MORE people are gaining qualifications thanks to an initiative by the Learning and Skills Council for Kent and Medway.

Nextstep offers careers advice to people through a network of organisations including businesses, job centres and further education colleges. It is thought the project has helped more than 5,000 learners over the past year.

LSC skills director Tony Allen said: "We wanted to improve literacy and numeracy and also to encourage learners to achieve Level 2 vocational qualifications.

"Kent and Medway have fallen behind the rest of the South East in the skills league table and we need to catch up and ensure that our area can support a high skills economy.

"The Nextstep initiative has achieved excellent results but we need to continue to press home the message that future prosperity depends on improved skills. We also need to ensure that the financial benefits of improved skills are fully appreciated and highlight the direct way in which better skills bring bigger pay-packets."