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This paper examines how young people's early transitions into the labour market have changed between cohorts born in 1958, 1970, 1980, and 1990. [The authors] use sequence analysis to characterise transition patterns and identify three distinct pathways in all cohorts. An 'Entering the Labour Market' group has declined significantly in size (from 91 per cent in the earliest cohort, to 37 per cent in the most recent), an 'Accumulating Human Capital' group has grown in its place (from 4 per cent to 51 per cent), but also a 'Potential Cause for Concern' group has grown alongside this, reaching 12 per cent in the most recent cohort. These trends appear to reflect behavioural rather than compositional changes. Females and those who are from a non-white ethnic background have gone from being more likely to be in the 'Potential Cause for Concern' group, to being less likely. Coming from a low socio-economic status background has remained a strong predictor of having a transition of this type across all four cohorts. These early transitions are important, not least since we show they are highly predictive of longer-term outcomes.

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The 2004 National Employers Skills Survey (NESS) was commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), in partnership with the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), to provide detailed information on skills and workforce development issues facing employers in England to serve as a common basis to develop policy and assess the impact of skills initiatives. The survey included 27,000 employers across all sectors of business activity in England. This report is presented in three main sections: 'Skill shortages and other recruitment difficulties' explores the scale and nature of recruitment problems, focusing on the incidence, number, distribution and density of vacancies caused at least partially by a lack of skills, experience or qualifications among those applying; 'Skills gaps within the existing workforce' examines the incidence of skills gaps within the workforce, both in terms of the frequency with which employers have skills gaps and the proportion of staff described as lacking in proficiency, and explores the main causes of skills gaps and the skills that are described as lacking among the workforce in England; 'Training and workforce development' explores the extent, nature and volume of training and workforce development activity, including the proportion of establishments that provide on- and off-the-job training, the extent to which employers plan and budget for training, and the factors that influence training activity. The findings indicate: that skills deficiencies continue to affect about a quarter of the employers; evidence of a slight easing of skills problems for employers in terms of the number of staff lacking skills and the number of vacancies where skills shortages are experienced; skills deficiencies affect different size and sector of employer, and occupational group, very differently; and there have been significant increases in the proportion of employers with training plans.

The key findings report is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 83.264. Show less

This publication presents a number of case studies where technology has been used as a means of improving learner outcomes. It shares what was done, why and, most importantly, the improvements that were secured as a result. The illustrative case studies share how technology can be used to good effect to bring about improvement to, for example, value-added, and tracking and target setting. The case studies signal the way forward to other providers across the sector seeking similar developments, and provide food for thought as well as some practical solutions. The projects described focus on raising retention and achievement and learner outcomes more widely, where technology per se was not the main aim but more the vehicle for securing that improvement. As such, the spotlight is on the direction and journey undertaken by the providers as they focused on improving their learners’ outcomes using technology as the means of securing that improvement.

Excerpt from published summary reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This paper studies the school-to-work transition in the UK with the aim of achieving a richer understanding of individuals’ trajectories in the five years after reaching school leaving age. By applying the technique of ‘optimal matching’ on data from 1991 to 2008, [the authors] group individuals’ trajectories post-16, and identify a small number of distinct transition patterns. [The] results suggest that while nine out of 10 young people have generally positive experiences post-16, the remaining individuals exhibit a variety of histories that might warrant policy attention. [The authors] assess the extent to which characteristics at age 16 can predict which type of trajectory a young person will follow. [The] analysis shows that, despite the apparent heterogeneity, virtually all at-risk trajectories are associated with a relatively small set of key ‘risk factors’: early pregnancy; low educational attainment and self-confidence; and disadvantaged family background. These characteristics are known to be strongly correlated across individuals and raise concerns about the degree of socioeconomic polarisation in the transition from school to work. Show less

The National Learner Satisfaction Survey (NLSS), undertaken by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), provides an overview of delivery and satisfaction with education and training among learners aged 16 or over in England. The NLSS 2004/05, carried out between February and June 2005, looked at a range of programs and interviewed learners about their perceptions of the delivery of education and training and their satisfaction levels in relation to the quality of teaching, management of learning, pre-entry advice and guidance, learner support, benefits and impacts of learning. The focus of this report is on learners with disabilities. Key messages include: 91 per cent of learners with disabilities were satisfied to some extent with their overall learning experience, the same level of satisfaction measured for learners without disabilities; older learners with disabilities tended to show higher levels of satisfaction with the learning experience than their younger counterparts; 33 per cent of learners with disabilities aged 19 or more said they were 'extremely' satisfied; type of disability had a significant impact on levels of satisfaction with the overall learning experience; and health reasons were the most common reason for leaving a course among learners with disabilities. The contents are: Introduction; Satisfaction with the quality of teaching; Information and guidance prior to entry; Support for learners; The impact of learning. Included as appendices are: Confidence limits and effective sample sizes; Ridge regression scores for individual components; The questionnaire: core and modular questions.

