A report presented the initial headline findings from the 2011 survey of adult basic skills, and compared them with those from the baseline (2003) survey. It highlighted changes in skills levels among the population between the respective fieldwork periods, and sought to identify the demographic, social, and motivational factors related to skills levels in the population of those aged 16-65.
Source: Carrie Harding, Eleni Romanou, Joel Williams, Mark Peters, John Winkley, Peter Burke, John Hamer, Keith Jeram, Nick Nelson, Bob Rainbow, Bruce Bond, and Malcolm Shay, 2011 Skills for Life Survey: Headline Findings, Research Paper 57, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report | NIACE press release
Date: 2011-Dec
A paper examined the sources of cross-national variation in the employment disadvantage of low-skilled workers in 14 industrialized nations. The employment disadvantage that low-educated workers experienced was mainly due to their deficit in the skills that had become important for labour market success in the recent past, namely cognitive skills.
Source: Aurelien Abrassart, Cognitive Skills Matter: The employment disadvantage of the low-educated in international comparison, REC-WP 04/2011, Reconciling Work and Welfare in Europe (Edinburgh University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Dec
An article examined attempts to create new mediation mechanisms between the systems of training and work, allowing higher-level complexity while maintaining appropriate social control over the linkages between these systems.
Source: Gabor Halasz, 'Coping with complexity and instability in the UK vocational training system', European Journal of Education, Volume 46 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
A report (by an official advisory body) set out a long-term vision for skills in England. It outlined why skills mattered, identified issues in the existing system, and put forward 5 high-level principles for reform: employers should have the space to own the skills agenda; there should be a single market for skills development; skill solutions should be designed by employer-led partnerships to reach more people and businesses; public contributions for vocational training should move to employer incentives and investments; and transactions should be transparent.
Source: Employer Ownership of Skills: Securing a sustainable partnership for the long term, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Report | Summary | UKCES press release | People Management report
Date: 2011-Dec
A paper said that the existing funding and delivery model for apprenticeships was 'dysfunctional'. A 'substantial proportion' of apprenticeship funding was being swallowed up by the bureaucratic processes needed to account for it.
Source: Hilary Steedman, Apprenticeship Policy in England: Increasing skills versus boosting young people?s job prospects, PA013, Centre for Economic Performance (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Dec
The coalition government set out (following consultation) a programme of work designed to take forward its plans for reforming the further education and skills system for adults aged 19 and over in England.
Source: Further Education and Skills System Reform Plan: Building a World Class Skills System, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Work programme | Skills investment statement | Consultation responses | Hansard | DBIS press release | NIACE press release
Date: 2011-Dec
A paper examined the extent to which vocational training had contributed to increasing the growth rate of labour productivity in Europe between 1999 and 2005. One extra hour of training per employee accelerated the rate of productivity growth by around 0.55 percentage points.
Source: Hector Sala and Jose Silva, Labor Productivity and Vocational Training: Evidence from Europe, Discussion Paper 6171, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Dec
A think-tank report said that between 2007 and 2010 an average of almost 50 per cent of pupils in cities left the education system without good grades in GCSE maths and English. This had implications both for young people's own futures and for the economies of the cities in which they lived.
Source: Paul Swinney and Naomi Clayton, Learning Curve: Schooling and skills for future jobs, Centre for Cities
Links: Report | Centre for Cities press release | BBC report
Date: 2011-Nov
Researchers examined what types of firms engaged with the apprenticeship programme, and sought to identify whether there were key determinants of firms' engagement with the programme that might be susceptible to policy intervention.
Source: Steven McIntosh, Jin Wenchao, and Anna Vignoles, Firms Engagement with the Apprenticeship Programme, Research Report RR180, Department for Education
Date: 2011-Nov
A report examined the challenges facing educational and training services across Europe.
Source: Tine Andersen, Hanne Shapiro, Tom Leney, and Clara Emilie Ellegaard, Educational and Training Services: Anticipating the Challenges, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Date: 2011-Nov
An article compared the development in apprenticeship training in England with that in other European countries, particularly Germany. In both countries, the apprenticeship system displayed high levels of gender segregation. Attempts to improve and expand apprenticeships in England, including tackling occupational segregation, were unfolding in a climate of severe economic recession and public finance restraint.
