Information for service leavers
The Career Transition Partnership helps people leaving the services to find new careers and jobs, along with a range of further support services.
The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) comprises the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and global career development and outplacement specialists Right Management and provides resettlement support to eligible service leavers.
The resettlement programme is designed to help personnel leaving the armed forces to prepare for entering the civilian job market and to make a successful transition to employment, or achieve the wider vocational outcome they seek.
Resettlement provision
Provision of resettlement starts up to 2 years before an individual is due to leave the armed forces and continues for up to 2 years post discharge. In the case of wounded injured and sick (WIS) personnel this timeline can be longer, depending on the nature of their condition and the medical pathway. This provision is graduated and dependent upon the length of time they have served.
Resettlement is delivered in 3 stages:
-
1st line at unit/ship/station level; the service leaver makes initial contact with a resettlement Information Staff Officer, who will provide information on what is available, give administrative support and direct the service leaver to the help and assistance he/she can receive within the system
-
2nd line; the next stage in the resettlement process is provided by the single services on a regional basis through a Service Resettlement Adviser to give advice and guidance on the resettlement package which will best suit the service leavers employment/vocational needs
-
3rd line; the third stage in resettlement compromises tri-service support provided by the CTP
Eligibility
Entitlement to resettlement provision is grouped into different programmes depending on length of service.
There are 2 exceptions:
a. medical discharges: service leavers who are medically discharged, including wounded, injured and sick service personnel automatically qualify for the Core Resettlement Programme (CRP), regardless of time served. Where the single services deem that additional support is required, the individual is also entitled to access CTP Assist which offers specialist support. In addition to all of the CRP services, the 3 critical elements of support given within CTP Assist are:
- a Vocational Assessment
- referral to a specialist employment consultant
- access to a vocational opportunities portal
b. service leavers who complete less than 4 years’ service, or who are compulsorily discharged, are referred to as early service leavers (ESL). All ESL can access CTP Future Horizons. This programme gives individual service leaver access to myPlan and RightJob via an assessment of needs conducted pre-discharge by an employment advisor (EA). Depending on an individual’s need they are supported either by the wider EA team or by the Central Employment Team (CET) Career Advisors (CA).
The service leaver programmes are outlined below:
a. Core Resettlement Programme: service leavers who complete a minimum of 6 years’ service are entitled to the Core Resettlement Programme (CRP) and will receive the full range of services that CTP provide as well as up to 35 days prior to discharge to conduct resettlement activities (termed Graduated Resettlement Time (GRT); the number of days is dependent upon length of service with the maximum of 35 days available to those who serve 16 years or more).
The programme includes: 1:1 career consultant support, core and additional workshops, financial and housing briefs, online tools (MyPlan) including an online Personal Resettlement Plan, 1:1 employment and job finding support; employment fairs, company recruitment presentations, online Live Chats with employers RightJob (online job matching and jobs board), civilian work attachments and vocational training to gain civilian recognised qualifications.
b. Employment Support Programme (ESP): those service leavers who complete between 4 and 6 years’ service are entitled to the job finding service and CTP services that directly support job finding activity. Individuals on the ESP are not entitled to Graduated Resettlement Time. However, ESP may attend training events on a standby basis, self funded. The ESP programme includes a 1 day workshop; 1:1 career consultant support; financial and housing briefs, online tools (MyPlan, RightJob, online directory, CTP Pathway); 1:1 employment support; employment fairs and company recruitment presentations
c. CTP Future Horizons: service leavers who complete less than 4 years, or who are compulsorily discharged, are referred to as Early Service Leavers (ESL).
CTP Future Horizons is available for all ESL and is designed to provide a comprehensive transition programme which assists the ESL to find and remain in a sustainable vocational outcome, including employment. It is based on a needs assessment and provides access to the required training, personal development and educational courses to overcome individualised barriers to work and ensure individuals are moving towards being ‘job ready’ and to find suitable employment once discharged from the service.
Contact will also be made on behalf of the ESL with the ]Joint Service Housing Advice Office (JSHAO)](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/joint-service-housing-advice-office-jshao) or the Single Persons Accommodation Centre for the Ex-Services (SPACES), if there are accommodation issues involved, and/or the service charities where appropriate.
d. CTP Assist: service leavers who are being, or likely to be medically discharged, regardless of length of service and are deemed by their single services to require additional support are entitled to all elements of the Core Resettlement Programme plus the specialist support through the CTP Assist resettlement pathway. CTP Assist consists of the CRP plus Core Recovery Events, a Vocational Assessment and access to a Specialist Employment Consultant (SES) who will help the individual create a bespoke resettlement plan.
It is recognised that medical discharge service leavers often need longer in resettlement to achieve the vocational success they seek; since February 2013 the single services can load any medically discharging personnel, and those they assess as likely to medically discharge into resettlement as soon as it is appropriate for the individual. For those who are not able to undertake resettlement services because of their medical condition, it is possible to defer resettlement for up to 2 years after discharge and, in extreme cases resettlement provision may be transferred to the spouse of the service leaver.
Resettlement training
Service leavers have access to a range of vocational training courses delivered both at the CTP’s flagship Resettlement Training Centre (RTC) located in Aldershot and in CTP centres across the UK. CTP is unique in that it offers a training programme delivered under the MOD contract which consists of a range of courses that are ‘pre-paid’ by MOD and only ‘cost’ the service leaver their time.
CTP also offers a programme of courses that are not funded by the contract; these represent exceptional value for money to the service leaver. They can use their resettlement grants to pay for these courses if they are eligible.
Courses fall into 4 broad categories of management, electrical engineering, building trades and IT with the intention of preparing service leavers for employment by offering commercially recognised qualifications. Others give life skills and suit those going into retirement or self employment.
Management based courses include qualifications for the health and safety, logistics, project management, facilities management, school business management and education sectors to name some.
The engineering department offers an industry recognised route into electrical installation roles and IT courses offer the skills and knowledge required by this ever growing sector. The building trades department offers courses that teach life skills and prepares service leavers for entry to the construction sector or self employment as a property developer or sole trader.
All courses are tailored to service leaver needs with many having bespoke content or delivery models to assist them to gain qualifications in the time allowed during resettlement. All courses are quality controlled so that the service leaver can book with confidence.
Service leavers may also undertake training through a network of external, civilian training organisations, known as preferred suppliers, which are managed by Right Management on behalf on MOD who own the Preferred Supplier List (PSL).
The CTP is the single source for all official armed forces resettlement services and MOD promotes a principle of ‘CTP first’. CTP Programmes are funded through the MOD at no cost to the service leaver. For those service leavers entitled to vocational training, where there is a CTP course available (whether contract funded or non-contract funded), these must be used before accessing external training. External training must then only be accessed in accordance with the mandatory priority order of Resettlement Training Options shown below:
a. Priority 1: CTP Contract-Funded (CF) courses
b. Priority 2: CTP Non-Contract-Funded (NCF) courses. 62 JSP 534, Issue 14, Oct 2015
c. Priority 3: Resettlement Preferred Supplier List (PSL) and/or ELCAS Approved Provider List (APL) courses
d. Priority 4. External training suppliers not on PSL
Contact the Career Transition Partnership
For further detailed information visit our website: www.ctp.org.uk
Last updated 19 October 2015 + show all updates
-
Added updated information.
-
First published.