A report presented the findings of a longitudinal survey of learners, designed to assess the longer-term impact of learning on the employment outcomes and employability skills of individuals in mainstream further education.
Source: IFF Research, A Longitudinal Study of Further Education Learners Receiving Out of Work Benefits, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report | DBIS press release | UCU press release
Date: 2009-Aug
A paper examined the links between various measures of university quality and graduate earnings. The findings suggested a positive return to university quality with an average earnings differential of about 6 per cent for a one standard deviation rise in university quality. However, the relationship between university quality and wages was highly non-linear, with a much higher return at the top of the distribution. There was some indication that returns might be increasing over time.
Source: Iftikhar Hussain, Sandra McNally and Shqiponja Telhaj, University Quality and Graduate Wages in the UK, DP99, Centre for the Economics of Education/London School of Economics (020 7955 7285)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Jun
An article examined the 'college premium' for young graduates during the years 1994-2006 – a period when the higher education participation rate increased dramatically. The growth in relative labour demand suggested that graduate supply considerably outstripped demand, which ought to imply a fall in the earnings premium. But no significant fall was found for men, and there was even a rise for women.
Source: Ian Walker and Yu Zhu, 'The college wage premium and the expansion of higher education in the UK', Scandinavian Journal of Economics Volume 110 Issue 4
Links: Abstract | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
A study found that money put into higher education institutions in England for working with businesses and the community had yielded benefits worth many times the original investment.
Source: Barry Moore et al., Culture Change and Embedding Capacity in the Higher Education Sector: Toward greater economic impact, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report | HEFCE press release
Date: 2009-Apr
A report examined the effects of individuals' skills on wider outcomes related to health. Education significantly reduced the probability of being a smoker (and smoking intensity), of being a binge drinker, and of being classified as obese.
Source: Augustin de Coulon, Elena Meschi and Marisa Yates, Education, Basic Skills and Health-related Outcomes, National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (020 7612 6476)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Apr
Researchers examined the effect of lifelong learning on intra-generational mobility. They found consistent support for the view that lifelong learning led to improvements in occupationally based social status. The size of these returns, however, varied considerably as a function of gender, the level and type of education and training undertaken, the intended purpose of the training, and the sector within which it was undertaken. No evidence was found that low-level vocational qualifications provided discernable benefits.
Source: Jo Blanden, Patrick Sturgis, Franz Buscha and Peter Unwin, The Effect of Lifelong Learning on Intra-generational Social Mobility: Evidence from longitudinal data in the United Kingdom, Research Report 09-04 Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (020 7215 5555)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report said that the long-term costs of children leaving school with inadequate numeracy could be as high as £44,000 per individual up to the age of 37 – a total bill to the taxpayer of £2.4 billion every year.
Source: KPMG, The Long Term Costs of Numeracy Difficulties, Every Child a Chance Trust (07748 775902)
Links: Report | ECCT press release | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2009-Jan
