What is Premier Skills?

Premier Skills is a project run in partnership between the British Council and the Premier League that uses football as a tool to develop coaching skills and English language skills.

The coaching element of Premier Skills involves face-to-face training courses for young coaches that not only helps develop their football coaching skills, but also teaches them how to use football as a tool for skills and community development. The courses are led by former Premier League players and current Premier League coaches and typically involve around 40 participants.

The English language component of the programme harnesses the global interest in football and the Premier League to create a range of football-based materials for teachers and learners of English. These include a dedicated website that features downloadable resources for teachers and learners to develop and build upon their English language skills, as well as classroom-focused materials that use the motivational power of football to assist in exploring key social issues such as health and social inclusion.

Where is it taking place?

The coaching is taking place in 15 countries across five regions:

North and West Africa - Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia.

South and East Africa - Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, Uganda.

India - Delhi, Goa, Kerala, Kolkata.

China - Bijing, Dalian, Hong Kong, Shanghai.

East Asia - Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam.

What’s happened so far?

So far, 20 training courses have taken place in 14 of the countries involved in the programme, with over 900 coaches trained. As a result more than 70,000 participants have taken part in sessions run by those coaches.

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.

The English language materials have been piloted in 11 countries across 2009. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with 99% of teachers saying they would recommend these materials to other teachers.

Premier Skills aims to reach at least 5,000 schools with the English language materials, as well as providing access to the resources for at least 2 million people worldwide. Already 200 teachers piloting the materials in China have reached 30,000 students.

More information

For more details on Premier Skills, including the English language resources, see www.britishcouncil.org/premierskills