Reports from the 2004/05 NLSS are indexed at TD/TNC 86.393 and from TD/TNC 87.439 to TD/TNC 87.443. Show less

This report presents new findings on how an innovative post-employment program in Britain is affecting the employment, earnings and benefits receipt of long-term unemployed individuals. This initiative, called the Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration program, is being carefully evaluated through a large-scale randomised control trial. ERA offered a unique combination of financial incentives and in-work support designed to help individuals sustain and advance in the labour market. The demonstration targeted three groups: unemployed lone parents, lone parents working part-time, and long-term unemployed individuals receiving government benefits. While a companion report [indexed at TD/TNC 94.119] presents effects for lone parents, this report focuses on the experiences of the long-term unemployed group, most of whom are men. An earlier evaluation report published in 2007 [indexed at TD/TNC 89.84], showed that, despite significant positive effects for lone parents, ERA's effects for the long-term unemployed group were mixed and uncertain after one year of follow-up. For this group, the program had shown no effects overall on employment or earnings but there were suggestions of positive effects in some districts. The new evidence presented here, covering two years of follow-up, continues to show that ERA's effects were limited. Although the program increased overall employment rates and reduced benefits receipt in year two, these effects were small. However, final assessment of ERA's effectiveness for this group must await longer-term follow-up.

Excerpt from published summary. Show less

The fourth National Employers Skills Survey (NESS) has revealed a steady upward trend in most areas of skills development, according to the views of over 79,000 employers. NESS gathers and analyses data on the issues employers face in terms of recruitment, skills gaps and training. The findings are positive with fewer employers reporting skills gaps and the percentage of all vacancies caused by skills shortage, showing a marked fall. There has been an increase in the proportion of employers providing training, holding a training plan and budget, which has led to an increase in the cost of training for employers of 15.9 per cent compared to 2005. Key findings from the survey include: 67 per cent of establishments have funed or arranged training in the last year; Employer training spend for 2007 was 38.6 billion [British pounds] an increase of 16 per cent (10 per cent when inflation is taken into account); Almost half of employers have a training plan and over a third have a training budget; There has been a reduction in the number of vacancies caused by lack of skills (25 per cent in 2005 compared to 21 per cent in 2007). The study was undertaken in collaboration with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA).

A related report containing the key findings is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 95.555. Show less

UK government policy already explicitly recognises the potential role of migration to address labour market deficiencies, especially in key professions and some unskilled jobs. Migration is also increasingly being viewed as a solution for replacing workers who are retiring and not being replaced at the younger end of the workforce because of falling birth rates.

This report contains the findings of the research by the task group set up by the adult learning committee of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) which aimed to gain a better knowledge of the current position of learning and skills issues in relation to migrants. The ultimate objective was to determine the key issues relating to skills and migration, and to consider how this can inform LSC policy.

Excerpt from published summary reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This report presents the findings for 5,580 learners in the work-based learning (WBL) system. These learners were surveyed as part of the National Learner Satisfaction Survey (NLSS) 2007, which was conducted by the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute on behalf of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The survey comprises three waves, each dealing with a distinct set of modular questions: (1) pre-entry advice and guidance (wave 12); (2) support for learners (wave 13); and (3) impact of learning (wave 14). The NLSS covers learners in FE [further education] (including general FE, sixth form college, adult learning, and other/specialist FE), work-based learning (WBL) and personal and community development learning (PCDL). The report contains the following sections: (1) summary and implications, highlighting the key findings; (2) overall satisfaction, providing detail about learners' overall satisfaction with their learning experience, including an assessment of what drives satisfaction, and an examination of learners who leave their course early; (3) satisfaction with the teaching and the provider, which details findings covering learners' satisfaction with the quality of their teaching, attitudes to their course tutor and other staff, as well as an examination of how learners feel they have been treated; (4) pre-entry information, advice and guidance, examining learners' reasons for choosing their course and provider and the level of information they received about the course; (5) learner support, providing detail on the overall level of support given by providers, as well as how any problems or complaints have been handled; (6) attitudes to learning and the benefits of learning, dealing with how respondents feel about learning in general and about how their course has helped them, and learners' expectations for undertaking further learning; and (7) learners from learndirect, providing a summary of the findings of the core questions for learndirect learners. Throughout the report, comparisons are made with findings from NLSS studies from previous years.

Separate reports have been produced for key findings (TD/TNC 95.170), further education (TD/TNC 95.171) and personal and community development learning (PCDL) (TD/TNC 95.173). Separate reports have also been produced for FE learners with learning difficulties (TD/TNC 95.168), and/or disabilities (TD/TNC 95.167), and early leavers (TD/TNC 95.169), along with a detailed technical report (TD/TNC 95.174). Show less

The National Learner Satisfaction Survey (NLSS), undertaken by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), provides an overview of delivery and satisfaction with education and training among learners aged 16 or over in England. The NLSS 2004/05, carried out between February and June 2005, looked at a range of programs and interviewed learners about their perceptions of the delivery of education and training and their satisfaction levels in relation to the quality of teaching, management of learning, pre-entry advice and guidance, learner support, benefits and impacts of learning. The focus of this report is on adult and community learning (ACL) provision. Key messages include: 33 per cent of learners were 'extremely' satisfied with their overall learning experience; male learners were more satisfied than female learners and younger learners and learners from minority ethnic groups all displayed lower levels of satisfaction; learners with disabilities were more satisfied overall than those without; and the most common reasons given for leaving the course early were health reasons, excess workload, wrong course and problems with the quality of teaching. The contents are: Executive summary; Introduction; Overall satisfaction with the learning experience; Overall satisfaction with the quality of teaching/training; Information and guidance prior to entry; Support for learners; Impact of learning and attitudes to learning.

Reports from the 2004/05 NLSS are indexed at TD/TNC 86.393 and from TD/TNC 87.439 to TD/TNC 87.443. Show less