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The University for Industry (UfI) is at the heart of the Government's vision for lifelong learning. It will be a public-private partnership to boost the competitiveness of business and enable individuals to improve their employability.

It will have two strategic objectives: to stimulate demand for lifelong learning amongst businesses and individuals; and to promote the availability of, and improve access to, relevant, high quality and innovative learning, in particular through the use of information and communications technologies.

The UfI will be an organisation for open and distance learning. It will have both private individuals and businesses as customers. Using modern technologies, it will broker high quality learning products and services and make them available at home, in the workplace and at learning centres countrywide. It will break down barriers to learning by making provision more flexible and accessible, by stimulating new markets to bring down costs, by offering clear, reliable information and advice and by providing opportunities for people to learn at their own pace and in convenient locations. Show less

Young people who do badly in their GCSE examinations at age 16 present two challenges for social policy. The first is to minimise the numbers getting poor results while maintaining credible academic standards in examinations. The second is to mitigate the consequences of poor results by providing opportunities for low achievers to improve their qualifications. It is the second of the challenges that this report addresses. It aims to inform the policy debate on how best to provide for these young people through a detailed study of a cohort of low achievers who reached the end of their compulsory schooling in 1995. This report is not about the causes of low achievement. It is about the recent trends in low achievement, and about how the routes low achievers took after age sixteen differed from those taken by young people with better examination results. The report tracks the low achievers' progress after age sixteen over two and a half years, looking at their educational participation, work-based training, employment, any further qualifications that are gained and their satisfaction with the way that things worked out for them. Show less

The National Skills Task Force has been established by the Secretary of State for Education and Employment to assist him in developing a National Skills Agenda. The Task Force was asked to provide advice on the nature, extent and pattern of skill needs and shortages, including associated recruitment difficulties, how these are likely to change and what can be done to ease such problems. This paper is one of a series that has been commissioned to review and evaluate existing literature in a number of skills-related areas.

The main aim of this study of the banking, finance and insurance sector is to identify the implications of recent and projected changes in employment on the types and levels of skills required. It also examines the impact of organisational and technological change. The author begins by defining the main activities undertaken in the sector, the composition of employment and the gender and occupational structures. Hasluck then looks more closely at the background to previous employment growth and current developments, presenting supporting tables on employment trends, employment change and employment projections. Finally, Hasluck identifies skill shortages and gaps and presents the conclusions as a series of key messages which acknowledge the volatile nature of the financial sector.

Other research reports in this series are indexed from TD/TNC 62.633 to TD/TNC 62.640 and from TD/TNC 62.642 to TD/TNC 62.651. Show less

The right to Time off for Study or Training (TfST) which came into effect in 1999, gives employees aged 16 or 17 an entitlement to reasonable time off from work to achieve a qualification at National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) Level Two or equivalent. This report, in its first stage, is a qualitative assessment of the initial impact of this new legislation. It is based on interviews with representatives of Regional Government Offices, careers services, Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs), National Training Organisations (NTOs), business representative organisations, employers and young people. The report provides information on the target group of young people, approach to the legislation, promotion of the right to TfST, barriers to TfST and possible future trends in take-up of financial assistance which at present has been low. Show less

This report examines the impact of training on firm employment growth in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The report uses the methodological framework outlined in 'Methodological approaches to the study of the impact of training on firm performance' by A. Hughes and M. Weeks and an updated version of the Centre for Business Research's (CBR) SME dataset. A key objective of this study was to examine the relative benefit of utilising alternative measures of training activity on firm employment growth. The report concludes by exploring the implications of the findings of the study for further work in this area. Show less

This study aimed to estimate employers' total financial contribution to Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) and Youth Training (YT) in England for the period 1995 to 1996. This is the payment made directly to the trainee or on the trainee's behalf by the employer. Other contributions by the employer, such as on-the-job supervision and premise overheads, were not covered. Show less

This report looks at three aspects of the provision of formal training in United Kingdom small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A large number of SMEs in the manufacturing and business service sectors are used to investigate the impact of training. The first focus is the extent and type of formal training that is provided. A distinction is made between those firms that provide training internally and those where it is provided externally. Part of the analysis explores the determinants of formal training. To achieve a given level of performance, or survival, firms in a particular sector or location may be required to train more than firms in other sectors or locations. It is important to consider all the factors which determine the extent of training when seeking to explain the impact of training on performance and survival. The second aspect is a focus on the relationship between training and survival. This includes training variables as well as conventional factors such as size, age and profitability in influencing whether a firm will survive or not. The third focus is on the role of formal training in company performance. Growth is measured as both turnover and employment. The impact of training on the profit margins is also considered. The report concludes that there is little evidence that training improves the prospects for business survival except in firms with between 10 and 20 employees, although there is some evidence that formal training has had a positive impact on the growth of businesses. Show less

This report presents the findings of a survey that focused on industry perceptions and knowledge of Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) and their services. It was intended that the survey produce a database of information. This report is intentionally descriptive and factual. It aims to summarise the key findings of the survey for the wider audience. Questions focused on awareness of TECs, awareness of TEC services, use of TEC services, use of specific services, reasons for not using TEC services, awareness of third parties delivering TEC services, the likely use of TEC services in the next twelve months, factors that would encourage non-users to use TEC services, factors that would encourage users of TEC services to use more services, likelihood of non-users making use of services in the next two years, how establishments judge TEC performance, satisfaction and dissatisfaction with TEC services, changes in the use of TEC services over the last twelve months, explanations for increased and decreased use of TEC services, impact of TEC services on the company, TECs' knowledge of employers' business sector needs and training needs, views of the wider impact of TECs, employers' views on how well their TEC is performing, key issues establishments will face in the next two years, issues where TECs can help, awareness and interest in TEC boards, and interest in becoming a member of a TEC board. Show less

National Training Organisations (NTOs) were launched in 1996 with the vision being for each NTO to become the automatic preferred point of reference for strategic leadership and practical guidance on skills and qualifications needs for a defined employment sector and/or range of occupations. This report is based on a 1999 survey which was conducted to determine baseline data on the percentage and profile of employers in the United Kingdom who are aware of NTOs, understand the purpose of NTOs, and use their service. Information provided in this report includes an outline of the survey methodology and baseline statistics relating to awareness, understanding, usage and rating of NTOs and their services. Show less

This White Paper on enterprise, skills and innovation from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) addresses the requirements for economic success in the United Kingdom (UK) over the next decade. It examines how Government will work with businesses and individuals to adapt to change and ensure investment occurs in a modern infrastructure. The key needs are to increase the educational and skill levels of the population, rationalise the system of vocational qualifications and develop information and communication skills. Investment in new technologies is required and there will be funding to promote the commercial exploitation of research. The document outlines how the Government has established economic stability and proposes initiatives and actions in five key areas: developing a more highly skilled workforce; building strong regions and communities; spreading the benefits of new research and technologies and developing new world-beating industries; ensuring markets operate effectively and fairly; and, strengthening the UK's position in European and global trade.

The final statement on the work of the National Skills Taskforce from the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, 'Opportunity and skills in the knowledge-driven economy', is indexed at TD/IRD 88.21. Show less