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Growing evaluation evidence confirms the impact of capital investment on building participation rates, retention rates and attainment, and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) recognise the crucial importance for learning of the physical environment. The capital strategy is designed to support the LSC's three national priorities: (1) creating demand for learning and skills; (2) transforming the further education (FE) system to meet demand; and (3) delivering better skills, better jobs and better lives. This document describes how the LSC's capital programme will be targeted to support the delivery of the organisation's key aims and priorities.

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The 2005 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). It provides up-to-date information on the incidence, extent and nature of skills problems faced by employers and explores employers' activities and expenditure in relation to training. Over 74,500 employers were interviewed and comparisons are made with results from employer surveys dating back to 2001. This document is the main report from the survey. It is presented in seven sections: following the executive summary and introduction, section three explores the recruitment problems facing employers and their causes, focusing on the incidence, number, distribution and density of vacancies caused at least partly by a lack of skills, experience or qualifications among those applying; section four examines skills gaps within the workforce and their main causes; section five investigates the recruitment of 16-to-24-year-olds over the past 12 months and explores employers' perceptions of the work-readiness of these recruits and which skills, if any, are found to be lacking; section six focuses on training and workforce development, and explores the extent, nature and volume of training and workforce development activity; and the final section examines employer expenditure on training. Findings include: there has been little change since 2004 in the proportion of employers experiencing difficulty filling vacancies; the proportion of employers affected by skills gaps has once again decreased over the past 12 months, as it has every year since 2001; 21% of employers have recruited a young person into their first job direct from education in the past 12 months; 65% of employers have provided training in the previous 12 months, with the vast majority providing some off-the-job training; and total employer training expenditure over the previous 12 months was UKP 33.3 billion.

A related report containing the key findings is indexed at TD/TNC 86.444. Show less

The Policy Research Institute at Leeds Metropolitan University was asked by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to provide a ‘rapid review’ of research evidence pertaining to apprenticeships. This was commissioned in the wake of the [UK] government handing responsibility for the new National Apprenticeship Service to the LSC in January 2008. The review draws together the findings from a range of research reports, both commissioned research and academic; whilst considering evaluations and policy papers from national government and relevant quasi-public sector agencies. The review also considers evidence on apprenticeships from other UK home nations and a selection of comparative papers from overseas. Given the broad subject heading and the evolving policy frameworks at the heart of government, this research focuses on more contemporary research, with the vast majority of evidence emanating from studies undertaken in the last two or three years.

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The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has an overall policy of performance improvement, and this document describes the Council’s plan to raise the standards of colleges and providers which cause concern. Of particular focus will be those providers in need of major interventions and rapid improvements in the quality of provision. The paper sets out several policies and principles which apply to all providers funded by the LSC, and looks specifically at further education colleges and work based learning providers. Several areas of the paper look at the Council’s powers in this area, outline successful and acceptable plans for providers, and list the key factors which indicate when the threshold for major intervention has been reached, and the appropriate communication which must take place between the LSC and deficient providers. Show less

The Train to Gain service is intended to build upon the experience of Employer Training Pilots, and is available to employers as an independent and impartial brokerage service to diagnose business needs and source appropriate training provision. Brokers are contracted by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to deliver the service, which is presently moving from its pilot phase towards full national roll out. Train to Gain is available to all employers, but brokers will primarily target new, small and 'hard to reach' businesses. This report documents the first of three waves of evaluation of the pilot phase of the service, and covers employers contacted in April and May 2006. Evaluation is intended to ascertain employer ratings of importance and satisfaction about 11 key measures related to the service.

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'Skills in England 2005', produced by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in partnership with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA), summarises the key developments in England's skill base over the last 12 months by pulling together the latest evidence on the supply of, and demand for, skills. It is presented in three volumes. This volume is the main research report. Key messages highlighted in this report include: skills development has taken place in a weakening economy, although the rate of slowdown has been modest and has not adversely affected the demand for labour or skills; the skills base of the country is increasingly recognised as not only a means to increase productivity and competitiveness, but an important means of achieving social cohesion through improving the employability of those at the margins of the labour market; there is a continuing demand for higher-level skills; the supply side is undergoing a period of reform with the introduction of the National Employer Training Programme, which will provide subsidised training to employees via their employers; the supply side also faces the challenge of an ageing workforce which potentially limits supply; on the other hand, inward migration has recently boosted supply, although this brings with it new problems; evidence on the current mismatch between demand and supply shows that skill shortage vacancies have been steady at around three per cent of employment over recent years, but where they occur, they can be damaging to organisational performance; the reported level of skill shortages and skill gaps reported by employers remain a source of concern; and management skills have been highlighted as one area where there is a particular need for improvement.

The three volumes are indexed from TD/TNC 87.447 to TD/TNC 87.449. Show less

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for funding and planning post-16 education and training in England. This workforce development strategy describes how the LSC will achieve its responsibility to raise skill levels and the demand for learning, and engage employers in improving skills for employability and national competitiveness. The strategy has been developed in consultation with government and key partners at national, regional and local levels. The strategy comprises the following approach: (1) to raise informed demand for employment-related skills among individuals and employers; (2) to support improvements to the responsiveness and flexibility of the supply side of skills; and (3) to contribute to the development of an underpinning framework of better skills and labour market information, responsive vocational qualifications, and improved links to the wider educational agenda. Show less

Following the broadening of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) from full-time education to include young learners on two programmes within the [Learning and Skills Council] LSC funded work-based learning family, Entry to Employment (E2E) and Programme Led Apprenticeships (PLA), from April 2006, the LSC commissioned Experian and Ipsos MORI to undertake an evaluation of the extension roll out in September 2007. The objective of this research is to understand the effectiveness of the rollout of the extension of EMA, in particular in relation to the communication of EMA into the programmes; the operational procedures; and the impact on overarching LSC policy. The research was undertaken through a combination of learner and provider surveys, and [in-depth] interviews with providers. The communication of EMA into the programmes has been effective overall, although there is room for improvement in achieving higher initial awareness amongst providers of the rollout. The initial preparation procedures, providing information regarding the administration of EMA to providers, are suitable and effective. The extension of EMA to E2E and PLA has contributed to some of the core LSC targets and policies, by helping raise participation, achievement and progression, as well as creating a more level playing field, although there is potential to further enhance these impacts in the future.

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Train to Gain is one of the most important developments in skills policy in recent years. Introduced in April 2006, and fully rolled out in August of that year, Train to Gain is a national service for businesses that provides help in identifying and sourcing such training as will improve the skills of their workforce and their business performance. It aims to encourage employers to invest in the development of the skills and qualifications of their employees. It is particularly concerned with increasing the proportion of adults in the workforce who have Level 2 qualifications and good basic skills. Among the key guiding principles of the Train to Gain service is the idea that training provision and skills development should be individually tailored to the needs of the employer. To ensure that these objectives are being met and that the service meets the needs of employers, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has initiated an ongoing employer evaluation of the Train to Gain service. This document reports the findings from Sweep 2 of this employer evaluation.

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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