Source: Jim Campbell, Emily Thomson, and Hartwig Pautz, 'Apprenticeship training in England: closing the gap?', Journal of Contemporary European Studies, Volume 19 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Nov
A think-tank report examined ways of strengthening the role of apprenticeships in society and the economy, how to create more and better apprenticeships, and what an institutional framework for flourishing apprenticeships would look like. If designed properly, apprenticeships could have an important role to play in helping to tackle youth unemployment. To support disadvantaged groups, the government should consider funding more pre-apprenticeship training to help young people reach the level needed for entry into an apprenticeship programme. In England, the state provided a 'feeble' regulatory framework, largely leaving it to the market to determine the demand for and quality of apprenticeships – the inverse of the European social partnership model that underpinned strong apprenticeship systems.
Source: Tony Dolphin and Tess Lanning (eds.), Rethinking Apprenticeships, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Nov
A report examined the nature of occupational regulation (mechanisms that set minimum prescribed skill standards), and estimated its labour market impact (including on skill levels, wages, and employment).
Source: John Forth, Alex Bryson, Amy Humphris, Maria Koumenta, and Morris Kleiner, A Review of Occupational Regulation and Its Impact, Evidence Report 40, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Date: 2011-Oct
A study examined strategies by European Social Fund providers that had proved to be successful in engaging with unemployed women, and identified best practice.
Source: Eta de Cicco, Rachel Spacey, Jane Ward, Jane Watts, Emily Jones, Fiona Aldridge, Sue Parkins, and Steve Hartshorn, Engaging Unemployed Women in ESF-Funded Training, Skills Funding Agency
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
A report (by an official advisory body) examined how much progress had been made in Scotland towards integrating employment and skills, and what more needed to be done.
Source: Review of Employment and Skills, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
A report said that 'significant past skills investments' had not had the desired impact on productivity growth. Almost one-third of the workforce had some kind of people-management responsibilities and it was time to establish what could be done differently to provide them with better support.
Source: Katerina Rudiger, Good Management – A New (Old) Driver For Growth?, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Links: Report | CIPD press release
Date: 2011-Oct
A think-tank report examined the challenges facing the United Kingdom's migration policy. The UK needed to focus on attracting highly skilled migrants, and the key to doing this was to reduce income taxes.
Source: Taxing Talent: How Britain can attract and retain the world s best workers, Adam Smith Institute
Links: Report | ASI press release
Date: 2011-Oct
A report provided an overview of available evidence on funding mechanisms in education and training in Europe. It considered the advantages and drawbacks of a wide range of funding mechanisms, including tax incentives, grants and subsidies, loans, and individual learning accounts.
Source: Torberg Falch and Hessel Oosterbeek, Financing Lifelong Learning: Funding mechanisms in education and training, European Expert Network on Economics of Education/European Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
A report (by an official advisory body) examined how much progress had been made in Wales towards integrating employment and skills, and what more needed to be done.
Source: Review of Employment and Skills: Wales Report, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
A paper compared the conceptualizations of learning that underpinned conventional education and skills policy for the knowledge-based economy with those that underpinned 'territorial innovation models' and the 'territorial knowledge dynamics' approach.
Source: Laura James, Economic Development and Skills Policy: What can we learn from territorial innovation models and territorial knowledge dynamics?, LLAKES Research Paper 33, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies
Links: Paper
Notes: Territorial innovation models explain regional innovation in terms of local institutional dynamics.
Date: 2011-Oct
A briefing paper examined the employment situation of disabled people. It looked at recent and possible future developments, with a particular emphasis on the role of skills alongside other factors in influencing the situation.
Source: Nigel Meager and Tom Higgins, Disability and Skills in a Changing Economy, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Briefing
Date: 2011-Sep
A report examined the role of transferable skills in career pathways and the labour market in Europe. It looked at levels of skill transferability across sectors.
Source: Transferability of Skills Across Economic Sectors: Role and importance for employment at European level, European Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Sep
A paper provided an overview of the distinctive features of the older labour market. It identified the policy issues that needed to be addressed in order to make more effective use of older workers, focusing on skills issues.
Source: Stephen McNair, Older People and Skills in a Changing Economy, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Briefing
Date: 2011-Sep
A study examined evidence on the role of 'upskilling' as a lever in helping people make the transition from worklessness into sustainable jobs with progression.
