Sean Duffy, CEO, Wise Group and Joanna Campbell, Principal & CEO, Glasgow Kelvin College have come together to explain why Scotland’s barrier to progress isn't strategy, its siloed thinking  

Scotland does not suffer from a lack of plans. We have no shortage of strategies, policies and frameworks promising to boost skills, tackle poverty and grow our economy. What we lack is something far more basic: genuine collaboration. Our sectors too often work in parallel rather than together. The end result is real people being left facing real challenges without joined‑up solutions.

By staying in our silos, we fragment the very system that is designed to help. Colleges focus on education and skills, the third-sector on social barriers and industry on their specific sector needs and business priorities. The government sets the policy direction which guides our strategies and plans in response. 

There is no denying that each part plays an important role. But when we are working separately we are creating gaps. With these gaps comes the risk that the people we are trying to support fall through them, or worse, over time become systematically overlooked.  

If Scotland really is serious about delivering a stronger and more inclusive economy, then we must step outside of our silos. Progress won't come from acting alone, it will come from partnerships formed to focus on delivering skills, providing support and creating opportunities in a coordinated way. 

Colleges play an active and critical role in Scotland’s economic future, and with growth likely to be underpinned by a number of key industries, the type of skills and experience provided by colleges will develop an outsized importance. 

The skills colleges provide can change the outcomes of students and their families - they can be the difference between a life of work and a life of welfare. But this can only happen if students are able to take part, and sustain their learning; for many young people, particularly those from priority families, caring responsibilities, debt, health pressures and household instability don’t pause so that they can study. 

When these challenges go unaddressed, capable and motivated people can fail to successfully complete courses and ultimately fail to move into employment. This result isn't just the loss of individual potential, it's the loss of economic and social value to Scotland as a whole. 

Success is shaped both inside and outside the classroom (Image: Agency)

Our system is currently established on the premise that once someone is enrolled in education the rest will take care of itself. Investment in skills alone is not always enough to unlock opportunity. Many people need trusted, consistent support to navigate their often complicated lives. 

This is what underpins the new partnership between the Wise Group and Glasgow Kelvin College. Despite operating in very different sectors we are united in a common purpose, to strengthen the pathways from learning into sustained employment and income progression. 

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Economic inactivity starts much earlier than we expect - not just when individuals fail to enter the workforce. Personal, social and economic impacts such as long-term illness and caring responsibilities are key factors, presenting challenges that prevent people from learning, which in turn disrupts their pathway and therefore their confidence dips. This reinforces a cycle of inactivity long before those affected have even entered the workforce. 

By working together we can explore how we strengthen the bridge between learning and sustained income - recognising that success is shaped both inside and outside the classroom. Acknowledging that our young people are our future, and breaking the cycles which are embedded into our systems should be everyone’s priority. 

Principal Joanna Campbell at Glasgow Kelvin College (Image: Newsquest)

The Wise Group’s Relational Mentoring programme is the missing infrastructure between people and public systems. It is how fragmented provision becomes a single, navigable pathway - and how prevention moves from theory into delivery.

Relational mentoring works because it recognises that people’s lives are interconnected. Progress in work, income, health or family stability rarely happens in isolation. By supporting people to navigate these pressures alongside their learning or employment journey, it becomes far more likely that progress will last. The aim is simple: helping people stay on track long enough for opportunity to take hold.  Although there is no quick fix with this model, progression is sustained, which reduces future demand, and prevents people from moving into crisis situations. 

The partnership we have embarked upon takes this model and seeks to align skills provision with whole-household support, focussed on improving retention, achievement and economic outcomes. It will bring forward a practical, place-based approach, embedding mentoring alongside college provision. 

Sean Duffy is CEO of The Wise Group (Image: Wise Group)

This means we will have the resources in place to help students in need to manage financial stress, connect with services, navigate caring responsibilities or even build the confidence needed to move into employment. And, critically, it will equip them with skills which will last beyond their time in college.

The overarching aim is very simple - ensure that learners have the support they need to finish their studies. This is not simply about course completion. It's about supporting that person into employment with sustained earnings and greater stability, and changing the trajectory of intergenerational poverty which dictates so many life outcomes. 

Relational Mentoring focuses on progression over time, not one-off outcomes - giving a far more realistic picture of how individuals and families are actually doing, and is built on trusted, long-term relationships between mentors and those they support. Those relationships are underpinned by millions of data points each year, capturing needs, actions and progress across the whole household. This creates robust, real-world evidence of what prevents a crisis, not just what responds to it. 

Our partnership is not about adding complexities to the system. It's about building on what works and making sure that by bringing the skills of our two organisations together, we can create a more coherent pathway from studying to economic participation. In essence this is Systems Leadership - leading by understanding where connections are improved between people, organisations and issues. 

The learning here goes beyond what takes place in our pilot. By working together the benefits will extend beyond the programme, improving economic participation and ensuring that opportunity reaches those who need it most. Working together to create social value in its truest form. 

Sean Duffy is the CEO of the Wise Group 

Joanna Campbell, is the Principal & CEO, Glasgow Kelvin College 

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