The Employment and Skills Convention returns to Manchester on Thursday 2 July.

This major annual event for the employment and skills sectors brings together delegates from across central and local government, employers, providers, and third sector organisations to tackle key issues in policy and practice.  

Join us this year as we explore how to grow opportunity and unlock potential in a changing workforce.

As the world of work continues to change, we’ll explore the key questions: how can we create and connect young people to opportunity? How is demand for skills evolving as technology reshapes jobs? And how can workers and employers be supported to thrive in a changing economy?

You can register below to be on our waiting list for the convention. Places are limited to two people per organisation to maximise networking opportunities.

If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at the convention, please get in touch at [email protected].

With thanks to our sponsors: Maximus UK, Edge Foundation, Ingeus, Youth Futures Foundation and City & Guilds.

View our programme

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Speakers at the convention will include:

The convention is now fully booked, but if you would like to register to be on our waiting list please do so below.

There will be photography and filming at this event to support and promote our work through our communications channels. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.

10 Gorffennaf 2026

Building trust before jobs: supporting NEET young people in East Finchley 

Andrew Potter, Project Manager of the JobsPlus pilot in East Finchley, outlines a different approach to supporting young people into employment and training.

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29 Mehefin 2026

What enables the effective design, delivery and evaluation of local work and health programmes?

This report presents findings from an evidence review on what enables the effective design, delivery and evaluation of local health and work programmes.

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29 Mehefin 2026

Scoping report: Labour Market Evidence Programme

This scoping report as part of the Labour Market Evidence programme provides a summary of the work undertaken by IES and L&W between October 2025 and March 2026 including user consultation. It summarises the evidence needs of local policy makers and sets out how these needs can be addressed.

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23 Mehefin 2026

VocTech Challenge: Skills for an Economy in Transition

The VocTech Challenge aims to accelerate the adoption and deployment of technology to help every adult in the UK get the skills they need to participate and benefit from our transitioning.

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18 Mehefin 2026

Labour Market Briefing: June 2026

Our analysis of the ONS labour market statistics, released on the morning of 18 June 2026.

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18 Mehefin 2026

Labour market stats response, June 2026

L&W’s chief executive Stephen Evans responds to the latest labour market data from ONS.

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17 Mehefin 2026

Evaluation of Central London Forward’s Youth Guarantee Trailblazer 

Learning and Work Institute has evaluated the first year of delivery of Full Potential, the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer delivered by Central London Forward.

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9 Mehefin 2026

Innovative, “hyper-local” approach to employment support completes two years

An innovative employment support pilot spanning Medway to Merseyside has shown promise reaching social housing residents who are out of work but do not typically access mainstream support.

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9 Mehefin 2026

Final report: Evaluation of the JobsPlus Pilot

This evaluation of JobsPlus builds on the interim findings published in September 2025 to provide evidence on whether the model can be adapted to the UK context and effectively implemented to improve employment outcomes.  

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