Sainsbury’s supermarket will offer a qualification in shelf-stacking and stock-taking as well as a GCSE in literacy and numeracy, it will announce today.

On-the-job training, open to all staff, will count towards a final NVQ, worth five good (graded A-C) GCSEs, in the retail skills of stock control, merchandising and health and safety.

The company, which has 150,000 employees, will offer the qualification through the awarding body EDI which will confer nationally accredited certificates. It is also offering staff the chance to improve their English and maths up to grade D equivalent at GCSE, which they can take without their colleagues’ or immediate bosses’ knowledge. The first 2,000 will get a £50 voucher.

Rebecca Hales, 25, who works at the branch in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, has already started maths under a pilot version of the scheme. Illness had prevented her doing as well as she would have liked at school, she said. “I’ve got an online tutor who rings me up to check on me and give me new activities every week,” she said. “I know all about fractions and denominators and numerators now. It’s a great confidence boost.”

The company believes that 25 per cent of its workforce will get one of the new qualifications, in the next five years. Justin King, the chief executive, said: “Every one of our colleagues can improve their skills, which not only benefits our customers but also supports our colleagues, to achieve their full potential.”

In January McDonald’s, Network Rail and Flybe were given powers to award qualifications up to PhD level as part of the Government’s drive to improve employer-based training.

Critics questioned the worth of “McGCSEs”, and said that they could devalue academic qualifications. Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: “Employees may find they are locked into that business because these awards don’t have credibility outside the company.” However educational experts believe that it will become increasingly common for private institutions to award qualifications.

John Denham, the Skills Secretary, congratulated Sainsbury’s on the move. “We know that those companies that invest in skills are best equipped to weather tough economic times, and are also best placed to capitalise on opportunities for growth,” he said.

Richard Wainer, head of education and skills at the CBI, said of the initiative: “It shows how employers can play a valuable role creating opportunities for people.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Fern Britton: 'I still can't see that I was wrong'
• Extreme cooking
• Easy French: Tarte Tatin