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The Increased Flexibility for 14-16 year olds Programme (IFP) was introduced in 2002 by the UK Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in order to 'create enhanced vocational and work-related learning opportunities for 14-16 year olds who can benefit most'. Partnerships between schools and colleges and training providers were formed and two cohorts of Year 10 students began two-year vocational courses including National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs), other Vocational Qualifications (VQs) and new General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSEs) in vocational subjects. The partnerships aimed to enhance student attainment, develop their skills, knowledge and social learning, and increase retention in education and training after 16. As part of the evaluation of IFP, the DfES commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to undertake a program of case study visits to nine IFP partnerships. The purpose was to investigate the extent to which IFP had become 'embedded in partnership provision and the wider 14-19 agenda' and factors that affected this process either positively or negatively. Specific objectives were to: identify the current partnership arrangements and the extent to which these had changed in relation to the nature of the cohorts and models of delivery; explore the development of IFP including the extent to which it had become embedded in institutions' provision; examine staff's perceptions of the contribution of IFP, and their partnerships' experience, to the transition into the new 14-19 arrangements; investigate the perceived outcomes for young people, staff and institutions from participating in IFP; and explore young people's experience of participating in IFP including their reasons for participating, experience of the program and the main outcomes including their intended future progression. The overall success of the partnerships was indicated by the generally positive view of staff and students about working in partnerships. In addition, the membership of the partnerships had remained stable or had consolidated over the four years of the program. Partnerships with more effective outcomes were characterised by clear selection criteria acknowledged by both college and school staff, effective support for students, and good communication at operational and partnership levels. Show less

For the past decade, Investors in People (IiP) has been the major government workforce development initiative in the United Kingdom (UK). IiP provides a framework for good practice and investment in the development of employees within an organisation. The IiP standard acts as a benchmark against which organisations can be assessed and, since its inception, the number of organisations becoming recognised Investors in People has steadily grown. Previous research had shown that the standard has a positive effect on training and development strategy within organisations but research into the wider contribution of IiP was needed. The main aims of the research were, therefore, to gather information that describes the position of IiP within organisations and in terms of its wider effects on organisations, individuals, and the economy in general, and to act as precursor to a fuller cost-benefit analysis of returns and rates of return to individuals, employers and society from workforce development. A large-scale program of survey-based research was carried out among a sample of organisations covering four employment size bands (fewer than 10 employees; 10-49 employees; 50-249 employees; and 250+ employees). The report is structured as follows: an analysis of organisational objectives for involvement in IiP; an assessment of whether organisations satisfy these objectives and the intermediate effect, e.g. changes in human resource (HR) management and practices, of IiP; an analysis of the business performance effects of achieving the standard; an examination of the wider effects including an assessment of the impact on employees; a comparison of IiP with other externally accredited standards and good practices adopted by organisations involved with IiP; a report on organisations' views on the usefulness of IiP; the outcome of the work designed to act as a precursor to a fuller cost-benefit analysis; and concluding remarks on the research outcomes and the implications for policy development. Appendices contain evaluation data. Show less

This report responds to a Department for Education and Skills (DfES) request for further analysis of young people who become NEET (i.e. not in education, employment or training) after leaving compulsory education (i.e. Year 11). It examines quantitative data collected as part of the evaluation of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and encompasses two cohorts of young people who completed compulsory education in 1999 and 2000. The report comprises two parts. The first part uses data from the two cohorts of young people included in the first wave of interviews which were conducted face-to-face with young people and parents in 1999 for the first cohort and in 2000 for the second cohort. This part of the report explores the attitudes and aspirations of parents of young people and of the young people themselves. It also considers the level of support given to young people by their parents throughout their Year 11 decision making. The final section examines the extent to which young people and their parents agreed about aspirations and their attitudes to education, work and training. The second part of the report draws on the longitudinal aspect of the dataset to examine young people's destinations at age 16, 17 and 18. It then considers the composition of the NEET group at ages 17 and 18, specifically considering inflows to the group. The report then focuses on outflows from the NEET group to investigate young people's destinations at age 17 and 18 by their socio-economic classification, Year 11 qualifications, gender and level of parental involvement in Year 11 decision making. Show less

This document is the final report from the Post-16 Learning Arrangements Evaluation project, commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to assess key stakeholder and partner views on critical post-16 processes and the contribution to learner performance, quality and standards. New arrangements for post-16 learning had been developed in response to a number of perceived weaknesses in the existing system. By November 2002, their implementation had resulted in policy, organisational and operational changes. This final report compares the progress to date with the findings from an interim study (indexed at TD/TNC 76.296) and is structured around four main themes: Learning and Skills Council (LSC) arrangements; Raising standards; Inspections; and Area inspection. Particular strengths of the system that emerged during the course of this study include: greater awareness of the impact on operational activity of the balance between DfES and LSC; strengthening of partnership and communication across the sector; strengthening of LSC staff expertise; and overwhelming support for the management of the inspection arrangements by both inspectorates. Show less

This report presents the findings of an extensive consultation process which was intended to establish the readiness of Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to provide new Individual Learner Record (ILR) management information (MI) to be introduced by the Learning Skills Council (LSC) in September 2003. The ability of LEAs to systematise the quality of their returns on adult education and generally to improve their MI for a variety of purposes is also tested. The study seeks to achieve its objectives by: making an assessment of LEA readiness to meet the reporting requirements of the ILR against a generic classification of capacity; providing an assessment of hardware, software, connectivity, skills, organisational culture and ownership issues; providing an assessment of how group-based issues might be resolved; and formulating recommendations for the future. Show less

This report presents a synthesis, review and assessment of the available evidence on the demand for, and supply of, skills in England. It also aims to identify the main aspects of skill deficiencies and imbalances between skills demand and supply and to bring together the key findings from research as a basis for the development of the skills agenda in the future. The first chapter outlines the purpose of the report, the research approach and definitions, the economic contribution of skills to the wellbeing of the nation and its people, and the structure of the report. Chapters two and three examine the demand for skills, i.e. skills needed both currently and in the future. Chapter four looks at the supply of skills that is currently available and chapter five identifies the main skill imbalances and deficiencies. These chapters conclude with a synthesis of key points. Chapter six draws on the findings presented in the previous chapters to identify the key challenges that could inform an agenda for action on skills issues.