Source: David Devins, Tim Bickerstaffe, Alex Nunn, and Ben Mitchell, with Ron McQuaid, Valerie Egdell, and Colin Lindsay, The Role of Skills from Worklessness to Sustainable Employment with Progression, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Report | Summary | Case study | Bibliography
Date: 2011-Sep
A briefing paper examined gender equality in relation to skills. Women were increasingly acquiring qualifications at all levels. The gender gap in utilization levels was diminishing, with women closer to men in their use of advanced technologies.
Source: Tom Schuller, Gender and Skills in a Changing Economy, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Briefing
Date: 2011-Sep
A study found that there were positive employment and earnings returns for the 'vast majority' of vocational qualifications gained in adulthood.
Source: Returns to Intermediate and Low Level Vocational Qualifications, Research Report 53, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Sep
A briefing paper examined the spatial dimensions of inequalities in skills. Spatial disparities in employment and skills were entrenched, and had increased during the recession. There were also spatial variations in ambitions, aspirations, and motivations.
Source: Anne Green, Spatial Inequality and Skills in a Changing Economy, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Briefing
Date: 2011-Sep
A large-scale longitudinal quantitative survey examined the longer-term outcomes of the training and advice provided in the United Kingdom through the European Social Fund programme. ESF and match-funded provision had had a 'positive and sustained impact' upon participants in line with the targets that had been set.
Source: Tracy Anderson, Clare Tait, and Cheryl Lloyd, European Social Fund Cohort Study: Wave 3, Research Report 771, Department for Work and Pensions
Date: 2011-Sep
A paper reviewed evidence relating to the disadvantage in the labour market faced by people with low skills.
Source: Chris Hasluck, Low Skills and Social Disadvantage in a Changing Economy, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Briefing
Date: 2011-Sep
A study examined the concept of 'career adaptability'. It considered the concept's potential for improving public policy in areas such as the quality and effectiveness of career support services, and for encouraging greater autonomy and control by individuals over their careers.
Source: Jenny Bimrose, Alan Brown, Sally-Anne Barnes, and Deirdre Hughes, The Role of Career Adaptability in Skills Supply, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Report | Technical paper
Date: 2011-Aug
A report reviewed national and international evidence on the rationale, impact, and effectiveness of government intervention to 'rebalance' the economy, sectorally and spatially. It considered the role of, and implications for, employment and skills policy in supporting the objectives of economic rebalancing.
Source: Simon Pringle, Geoff White, Rebecca Pates, Jonathan Cook, V Seth, Rachel Beaven, John Tomaney, Pedro Marques, and Anne Green, Rebalancing the Economy Sectorally and Spatially: An evidence review, UK Commission for Employment and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Aug
An employers' organization said that a voluntary approach would be the best way to promote business commitment to training and to boost skills levels. Government plans for a wholesale extension of training levies or licence-to-practice schemes would be counterproductive.
Source: Business Investment in Skills: The road back to growth, Confederation of British Industry
Links: Report | CBI press release | Unionlearn press release
Date: 2011-Aug
A report examined how apprenticeships could be better used to tackle the problem of youth unemployment.
Source: Learning a Living: A research report into apprenticeships and reducing youth unemployment, Working Links
Links: Report | Working Links press release
Date: 2011-Aug
A report said that skills deficiencies were 'shackling' businesses and undermining economic recovery. 58 per cent of company directors reporting skills deficiencies said that skills gaps were holding back the growth of their firms. The coalition government's skills strategy offered a positive prospectus for the future, moving away from a target-driven, command-and-control model. But the simplification of the skills infrastructure was too timid, and the encouragement of collective measures such as training levies was unwelcome.
Source: Duncan Brown, Mike Harris, and Thomas Fletcher, Reforming the Skills System: Lessons learned the hard way, Institute of Directors/CFE
Links: Report | IOD press release
Date: 2011-Jul
A report set out the priority areas that the Welsh Assembly Government needed to address in order to close skills gaps in the economy and be responsive to future needs.
Source: Skills for Jobs: Priorities, Wales Employment and Skills Board
Links: Report | WAG press release
Date: 2011-Jul
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published its annual report for 2010-11.
Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11, HC 1001, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, TSO
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jul
A report evaluated national skills academies. All the academies could show that they were meeting employers' needs to some extent: but this varied according to the development stage of the academy and the size and nature of its target market among employers.
