Helping 10,000 women relaunch their careers with confidence

Successful Mums is an independent training provider (ITP), founded by Jane Knight – a mum on a mission to help women, particularly mums, get back to work, or start a new career after maternity leave or a career break.

Jane’s original goal was to help 100 mums, but in her nine years of operation, the organisation has actually supported almost 10,000 women from right across the UK.

This case study looks at how Successful Mums works with awarding organisation, Gateway Qualifications to help address challenges and make a significant, positive difference to the lives of thousands of women.

The Challenge

Successful Mums works with a wide range of women, including those who have held corporate roles before maternity leave, those on career breaks, those who have never worked, those who have not worked in the UK, and women who have been made redundant.

Some learners are looking to get a job that fits around their family, or change career, while others are exploring the possibility of starting their own businesses.

These women often face substantial barriers when trying to return to work, including a lack of confidence, outdated skills, and difficulties in finding flexible roles that can accommodate their caring responsibilities.

Jane Knight, Successful Mums founder, explained: “A lot of our mums are lacking in confidence. They’ve lost their way a bit, but they are so talented and experienced; they just need that extra support to help them get back on track.”

Successful Mums set out to create programmes that would update these women’s skills and help to rebuild their confidence, giving them specialist support to find flexible employment or start their own enterprises.

Successful Mums set out to create programmes that would update these women’s skills and help to rebuild their confidence, giving them specialist support to find flexible employment or start their own enterprises.

The Solution

Successful Mums offers a combination of in-person, and online courses tailor-made to meet the needs of (mainly) mothers. These programmes cover important areas like digital skills, which are increasingly important in most jobs, and practical units to support learners who want to start a business, for those who would like to be self-employed.

“We do a combination of face-to-face and/or online,” says Lisa Harriss, Head of Quality and Curriculum. “This approach lets learners benefit from the flexibility of online learning, while also benefitting from the Successful Mums community, and the support offered by face-to-face sessions.

“Having a balance is important, it enables mums to manage their learning alongside their family and personal commitments.”

Key qualifications offered through this collaboration are Gateway Qualifications’ Level 2 Award in Digital Skills and the Level 2 Extended Certificate in Digital and IT Skills. Lisa continues to be impressed by its flexibility, she said: “These digital awards are so flexible, a bit like, Play Doh, we can mould them to fit the needs of our learners, and they are ‘buildable’… you can deconstruct them and rebuild, choosing units to keep the qualification relevant to the learner.

This qualification helps women develop the digital literacy learners need to thrive, whether they are returning to work or launching a new business.

Lisa added: “Learners also need to know about, cybersecurity, AI (Artificial Intelligence), VR (Virtual Reality) etc, and all these new technologies, because when they go for interviews, this is what employers are looking for.”

These digital awards are so flexible, a bit like, Play Doh, we can mould them to fit the needs of our learners, and they are ‘buildable’… you can deconstruct them and rebuild, to keep the qualification relevant to the learner.

Conclusion

The collaboration between Successful Mums and Gateway Qualifications is a strong example of how targeted support and flexible learning can create real change in the lives of women returning to the workforce.

Both Jane Knight and Lisa Harriss, who are mothers themselves, bring specialist understanding to the challenges faced by their learners, this improves the value of the support they provide.

By offering high-quality qualifications that can be tailored to the needs of the learners, incorporating essential skills like digital literacy, AI and VR, and sustainability, this partnership is preparing women for both current and future opportunities.

The ongoing support and flexibility provided by Gateway Qualifications are central in helping these women rebuild their confidence and giving them skills that enables them to make valuable contributions to the workforce and their communities.

As this partnership continues to develop, it is set to impact the lives of even more women, supporting gender equality, increased economic participation, and sustainable growth.

By integrating these topics into their digital skills training, Successful Mums makes sure that learners are prepared for the ever-changing demands of the job market.

Embedding digital literacy in training is key to closing gender gaps – FE Week