wanted to try and nurture a hobby that has fallen by the wayside with a course."