The report of an independent review (by Lord Leitch) said that radical change was needed in the way young people and adults were trained, to close the skills gap and protect economic competitiveness. It recommended making full-time or part-time education or training compulsory until the age of 18, and a target of 95 per cent of adults to have basic numeracy and literacy by 2020. Employers should have more say over training. There were too many vocational qualifications, many with few benefits.
Source: Lord Leitch, Prosperity for All in the Global Economy: World Class Skills - Final Report, Cm 9996, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | HMT press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | BCC press release | UUK press release | ASCL press release | NUS press release | HEFCE press release | ICG press release | ALP press release | CPAG press release | FT report (1) | FT report (2) | FT report (3) | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Personnel Today report | Community Care report
Date: 2006-Dec
An official inquiry into the future of local government published a discussion document seeking views on the implications for local government of official review reports on transport, planning, and skills.
Source: Promoting Economic Prosperity: Considering the implications of Eddington, Barker and Leitch - Questions for stakeholders, Lyons Inquiry into Local Government (020 7270 5214)
Links: Discussion paper | Lyons press release
Date: 2006-Dec
An inspectorate report said that standards of adult training in England had improved dramatically overall: but low apprenticeship completion rates were 'unacceptable'. Only half of those on apprenticeships finished them.
Source: Annual Report of the Chief Inspector 2005-06, Adult Learning Inspectorate (0870 240 7744)
Links: Report | ALP press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Dec
An organization representing employers said that the national skills system was 'dysfunctional' and irrelevant in helping to meet business training needs.
Source: Press release 20 November 2006, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247)
Links: CBI press release | Personnel Today report | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2006-Nov
A government agency published a strategy aimed at promoting greater engagement by higher education institutions with employers, and increased flexibility in provision to support lifelong learning.
Source: Engaging Employers with Higher Education, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Strategy | HEFCE press release | BBC report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2006-Nov
The government published a Further Education and Training Bill. The Bill was designed to: streamline and restructure the Learning and Skills Council by removing local LSCs, and creating 9 Regional Councils; establish an effective intervention regime where provision was unsatisfactory or not improving by transferring the Secretary of State's powers of intervention to the LSC, including the new duty to direct the removal of principals and senior post holders; establish effective learner and employer consultation, by making sure the LSC and colleges took account of the needs and views of employers and learners; and secure choice and diversity by establishing a new duty on the LSC to create greater opportunities for learners and employers to exercise choice in type, place, and form of learning.
Source: Further Education and Training Bill [HL], Department for Education and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory Notes | DfES press release | Downing Street Briefing | UCU press release | ASCL press release | NUS press release | CBI press release | BCC press release | IOD press release | Age Concern press release | CPAG press release | Times report | FT report | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3)
Date: 2006-Nov
Researchers found 'mixed' longer-term outcomes of the Work-Based Learning for Adults programme, on the basis of administrative data. (WBLA is a voluntary programme designed to help long-term jobless people move into sustained employment.)
Source: Stefan Speckesser and Helen Bewley, The Longer Term Outcomes of Work-Based Learning for Adults: Evidence from administrative data, Research Report 390, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2006-Oct
An article said that the government's adult learning strategy was a response to what were perceived as the skills demands of a knowledge economy for global competitiveness, rather than to issues of social inclusion and increased opportunities for lifelong learning.
Source: Yvon Appleby and Ann Marie Bathmaker, 'The new skills agenda: increased lifelong learning or new sites of inequality?', British Educational Research Journal, Volume 32 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Oct
A report said that the returns to a university degree in Britain were still high by international standards, suggesting that there was, as yet, no oversupply of graduates. Basic skills also continued to have very high value in the labour market, indicating that the supply of skills continued to be lower than demand. But some of the new vocational qualifications had very low or minimal economic value.
Source: Romesh Vaitilingam, Human Resources, the Labour Market and Economic Performance, Manpower Human Resources Lab/Centre for Economic Performance/London School of Economics (020 7955 7285)
Links: Paper | LSE press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A trade union report said that there was a skills crisis, with more than 1 in 3 employers refusing to train their workers, despite government incentives to help them. This had left nearly 8.5 million workers without training.
Source: 2020 Vision for Skills, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294)
Links: Report | TUC press release
Date: 2006-Sep
A report examined the impact the Union Learning Fund had had on the lifelong learning and workforce development agenda. Unions had successfully used ULF funds to develop their learning policies and strategies. Almost two-thirds of employers indicated that they had a learning agreement in place as a result of ULF activity; and 75 per cent reported an increase in 'skills for life' learning.
Source: Neil Shaw et al., Evaluation of the Union Learning Fund (2001-2005), Research Report 789, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Aug
A report examined work-based learning in higher education, focusing on learning which accredited or extended the workplace skills and abilities of employees.
Source: Iain Nixon, Kevyn Smith, Rob Stafford and Steve Camm, Work-based Learning: Illuminating the higher education landscape, Higher Education Academy (01904 717500)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Aug
A report said that 1 in 3 employers was having to send staff for remedial training to teach them basic English and maths skills they had failed to learn at school.
