Skills for Business (SfB), the UK-wide network of employer-led Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), supported and directed by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), was launched in October 2002. The purpose of SfB is to bring employers more centre-stage in articulating their skill needs and delivering skills-based productivity improvements that can enhance UK competitiveness and the effectiveness of public services. This research was commissioned for the SfB network by the SSDA. It presents the first systematic evaluation of the variation in the distribution of, and returns to, qualifications
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Skills for Business (SfB), the UK-wide network of employer-led Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), supported and directed by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), was launched in October 2002. The purpose of SfB is to bring employers more centre-stage in articulating their skill needs and delivering skills-based productivity improvements that can enhance UK competitiveness and the effectiveness of public services. This research was commissioned for the SfB network by the SSDA. It presents the first systematic evaluation of the variation in the distribution of, and returns to, qualifications using sectors defined by the newly established network of 25 SSCs. The research is intended to contribute to the skill needs assessments undertaken by each SSC in particular as part of their Sector Skills Agreements (SSAs).
This report presents an analysis of the distribution of rates of return to academic and vocational qualifications in the SSCs. More specifically, it utilises data drawn from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for 2000 to 2004 (inclusive) and presents estimates of the proportion of the workforce in each SSC holding qualifications as defined by the five levels of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). It differentiates between academic and vocational qualifications, and presents separate figures for men and women. This first stage of the analysis provides an indication of the utilisation of differently qualified workers in each sector. It then calculates the average wage premiums, or 'rates of return', which accrue to each of the qualification levels. This provides an estimate of the value placed by employers in different sectors on each type of qualification. This report therefore provides a sector-based analysis of the supply of and demand for different types of qualifications.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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