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[This paper] reports research findings on the [UK] government's proposal for adults aged 24 and above, who study for qualifications at level 3 and above, to make greater contributions to the costs of their learning. The government proposes to remove grant funding for these further education learners and courses. This will allow the government to focus investment on younger and lower-qualified learners who are less likely to invest in themselves. Instead, the government will provide income-contingent loans to cover the resulting upfront costs, in line with its principles of promoting fairness and personal responsibility. These 24+ Advanced Learning Loans will be made available to new learners from the 2013 to 2014 academic year, with the first full year expected to be the 2014/15 academic year. [Department for Business, Innovation and Skills] BIS carried out an impact assessment to show the economic costs and benefits of this proposal, and an equality impact assessment to look at how the proposal will affect different types of learners. This research provides a greater understanding of four specific learner groups: those aged 40+, and particularly those out of work; those with mental or physical disabilities or learning difficulties that have particular needs regarding communication and information; those seeking to take up Advanced/Higher Apprentices; and Muslim learners. This research indicated that most learner groups are unlikely to be put off by the loans proposition, provided it is communicated effectively. It also highlighted groups which are likely to face specific issues and challenges.

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[This report is the] UK government's response to the Wilson review of business-university engagement. [It] sets out what the government will do to build on acknowledged strengths to create the best conditions for universities and businesses to work together to create prosperity over the next decade. [It] covers government initiatives to promote employability skills, research and innovation, work placements and internships, and university-business collaboration at the local level.

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This report analyses the UK findings from the fourth round of the European Union Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS4). It looks at trends in vocational training provision over time. The survey is conducted across 29 European countries every five years. 'Continuing vocational training' (CVT) is defined as pre-arranged training at least partially funded by the organisation, or training that took place during employee's paid working time. The report identifies consistencies and key themes in the data and suggests underlying explanations and connections between them: larger organisations are more likely than smaller ones to offer CVT, and to have the organisational structure to support the training; financial services and public sectors, which are dominated by large businesses and organisations, are more likely to train their staff than those in production and construction sectors that have smaller organisations; on average, men spent slightly more time on CVT courses than women, which can be explained by the significant gender imbalance in the production and construction sectors, and the fact that health and safety and environmental matters are of more relevance to manual and technical occupations mainly held by men; mandatory training was a significant component of all CVT provision, which could be explained by the UK's 'licence to practice' approach, creating an overall greater volume of training; private training companies are used by nearly twice as many employers as public training institutions such as further education colleges and universities; and barriers to training were mainly demand factors: employers did not perceive a need for training or were unwilling to pay its costs in time or cash outlay. This report analyses the UK findings only from the CVTS4.

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This strategy sets out how the UK government and the whole education sector will work together to build on existing strengths in higher and further education, in UK schools overseas, in educational technology and products and services, and in delivering English language training. The strategy covers: (1) welcoming and supporting international students; (2) supporting transnational education (supporting British schools and colleges operating overseas, developing ‘end-to-end’ English language training, and strengthening quality assurance); (3) providing leadership in education technology (actively encouraging development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and launching a design call, through the Technology Strategy Board, on commercialising education technology); (4) developing international relationships; and (5) building the UK brand and taking up opportunities overseas.

The strategy is accompanied by an analytical narrative that identifies a number of challenges facing the UK education sector and a one-page statistical factsheet. Show less

[This report] presents the findings of research into the prior skills and qualification levels of adults aged 19 and over on adult learner responsive (ALR) learning provision in 2010/2011. The research aimed to understand the extent to which investment in ALR learning provision is being directed toward up-skilling individuals with lower skill levels. [This report] also explores the profile of learners undertaking such courses and those undertaking their first level 2 learning, in demographics, employment status and income, and to investigate why learners take up these courses.

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Under the Equality Act 2010, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), as a public authority, is legally obliged to give due regard to equality issues when making policy decisions - the public sector equality duty, also called the general equality duty. Analysing the effects on equality of these regulations through developing an equality impact assessment is one method of ensuring that thinking about equality issues is built into the policy process, and informs Ministers' decision making. The general equality duty covers the following protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

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This research aims to inform the forthcoming negotiations for the European Structural and Cohesion programs to run from 2014 to 2020. It looks at how the European Social Fund (ESF) might be used to promote economic growth and the creation of employment opportunities through supporting activity around self-employment, entrepreneurship and the providing of re-skilling opportunities. The research was based around Manchester and Newcastle to gain insights into how ESF delivery arrangements are working at the local level, and how they might best serve city-level priorities in the future. Although current ESF delivery is seen as contributing to addressing employability and skills concerns, a number of clear issues for consideration emerged from the study. For some, current provision is viewed as too generic, partly because it is delivered through large contracts rather than being more locally focused and oriented around meeting specific local needs.

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[This document] provides the supporting analysis for the Higher Education White Paper. [It] summarises a wide range of evidence and highlights the importance of a well-functioning higher education (HE) system. [It] covers the role of higher education in UK economic and social development, the reasons why government intervenes in the market for higher education and, the factors underlying behaviour and competition in the higher education market.

Excerpt from BIS website with additions. Show less

The Perkins review of engineering skills, published in November 2013, called for government, employers, educators and the profession to work together to increase engineering skills supply. [The government] has taken on many of the recommendations from the review as set out in this report written in partnership with the engineering community. The engineering community has looked at improving employer engagement across the education system. It has made a commitment to maintain the long-term work initiated by Perkins through the Engineering the Future consortium.

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The research covers adult learners (aged 19 plus) undertaking Skills for Life courses in literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). It also includes adult learners undertaking: Skills for Life courses funded as mainstream classroom-based Adult Learner Responsive (ALR) provision; and courses in a work setting, funded under the Train to Gain service. The survey was conducted between October and December 2011, and included over 4,400 learners.

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