Our aim

To ensure the skills and productivity of the people who work in the fashion & textile industry are of the highest level, ensuring the UK fashion and textile sector remains competitive against global competition.

UKFT was appointed by the governments in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as the Sector Skills Body (SSB) for the fashion and textile sector in November 2017.

As SSB, UKFT is responsible for renewing and setting the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for the industry, together with the vocational qualifications and apprenticeship frameworks they underpin.

UKFT is also responsible for registering and certificating Apprentices across the nations (in England responsibility is moving to the Institute for Apprentices as the new apprenticeship standards are introduced).

What are National Occupational Standards?

NOS suites are developed in partnership with employers across the UK. NOS sets out the skills, knowledge and understanding required by employers to undertake a particular task or job role to a nationally recognised level of competence, helping formalise training requirements for employers and employees across the UK.