Source: Working On The Three Rs: Employers priorities for functional skills in maths and English, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247)
Links: Report | CBI press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Aug
The sex equality watchdog in Scotland said that little or no progress had been made since 2004 in tackling sex segregation in apprenticeships.
Source: Occupational Segregation in Scotland: Progress report, Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland (0845 601 5904)
Links: Report | EOC press release
Date: 2006-Aug
A report presented the findings of a systematic review of the impact of learning on low-qualified, out-of-work adults. Interventions with an employment-focus (such as job search, employer placements, and work-based training) were often more successful in leading to employment-related outcomes. The chances of obtaining employment improved following a welfare to work intervention. Studies also showed a statistically significant impact on the earnings of participants following a learning intervention.
Source: Sally Dench, Jim Hillage and Pam Coare, The Impact of Learning on Unemployed, Low-qualified Adults: A systematic review, Research Report 375, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2006-Aug
An article examined the influences of gender on young people's career decision-making, their attitudes to career choice, and whether apprenticeship was seen as an option. Boys were less likely than girls to opt for a job traditionally held by the opposite sex.
Source: Vanessa Beck, Alison Fuller and Lorna Unwin, 'Increasing risk in the "scary" world of work? Male and female resistance to crossing gender lines in apprenticeships in England and Wales', Journal of Education and Work, Volume 19 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined issues associated with apprenticeships, and how policy and practice had developed.
Source: Deidre Macleod and Maria Hughes, Apprenticeships: A review of recent policy and practice, Learning and Skills Network (020 7297 9000)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jul
A collection of essays explored the role of good employer-employee relations in promoting skills and productivity in the economy.
Source: Tony Pilch (ed.), Productive Partnerships: The role of employment relations in growing the UK economy, Smith Institute (020 7592 3618)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jul
The adult learning inspectorate published its annual report for 2005-06.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2005-06, HC 1167, Adult Learning Inspectorate, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jul
A report presented the findings of a survey of companies which had benefited from European Social Fund supported training. The majority of companies benefiting from ESF-funded interventions were small, 85 per cent employing fewer than 50 employees. They were most commonly located in the health, social work, and primary industry sectors.
Source: Jan Shury, Laura Godwin and Zehra Koroglu, A Quantitative Survey of Companies Supported by European Social Fund Objective 3 (2006), Research Report 361, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A study sought to identify what different groups of people thought or did about financing their own learning, and that of their children and other family members. Just over half of respondents said that they would be prepared to save to pay for personal-interest learning or for education/career-related learning: but half were unsure about the cost of learning, whether for personal interest or related to their education/career.
Source: Claire Ivins and Claire Callender, Paying for Learning, CfBT Education Trust (0118 902 1000) and Learning and Skills Development Agency
Date: 2006-Jul
A report provided a synthesis of earlier evaluation work on the employer training pilots (which ran between 2002 and 2006).
Source: Jim Hillage, George Loukas, Becci Newton and Penny Tamkin, Employer Training Pilots: Final Evaluation Report, Research Report 774, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Jul
A report examined employer investment and co-funding in publicly funded training. In most cases the motives for employers to engage in co-funding/investment activities came from a recognition of provider quality or capability gaps, and/or a perceived need to meet specific company needs.
Source: David Parsons, John Barry, Rhodri Thomas, Valerie Rowe, and Kenneth Walsh, Employer Investment and Co-funding in Publicly-funded Training, Research Report 766, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Jun
The proportion of employers in England reporting a shortage of skilled workers fell from 22 per cent in 2003 to 16 per cent in 2005.
Source: National Employers Skills Survey 2005: Key Findings, Learning and Skills Council (0870 900 6800)
Links: Report | LSC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
A government Minister pledged to end illiteracy and innumeracy in the adult workforce by 2020.
Source: Speech by Alan Johnson MP (Secretary of State for Education and Skills), 14 June 2006
Links: Text of speech | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report examined a workplace learning scheme in Scotland. It said that the benefits arose from the unique position of unions in accessing and engaging ?hard to reach? learners in the context of a high-trust relationship with members.
Source: Patricia Findlay, Robert Stewart, Eli Dutton and Chris Warhurst, Evaluation of the Scottish Union Learning Fund (SULF) (2000-2005), Scottish Executive (web publication only)
Date: 2006-May
A report by a committee of MPs examined employers? perspectives on improving work skills. More than a third of employers had not trained their staff in the past year. Some 27 per cent of employers did not provide external training because they considered the training available did not meet their needs. One fifth of employers found it difficult to obtain advice on the best skills training for their staff. Further education colleges engaged with only 18 per cent of those businesses which the government considered needed support in training their staff.
Source: Employers? Perspectives on Improving Skills for Employment, Forty-fifth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 862, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | CBI press release | FSB press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-May
A report compared the provision of vocational education and training in the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany. It said that training policies were increasingly based on similar general principles which promoted the improvement and reform of vocational education and training, although the implementation of these principles tended to remain specific to each country.
