United Kingdom

We're supplying expertise in strategic and operational management; business development; organisational structuring; strategy and policy development and implementation; government relations; research and data analysis; qualifications, skills and Apprenticeship framework development; regulatory arrangements for qualifications and standards.

We're currently working with start-ups, providing business development capability and capacity. We also engage in specific projects, where needed. One of these has led us to become increasingly involved in the health and safety sector, where we are working with a major packing manufacturing company helping them build sustained progress in their LOTO, WPT, and Contractor Management/PtW excellence initiatives.

We also provide centre co-ordination, administration, and virtual assistant services to small and medium training providers delivering regulated and non-regulated qualifications.

Oman

Over the years we've completed many projects in Oman, working with our key partner, Competence HR.

We've developed competency models, in the form of technical competence frameworks, for a wide range of businesses in the Sultanate, including internet/broadband providers, an airline, a power generation company, a facilities management company providing services to the oil and gas industry, and oil and gas contractors.

We also provide Executive coaching for national leadership programmes with the Ministry of Labour and state-owned businesses. And we've delivered leadership development workshops that lead to UK leadership qualifications at Level 5 and Level 7.

A major programme of work back in 2017 was working with the then Ministry of Manpower (now Labour), as part of Oman's Tanfeedh initiative 2.1 project — we developed a sustainable system for the development, maintenance, and implementation of National Occupational Standards (NOS).

Working with the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL), we developed training provider approval criteria and processes for their Standard for Training Approval and Recognition (STAR) framework.

We've also worked with Competence-HR to roll out a talent-management system for a national technology sector start-up company.

International Labour Organization (ILO) · Ongoing

A NOS Development Toolkit for the Kingdom

We are working with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) in building a national skills system based on National Occupational Standards (NOS).

At the heart of the project is a three-part NOS Development Toolkit, giving practical, step-by-step guidance on developing NOS and putting them to work.

Working in the Kingdom

The project includes two missions to Saudi Arabia. The first, now complete, brought stakeholders together in Riyadh to consult on the structure and format of the toolkit and to demonstrate draft modules from Parts A and C.

The second mission, in early November 2026, focuses on building capacity within MHRSD. We'll work alongside Ministry staff to put the toolkit's processes into practice, identifying the NOS requirements for two job roles in a selected sector.

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Nepal

British Council · Asian Development Bank (ADB) · Ongoing

Lessons from the UK for Nepal's qualifications framework

The Asian Development Bank invited us to present at a roundtable in Kathmandu on what the UK has learned from its forty-year journey with qualifications frameworks and regulation.

The presentation traced that journey from the UK's first framework in the mid- to late-1980s to the present day. It drew on Stirling's own experience of working within the system since the early 1990s: first as an adult educator, then as a government regulator, then as a consultant in the UK and, more recently, advising governments overseas on TVET policy and operation. The aim was to help Nepal identify the key opportunities and challenges ahead.

We have now been asked to extend this work. We are developing options, design principles and potential qualifications architectures to help Nepal decide how best to implement a modular, TVET-focused National Vocational Qualifications Framework (NVQF), with clear bridges and pathways to general and higher education.

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Earlier work in Nepal

In Nepal, we worked with the national Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training to develop an Occupational Demand Tool (ODT survey tool) at micro- and meso-level. This formed a major component of the British Council and EU-funded Sakchyamta project, designed to establish an LMI framework to develop a demand-led TVET system. We were fortunate enough to see some breathtaking landscapes as the project included field-testing the ODT survey tool with employers in the Agriculture sector. It also included developing a comprehensive User Manual, and providing training to CTEVT staff on using the Tool with employers. We were delighted that after COVID-related delays, the ODT survey tool was launched, to great effect. You can watch a Doodle animation about the ODT survey tool here.

We also designed, managed and facilitated two workshops, for the British Council Dakchyata project, to bring the public- and private-sector together to produce a roadmap for the establishment of a TVET PPP, through the structural development of a Policy Guiding Document aimed at policymakers in the public sector.

Vietnam

In Vietnam we carried out an in-country research & feasibility scoping project for the British Council, to provide the Vietnamese Government with a routemap and project plan for the implementation of the Vietnam Qualifications Framework.

We presented our findings at a TVET conference in Hanoi at the close of the project, featuring both the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

The outcomes of this project formed the basis for the Vietnamese Government's Vocational Education Strategy.

Egypt

As part of the Egyptian Government's TVET Reform programme, we worked for the British Council to develop a Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) framework, LMI Strategy, and LMI Guidebook for the Egyptian Engineering Employer Training Partnership (ETP).

We then worked with the Engineering ETP directly to develop their LMI capability through workshops, one-to-one support, and pilot-testing of the system with Engineering companies from around the country's industrial centres.

Türkiye

In Türkiye we worked with the biggest vehicle manufacturer in the automotive sector to project manage the development of automotive manufacturing curriculum, schemes of work, learning materials and assessments for Turkish qualifications used in the Turkish Qualifications Framework.