Department for Education (DfE) is ramping up its drive to attract professionals to consider training others at college in the first campaign created by newly appointed agency VCCP, following a competitive pitch in June 2025.
“Give Your Skills New Life” will act as a national recruitment drive, designed to encourage people seeking a career change by articulating the rewards of training students.
While it is claimed that many possess the necessary skills, few realise that moving into further education is an option, let alone a viable career choice.
The campaign was built from the insight that many people have a desire for change, but are not sure whether to take a leap into something entirely new.
In order to encourage the change, DfE is positioning a career in further education as the perfect blend of new and familiar, which allows professionals to give their existing skills new life, and in so doing resurrecting their careers.
The campaign portrays the journeys of several professionals in England reaching a crossroads in their career, then being “re-energised” by moving into further education, passing on their knowledge to the next generation of workers in their field.
The campaign features real trainers and real students in colleges such as West Herts Barnfield College (Luton Campus), South Thames College (Wandsworth Campus), and Westminster College (Paddington Campus). In doing so, it aims to champion authenticity to explore such a significant career change in a way that feels achievable and compelling.
The campaign will run across TV, video on demand, digital, online video, OOH, radio, print and social for two months.
A series of four 30’ films use a “before and after” structure to spotlight professionals at a career crossroads, captured through the eyes of those who noticed their fading enthusiasm first – their friends and family.
While these stories explore the various catalysts for a career change, they aim to emphasise how making that step into further education can reinvigorate a love of one’s craft, reinforcing how a career change does not have to be a daunting leap into the unknown but, rather, a natural evolution in one’s professional journey.
In addition to the films, directed by George Daniell through VCCP’s global content creation studio Girl&Bear, the campaign will also run across digital, social, OOH, radio and print, with the aim of weaving the campaign into the daily lives of professionals, reinforcing that a transition into further education is an achievable next step.
The DOOH, social and display production created by Bernadette continued the story in digital channels, employing targeted messaging to encourage professionals to explore whether a transition could be for them.
VCCP creative director Zoë Stock said: “This campaign is all about the difference further education can make for trainers, rather than students. Most of us can relate to professional moments where you feel a bit over it, but equally starting from scratch is just too daunting. It’s been interesting to get under the skin of how that feels for people, and to think about how a somewhat unknown career option can be an opportunity to give not just your skills a second life, but yourself one too.”
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