Source: Josie Misko, Vocational Education and Training in Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany, National Centre for Vocational Education Research (ncver@ncver.edu.au)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
A survey found that 1 in 3 of the population had not participated in any form of learning since school: but 41 per cent of skilled manual workers were learning, up from 33 per cent in 1996.
Source: Fiona Aldridge and Alan Tuckett, Green Shoots? The NIACE survey on adult participation in learning 2006, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (0116 204 4200)
Links: Summary | BBC report
Date: 2006-May
A paper said that the government should radically reassess its attempt to address skills shortages through vocational education and training. There was an "obsession" with blanket targets that treated the entire national workforce as a single entity.
Source: Ewart Keep, Market Failure in Skills, Sector Skills Development Agency (01709 765444)
Links: Paper | Personnel Today report
Date: 2006-Apr
A new book examined the key issues involved in successfully promoting workplace learning.
Source: Neil Thompson, Promoting Workplace Learning, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Mar
A report said that the funding of workforce development needed to be radically overhauled, and subsidies widened out to training providers other than colleges.
Source: Building a Skilled Nation: The business perspective on education and skills, British Chambers of Commerce (020 7654 5808)
Links: Report | BCC press release
Date: 2006-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that fewer than 1 in 20 small and medium-sized businesses used the 'learndirect' training scheme, and called for it to be promoted more.
Source: Extending Access to Learning through Technology: Ufi and the learndirect service, Twenty-eighth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 706, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Ufi press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Mar
A revised edition of a book examined the background to the sudden rise of interest in lifelong learning among policy-makers; mapped existing patterns of participation; evaluated the measures being developed to promote lifelong learning; and assessed the prospects of achieving a viable learning society.
Source: John Field, Lifelong Learning and the New Educational Order (Second revised edition), Trentham Books (01782 745567)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Feb
Researchers examined employers perceptions and valuations of National Vocational Qualifications. Fewer than half (45 per cent) of all employers in England had any useful understanding of NVQs.
Source: Philip Roe, June Wiseman and Mary Costello, Perceptions and Use of NVQs: A survey of employers in England, Research Report 714, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Feb
An inspectorate report identified an overall improvement in the standards offered by the Entry to Employment (E2E) training programme (designed to get disadvantaged young people into training and employment).
Source: Entry to Employment: Looking back over the first year and forward to the future, Adult Learning Inspectorate (0870 240 7744)
Links: Report | ALI press release
Date: 2006-Feb
A report examined ways of correcting for the under-reporting by the Labour Force Survey of the achievement of lower-level qualifications, particularly among older respondents.
Source: Claire Simm, Improving the Collection of Qualifications Data, Research Report 715, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Feb
Statistics indicated that government targets on tackling skills shortages among young people and adults were being met early. There was a 3 per cent rise in 2005 in the number of those aged 19 achieving 'level 2' qualifications, and a 3.5 per cent rise in those achieving 'level 3'. (Level 2 is equivalent to one advanced-level pass, and level 3 is equivalent to two advanced-level passes.)
Source: Level 2 and 3 Attainment by Young People in England Measured Using Matched Administrative Data: Attainment by Age 19 in 2005 (Provisional), Statistical First Release 06/2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288) | The Level of Highest Qualification Held by Young People and Adults: England 2005, Statistical First Release 05/2006, Department for Education and Skills | Vocational Qualifications in the UK: 2004/05, Statistical First Release 07/2006, Department for Education and Skills
Links: SFR06 | SFR05 | SFR07 | DfES press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Feb
A report provided a detailed examination of the labour market returns to qualifications at 'level 3' and above. The returns to academic qualifications were greater than those to vocational qualifications at almost every level.
Source: Andy Dickerson, A Study on Rates of Return to Investment in Level 3 and Higher Qualifications, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Feb
A report examined the relationship between adult literacy and numeracy skills, participation on basic skills courses, and subsequent labour market outcomes. Significant positive correlations were found between both literacy and numeracy and earnings; and basic skills were good predictors of labour market participation, particularly for women.
Source: John Grinyer, Literacy, Numeracy and the Labour Market: Further analysis of the Skills for Life survey, Research Report 712, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs said that the government's adult learning targets were likely to become increasingly difficult to meet, because they could only be met by attracting 'hard to reach' and older learners. People in low-skilled employment were a large group whose needs were not being met.
Source: Skills for Life: Improving adult literacy and numeracy, Twenty-first Report, (Session 2005-06), HC 792, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
A study analyzed how regional variations in the local jobs market affected people with poor skills. Those with poor skills faced more constraints in accessing employment than their more highly skilled counterparts both in terms of skills (the number of jobs that they could do) and geographically (how far they were able to travel or the extent to which it is worthwhile for them to do so).
Source: Anne Green and David Owen, The Geography of Poor Skills and Access to Work, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings
Date: 2006-Jan