A summary of this report is indexed at TD/TNC 72.138. Show less

The Skills for Life programme provides a range of support to improve the basic skills of those aged 16 and over. This includes free attendance on selected basic skills courses for those who lack literacy and/or numeracy qualifications at Level 2 or above. As part of the evaluation of the Skills for Life programme, [National Institute of Economic and Social Research] NIESR and BMRB [Social Research] were commissioned to conduct an evaluation of the impact of participation in literacy and numeracy courses for qualifications. The impact evaluation is based on a longitudinal survey of basic skills learners and of a control group (the ‘Longitudinal Learners’ Survey’). At least three waves of the survey, over three years, will be conducted. This report provides descriptive information on participation in literacy and numeracy courses, based on analysis of the first wave of the Longitudinal Learners’ Survey and of the Skills for Life Survey. All data have been reweighted to be representative of the population.

Published excerpt.

The report of the second wave of the survey is indexed at TD/TNC 83.461 and the report of the third wave is indexed at TD/TNC 89.258. Show less

This document reports on a research project which examined further education (FE) college mergers completed between 1996 and 2000 with the aims of: evaluating the effectiveness of FE college mergers in the short and longer term; establishing how merged FE colleges differ in substance from their pre-merger position and the degree to which this impacts on effectiveness; establishing the extent to which merged colleges serve as an effective model for the delivery of FE provision; and identifying the lessons learnt to assist in the implementation of mergers in the future. The first phase of the research involved interviews with Department for Employment and Science (DfES) and Learning and Skills Council personnel in order to gain background on college merger history and policy. The second phase of the study involved fieldwork visits at each of seventeen case study sites of FE college mergers. The findings of this review suggest that there are a number of key factors which may impact on the success or failure of a merger. These factors include: that the merger is seen as essential to the survival of one of the partners; that a realistic risk assessment has been carried out; that a business plan with measurable outcomes is in place; that there is a strong team supporting the merger, including the board, the principal and senior management; that accommodation strategies are in place; that preparatory training is made available to those who have a strategic responsibility for carrying forward the merger plans; that appropriate financial arrangements, support and guidance must be in place and that there is an experienced financial manager with adequate support systems; that the merger is particularly focused on support for the learner; that enhanced operational support systems are in place; and that a clear post-merger integration strategy is in place. Show less

This report summarises the findings of the National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) 2003 for the Skillfast-UK Sector Skills Council, which covers apparel, footwear, textiles and related businesses. The 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 about the extent, causes and implications of England's recruitment problems and skill gaps. It also measures employers' training activities. Key findings include: the largest companies are proportionately more likely to have hard-to-fill vacancies, but in terms of actual numbers, the largest proportion of hard-to-fill and skill shortage vacancies lie within the smallest companies; larger companies are also more likely to have skill gaps and also have the highest proportion of staff suffering from skill gaps; the main causes of hard-to-fill vacancies are a low number of applicants generally, low numbers of applicants with the required skills and a lack of experience required by the company; the main causes of skill gaps are the lack of experience of the member of staff and it appears that skill gaps are linked to recruitment difficulties; vacancies are predominantly for machine operatives, sales and customer service staff, elementary jobs and associate professionals, with this last group experiencing the highest density of skills shortage vacancies; the main occupations affected by skill gaps are machine operatives, elementary staff, managers and sales and customer service staff; the most common skills lacking in applicants are technical and practical skills, problem solving skills, customer handling skills and team working skills; the major area of skill gaps are also in the same areas; and skills that are in shortage reflect the nature of the job, e.g. sales staff are more likely to have deficiencies in communication and customer handling skills and managers lack management skills.

The main report and the report of the key findings of the National Employers Skills Survey 2003 are indexed at TD/TNC 79.281 and TD/TNC 79.599. Individual Sector Skills Council reports are indexed from TD/TNC 79.275 to TD/TNC 79.280. Show less

Skills Dialogues constitute a series of consultations with all major industrial and business sectors in the UK, generating high quality authoritative skills assessments for each of these broad sectors. Their purpose is to improve the quality of information available on skills at sector level and to provide an effective means for national training organisations (NTOs) and employers to contribute to the planning and implementation of education and training provision in their sector. This report is the result of the Land-based Industries Sector Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in this sector. The industry coverage includes agricultural crops, livestock and machinery (including garden machinery), animal care, environmental conservation, equine activities, fencing, fish farming, floristry, forestry, game conservation, landscaping, production horticulture, and professions allied to veterinary science (animal technologists, farriery, veterinary nurses). Section one presents key findings; section two provides the executive summary; section three presents introductory and background information; section four identifies common elements across land-based industries and highlights generic issues relating to skill needs; section five examines changing skill demands; section six investigates skills supply; section seven discusses skills demand/supply balance; and section eight contains individual industry analyses. The key messages to emerge present a challenge to the sector in the future. A major development program is needed to correct the imbalance between supply and demand for workers at higher skill levels. In agriculture, a third of the workforce is aged 55 and over and better management and business skills are required, particularly for the high number of owner/managers in the sector. Finally, better information and communications technology (ICT), key skills, initiative and problem solving skills are needed by all who work in land-based industries. Show less