Source: Claire Johnson, Jim Hillage, Linda Miller, Anne Bellis, Joy Oakley, Freddie Sumption, Trinh Tu, Steve Ginnis, and Ruth Gosling, Evaluation of National Skills Academies, Research Report 39, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Notes: National skills academies were created (from 2006 onwards) as employer-led centres of excellence in learning, with the aim of increasing employer engagement with vocational education and training, and improving the skills available in the working population.
Date: 2011-Jul
A paper examined the labour market outcomes of employees displaced by routinization between 1981 and 2004. Periods in which the employment share of routine jobs fell markedly across the entire economy were periods that witnessed increased mobility of routine workers towards both high- and low-waged non-routine jobs. The relationship between routinization and mobility was mediated through the qualification levels, specific skills, and experience of workers.
Source: Craig Holmes, The Route Out of the Routine: Where do the displaced routine workers go?, Research Paper 100, Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (Cardiff and Oxford Universities)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jul
A paper examined the potential contribution of universities and colleges in Scotland to improved skills utilization in the workplace.
Source: Jonathan Payne, Scotland s Skills Utilisation Programme: An interim evaluation, Research Paper 101, Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (Cardiff and Oxford Universities)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jul
The coalition government responded to a consultation on proposals (put forward by the previous Labour government) to extend the right to request 'time to train' to all employees. It said that it had decided not to extend the right as planned to employees of small- and medium-sized organizations.
Source: Consultation on the Future of the Right to Request Time to Train Regulations: Government Response, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Response to consultation
Notes: Consultation document (August 2010)
Date: 2011-Jul
A paper examined the challenges confronting skills policy in England under the new coalition government, and considered the prospects for a more 'integrative and holistic' approach to tackling the skills problem. It said that the political and ideological space for such an approach was limited, with skills policy likely to focus mainly on skills supply, albeit with vastly diminished state funding/subsidy.
Source: Jonathan Payne and Ewart Keep, One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? Skills policy in England under the coalition government, Research Paper 102, Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (Cardiff and Oxford Universities)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jul
Researchers examined how claimants' skills needs were defined and identified by Jobcentre Plus personal advisers.
Source: Anne Bellis, Joy Oakley, Maria Sigala, and Sara Dewson, Identifying Claimants Needs: Research into the capability of Jobcentre Plus advisors, Research Report 43, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jun
A think-tank report said that skills development and training were crucial to helping people stay in employment. The coalition government needed to integrate its employment and skills agendas if new welfare-to-work programmes, such as the Work Programme, were to maximize their potential for moving people off benefits and into sustainable employment.
Source: Sarah Foster and Jo Casebourne with Ellie Roberts and Laura Lake, Integrated Employment and Skills: Maximising the contribution for sustainable employment, Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jun
Researchers examined whether and how claimants got access to appropriate work-related skills training via a Jobcentre Plus or Next Step referral. A fully integrated, seamless service was still an 'unrealized goal'.
Source: Claire Johnson, Paul Sissons, Joy Oakley, and Sara Dewson, Access to Work-Related Training, Research Report 42, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Jun
A briefing paper examined the European Union's policy framework on education and training.
Source: Agata Patecka, EU Lifelong Learning Policy Framework, SOLIDAR
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-May
A report set out a framework for improving Europe's education and training systems for young people. It called for further investment in education and mobility, concrete measures to improve youth employment, and the involvement of young people in decision-making processes.
Source: Milan Zver, Youth on the Move: A framework for improving Europe's education and training systems, European Parliament
Links: Report | EYF press release
Date: 2011-May
Researchers examined what employers wanted from an aligned employment and skills system; and the extent to which employers, employer representatives, and stakeholders in the system thought that it was 'joined up'. In order to improve joint working, stakeholders should consider developing joint aims and objectives across existing employment and skills services.
Source: Sarah Jenkins, Jane Darragh, and Jayesh Navin Shah, What Do Employers Want from an Aligned Employment and Skills System?, Research Report 743, Department for Work and Pensions
Date: 2011-May
A report examined the 'critical differences' between apprenticeships and higher education, and how the two pathways could best complement each other.
Source: Apprenticeships and Higher Education: Good sound-bites, bad policy making, Centre for Innovation in Learning (Learning and Skills Network)
Date: 2011-May
A study examined the working and learning experiences of hospital porters, with the aim of increasing understanding of the workplace as a learning environment and identifying ways in which it could enhance employees' learning and career progression.
