The FRA was founded in 2005 as a collaboration between Industry and the Government with the objective of increasing and improving the industry talent pipeline. The first college of its kind, the FRA has trained over 14,000 graduates now employed within the industry.
Through our courses, designed in collaboration with our industry partners, we can help you access the next generation of Gen Z talent and train and develop your existing staff. You'll be able to support the next generation of industry leaders, as well as tap into their perspective. You could offer work placements and mentorships, or work with our students on projects and challenges.
OUR COURSES
We offer a range of diplomas and degree courses aimed at developing entry-level talent, whilst ensuring the FRA graduates you employ are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to hit the ground running.
Our specialist online courses provide opportunities for your employees to upskill remotely in the evenings, to avoid any impact on the working day. Each week they attend one remote live evening lesson and complete independent study around work and other commitments. Click here to see all of our courses.
ENRICHMENT PROGRAMMES
Our industry enrichment programmes are at the centre of our curriculum strategy, ensuring our graduates are equipped with the academic knowledge, practical skills, and hands on experience they need to succeed in the industry.
PROJECTS, MASTERCLASSES & CHALLENGES
Students enjoy the opportunity to work on real industry project briefs, while brands benefit from the fresh perspective of the students and gain valuable insight into the mindset of Gen Z. For challenges, our Industry Collaboration team works with your brand to create a brief representing a real, specific industry situation, for which the students work in groups to find and present a solution. Masterclasses and talks offer a chance to showcase your brand’s career opportunities, USPs and workplace culture. These masterclasses give students insight into the inner workings of the industry to contextualise their theoretical learning.
WORK PLACEMENTS
We offer our students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in industry through work placements. Many of our students are offered roles at the brand after their placement, so it's a great opportunity for our partners to gain access to new talent and allow our students to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. The length of placements is either 3-weeks full-time (FE and HE students) to 3-months part-time (HE students only). We allocate students best suited to each available opportunity depending on the nature of the placement and a variety of other factors.
MENTORSHIP SCHEME
We run both group and individual mentorship schemes, giving students the opportunity to learn from industry professionals. The mentor can offer insight into their role, working in the industry, portfolios and career paths, while themselves gaining an insight into the viewpoints of the next generation of talent, and developing their coaching and leadership skills.
RECRUITMENT
We also host careers fairs several times a year, giving a small number of brands the opportunity to meet our students face-to-face and recruit for roles in head office or part-time in-store roles for students looking to work alongside their course. Our Job Board is promoted to current students and graduates, giving you access to FRA talent before anyone else. With vacancies of all levels, from in-store to head office, we can make sure your roles are seen by our students.
RESEARCH
Our students provide an extensive pool of active Gen Z fashion enthusiasts, who can offer valuable insight into the attitudes and behaviours of this digital native generation. Our brand partners can access their perspectives and thoughts on a range of business challenges via student panels, focus groups and project setting, to help identify future customers and trends for your business.
Apprenticeships
Many brands are paying the apprenticeship levy without effectively using it to benefit their businesses. We offer a range of specialist apprenticeships, from Level 2 to Level 7, to support your recruitment and upskilling needs. Working together, we recruit, guide, train, manage and assess your apprentices.
We can even tailor apprenticeship content specifically to your brand for closed-access cohorts. We can work with you to help you choose the most effective programmes for your employees and strategic business needs.
BESPOKE PROGRAMMES
Recruitment and retention are two of the biggest challenges facing Talent Managers today. We work with you to identify the skills gaps in your teams through our talent mapping platform and create bespoke training plans to support your workforce and future-proof your business.
Our custom-made on-site or remote bespoke programmes are designed around your timeframes, volumes and budget to provide a tailor-made solution for all your training needs. We can create bespoke programmes tailored to your budget, strategic aims and company structure across a wide range of disciplines.
Our new home
We've moved to Electra House, in Liverpool Street, London, to accommodate our growing numbers. A five-minute walk from Liverpool Street Station, this historic building has undergone a £50m refurbishment to provide 26 classrooms, six state-of-the-art lecture theatres, an entire floor dedicated to creative learning with multi-use zoned areas, exhibition space and meeting rooms for hire.
Our industry partners have the opportunity to get involved early by sponsoring a room to reinforce a specific message or support our students with branded equipment.
To find out more about how we can support the development of your teams, or how your business can engage with our students, please send us your details and we will be in touch.
Social Impact
The reach of the FRA goes far beyond the classroom. Each year we measure our social impact, by looking at the courses we have delivered, wellbeing services offered to students, the financial support we provide through bursary schemes, the social & economic impact created by the staff we employ, the students going into employment and local supply chain spending to support our activities. Each year our social value has been increasing, and last year we are proud to announce it was calculated at £92 million. This equates to almost £7 generated for every £1 spent. View the full report here.