Premier Skills is a partnership between the British Council and the Premier League which uses football as a tool to engage with and develop the skills of young people.

The programme concentrates on three areas:

			Face-to-face training for coaches and referees, using highly skilled coaches and referee trainers from the Premier League and its clubs. The participants are then supported in developing their own community-focused football projects
			Linking community projects run by Premier League clubs to similar projects in other countries, building long-term partnerships that aim to change the lives of thousands of people
			The creation of English language products for teachers and learners, including face-to-face training for teachers, school resources and digital content via a dedicated website.

Where is it taking place?

Under the first phase of the programme, training for coaches took place in 15 countries - Botswana, Cameroon, China, Egypt, India, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Morocco, Senegal, South Korea, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam.

The second phase of Premier Skills has now begun, with a follow up coaching course and new refereeing course having taken place in Uganda in November 2010. Further countries will be announced here as they join the programme.

What’s happened so far?

Premier Skills has already achieved huge impact under the first stage of the programme, with 1,000 coaches trained, nearly 300,000 young people reached, and over one million football-focused English language materials distributed globally.

Since the second phase of Premier Skills, combined football courses and refereeing courses have run in Botswana, Cameroon, Senegal and Uganda. Alongside the coaching, a considerable number of policymakers have been engaged in each country, helping to both embed and expand the impact of the programme.

Where can I find more information?

For more details on Premier Skills, including the English language resources, vist the Premier Skills English website.

Read the Premier League's Creating Chances report 2011 and learn more about the UK initiative and how Premier Skills is at the forefront of Creating Chances international programme.