Source: Alison Fuller, Ian Laurie, and Lorna Unwin, Learning at Work As a Low Grade Worker: The case of hospital porters, LLAKES Research Paper 25, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-May
The Department for Business Innovation and Skills published a revised business plan, covering the period 2011-2015.
Source: Business Plan 2011-2015, Department for Business Innovation and Skills
Date: 2011-May
A study examined pilot schemes designed to stimulate co-investment in the personal development of workers. The schemes were found to have considerable value to employers, unions, and learners. Such co-investment needed to be substantially increased if society's requirements for transferable skills and broader personal development were to be met.
Source: Mark Stuart, Bert Clough, and James Rees, Research Paper 13, Co-Investing in Workforce Development: Outcomes from the collective learning fund pilots, Unionlearn (Trades Union Congress)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-May
A report reviewed efforts within the framework of the 'Europe 2020' agenda aimed at raising employment rates and skills levels.
Source: Nina Arnhold, Marcin Piatkowski, and Joost de Laat, Europe 2020: The Employment, Skills and Innovation Agenda, World Bank
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Apr
A paper examined the spatial dimensions of 'skills for life' workplace provision. Learners' spatial associations with their workplaces were often perceived as positive, as they might contrast with their previous negative experiences associated with formal education and training.
Source: Natasha Kersh, Edmund Waite, and Karen Evans, The Spatial Dimensions of Skills for Life Workplace Provision, LLAKES Research Paper 24, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Mar
An article examined the theory that continued expansion of higher education was necessary to service the high-skill labour requirements of a knowledge economy. The relationship between employability and employment was far from straightforward: the data suggested that traditional labour market disadvantage still appeared to be an impediment to achievement, regardless of the extent to which graduates developed employability skills during their undergraduate studies.
Source: Nick Wilton, 'Do employability skills really matter in the UK graduate labour market? The case of business and management graduates', Work, Employment and Society, Volume 25 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Mar
A report examined key trends in workplace learning in Europe. It looked at effective policies, strategic partnerships, structures, and instruments that aimed to expand adult learning in the workplace.
Source: Learning While Working: Success stories on workplace learning in Europe, European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training
Date: 2011-Mar
A report examined the extent and effectiveness of training initiatives in Europe that had been provided or supported by enterprises during the economic recession for their employees (excluding training initiatives for unemployed people).
Source: Inigo Isusi, Preparing for the Upswing: Training and qualification during the crisis, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Date: 2011-Mar
A paper examined the key factors that facilitated and inhibited sustainable skills for life workplace provision.
Source: Edmund Waite, Karen Evans, and Natasha Kersh, Is Workplace Skills for Life Provision Sustainable in the UK?, LLAKES Research Paper 23, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Mar
An article examined the promotion of lifelong learning policies by the European Union.
Source: Alexander Kleibrink, 'The EU as a norm entrepreneur: the case of lifelong learning', European Journal of Education, Volume 46 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Feb
A study found that companies' investment in skills training had fallen by only 5 per cent in real terms between 2007 and 2009. The recession had also caused companies to 'train smarter' – focusing their training on key business needs.
Source: Alan Felstead, Francis Green, and Nick Jewson, The Impact of the 2008-9 Recession on the Extent, Form and Patterns of Training at Work, LLAKES Research Paper 22, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies
Links: Paper | LLAKES press release | IOE press release | Cardiff University press release
Date: 2011-Feb
An article examined the role of the European Social Fund (ESF) in supporting the development of vocational training in the member states. Compared with other, more recent, EU programmes and initiatives in the area of education and training, the ESF had not made a significant contribution to the debate about European co-operation in this field.
Source: Gerhard Welbers, 'The European Social Fund: changing approaches to VET', European Journal of Education, Volume 46 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Feb
A paper examined levels of over-education, and wage returns to education, for males across eleven regions of the United Kingdom, using Labour Force Survey data. Significant regional differences were found in the probability of being over-educated. Regional differences were also found in the return to the 'correct' level of education – in each case associated with flexibility of movement between and into particular regions, which determined the ease of job matching. Evidence was found that, after controlling for the level of education acquired, there was a wage premium for the 'correct' level of education, which varied between regions.
Source: Pamela Lenton, Overeducation Across British Regions, SERP 2011001, Department of Economics, University of Sheffield
Links: Paper
Notes: Over-education was considered to exist where the level of qualification held by an employee was greater than that needed for the job.
Date: 2011-Jan