About nextstep and KMGC

What is nextstep?

nextstep promotes learning and work to all adults aged 20 and over.
Whether you want to improve your career prospects, get a qualification or just make the most of your job, our services are available throughout England.

Our aim
Wherever you are in England, your local nextstep service will provide the same high quality service, giving you access to information and advice about learning and work.

Kent and Medway.

You are welcome to use the pages of information on this website. However we have a number of face to face services. If you want to see an Adviser in person please phone 01233 640214. You may then be seen at your local jobcentre or at other venues across Kent and Medway.

What is Kent & Medway Guidance Consortium?

The Kent & Medway Guidance Consortium is the government funded Information, Advice & Guidance Partnership for Kent & Medway.

We are a partnership of Higher Education Institutions, Further Education colleges, Adult Education Providers, Adult Careers Guidance Services, Job Centre Plus, and other statutory, community and learning organisations in Kent & Medway.

Originally founded in 1995 to design and implement guidance standards for local institutions and agencies giving guidance to adults, the KGC successfully bid for IAG pathfinder funding in 1999. We are now funded direct from the Learning & Skills Council Kent & Medway.

Our aim is to deliver information, advice and guidance about learning and work close to where people live and work.

Partner membership of the Kent Guidance Consortium is offered to community and voluntary groups to improve their capacity to provide good quality information and advice about learning and work to adults in Kent and Medway. Training is offered to staff and volunteers in signposting and referral, underpinned by sets of library resources available to be located in community settings.

There is also a Workforce Development team, dedicated to providing free advice and information about training opportunities and career development for employed people. The team can offer advice on how firms can access free help for staff to improve literacy and numeracy skills, as well as advice to employers and their employees about further education and training programmes available through local training providers, colleges and universities. Individual career development plans including psychometric testing of aptitudes, abilities and work preferences can also be arranged.

If companies are in the unfortunate position of having to make redundancies then our team can help by providing free redundancy counselling and a range of services to help people move quickly into another job or training programme.

The programme of Professional Development Seminars is open to all members of the Consortium.

In addition, Open College Network programmes have been developed in Kent & Medway accredited by the Qualifications & Curriculum Authority, to provide professional development for community workers and tutors in IAG Skills. A number of the Level 2 & 3 courses are currently running at local partner colleges and adult education centres.

A training needs analysis toolkit for community workers and a basic skills resources pack for personal and career development has been written.

All Information, Advice and Guidance provision is underpinned by the national Matrix quality standards, and where appropriate, voluntary and community based organisations are supported in achieving them.

• Report into learning and guidance needs of older people in Kent and Medway (pdf document)