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This report provides a synthesis of the Skills Task Force (STF) Employers Skill Survey undertaken in 1999 (ESS 1999) in the United Kingdom (UK). It forms part of a broader investigation into the extent, causes, and implications of skill deficiencies, supported by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The Survey is the largest investigation into England's skill needs to date and was undertaken in 1999 to provide information for the Skills Task Force (STF). The study comprised: an analysis of the existing survey evidence on skill deficiencies; a questionnaire survey to determine the extent of skill deficiencies; case studies of establishments across a range of sectors to examine the relationship between skill deficiencies and economic performance; spatial analysis based on the questionnaire survey data of the location of skill deficiencies; and econometric analysis of the questionnaire survey data to investigate why skills deficiencies arise and their consequences for economic performance. This report provides a synthesis of these five elements and on the basis of the outcomes, concludes that a skills problem exists and describes its nature and extent. Three different types of skill deficiency are identified: external recruitment difficulties; internal skill gaps where employers perceived their employees' current skills as insufficient to meet organisational needs; and latent skill gaps which are based upon a concept of ideal behaviour or performance.

The research report from the National Skills Task Force (STF) is indexed at TD/TNC 62.657. Further reports from the Employers Skill Survey are indexed at TD/TNC 65.231, TD/TNC 65.232, TD/TNC 69.153 and TD/TNC 69.154. Case studies from a range of sectors are indexed from TD/TNC 65.225 to TD/TNC 65.230. Show less

This report presents the outcomes of the final evaluation of the Capital Modernisation Fund (CMF) funded UK online centres. The centres were intended to ‘bridge the gap between those in society who have access to information and communications technology (ICT) and are able to use it competently and confidently and those who do not’. The focus of the initiative was on adults in disadvantaged communities with six specified target groups: unemployed people; single parents; people with disabilities; minority ethnic groups; people with basic skills needs; and people over the age of 60 who had not been involved in learning for some time. The initiative was launched in 2000 and by November 2002, 6,000 online centres had been established, over half of these with CMF funding. The evaluation of CMF centres was designed to assess the impact and efficiency of the program as a whole and to identify specifically whether participants increased their ICT skills and the extent to which participants are achieving short- and long-term outcomes as a result of improving their ICT skills and having access to ICT. The study also explored the issue of ‘deadweight’, or activity that would have happened in any case, the extent of deadweight loss, and the broader impact of the centres on individuals and the community in general. The evaluation found that the centres reached the target groups with almost two thirds of those using the centres in one of the six priority target groups. The study did not identify significant levels of ‘deadweight’ and most respondents to the initial user survey (84%) stated that they had learned new skills they would not have acquired otherwise. Many users progress to further learning and employment and over 90% expressed satisfaction with the centres. In terms of overall program impact, the evidence suggests that many centres are not reaching many people in the most excluded groups. In addition, the evidence infers that only those with Internet access at home, work or college have ‘truly crossed the digital divide’. The report makes recommendations for the future of online centres. Show less

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

Foundation degrees (FDs) were established as a pathway for people within the workplace to build on existing expertise and continue working at the same time as studying for a higher level qualification. One of the FDs developed was in the Early Years (EY) sector. The Early Years Sector-Endorsed Foundation Degree (EYSEFD) comprises practical experience in an EY workplace, supported by a mentor, which constitutes the work-based learning (WBL) element of the course, in conjunction with academic work. This report presents the findings of a qualitative study exploring employers' and mentors' views and experiences of the EYSEFD, specifically: the nature of information employers and mentors have received about the program and their levels of satisfaction with this; how employers and mentors conceptualise their roles in relation to the EYSEFD students, particularly in relation to WBL and mentoring; the types and levels of involvement of employers and mentors with EYSEFD students, and explanatory factors for this; employer and mentor motivations for supporting the student through the EYSEFD, and feelings about their role; the logistics of accommodating an EYSEFD student in the workplace in terms of WBL, mentoring, and finances; impacts of the EYSEFD on students' work, the setting, other staff members, the EY sector as a whole and the students' future career progression; and employer and mentor views about the value of the EYSEFD to their setting, and feelings about how the experience of accommodating and mentoring an EYSEFD student could be improved. Employers experienced a range of 'de-motivators' and 'motivators' to supporting EYSEFD students. The key 'de-motivators' included: a lack of information and contact with the college about the EYSEFD and the role of employers and mentors in facilitating the WBL aspect; logistical and financial difficulties in accommodating WBL, mentoring and student attendance at college; and lack of progression opportunities within the setting. Key 'motivators' included: a strong commitment on the part of the employer to staff training; the ability to accommodate the EYSEFD logistically and financially; and confidence in the degree strengthened by good information from the college.

The report of the study of students' experiences of the EYSEFD is indexed at TD/TNC 85.381. Show less

This document is the fourth in an annual series of employer surveys that investigate workforce development. The objectives of the 2002 survey were to gather information on: the volume, type and pattern of off-the-job training; key indicators of employers’ commitment to training; learning opportunities offered; and awareness of, and involvement with, a number of initiatives relevant to training. The survey consisted of over 4000 telephone interviews with employers in England’s public and private business sectors who have one or more employee. The report presents a summary of the research findings, followed by chapters which provide detailed overviews of each theme. The themes which arose through the survey relate to: learning opportunities and facilities available to employees; proficiency of existing staff; provision of job-related training and reasons for non-provision; provision of off-the-job training; management and delivery of off-the-job training; provision of on-the-job training; awareness of, and involvement with, training initiatives; and young employees aged 16-24. 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 Clothing, Textiles, Footwear and Leather, and Furniture, Furnishings and Interiors Skills Dialogue and provides an assessment of trends in employment and skill needs and associated issues in these industries. These industries have faced a difficult transformation over the past three decades as a result of overseas competition and technological change. The report provides overviews of these industries, examines issues related to the demand for, and supply of, skills, including employment change, occupational change, skill requirements, skills gaps and shortages, and summarises common skills issues. The report suggests that to maintain competitiveness, the industries will need to further enhance skills, particularly in management, marketing and technical expertise. Major skills issues common to these industries are: (1) changes to the skills mix resulting from the transition to a combination of UK and overseas production; (2) overall skills deficiencies exacerbated by lack of experience and of basic skills; (3) skills gaps particularly at management levels and for clerical, craft and plant and machine operatives; (4) the equal demand for soft skills and technical and information technology (IT) related skills; and (5) that recruitment and skills problems are responsible for business problems and delays in developing new products. 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

The 14-19 Pathfinders are part of a broader process of reforming the 14-19 phase of learning proposed in the 2002 Department for Education and Skills (DfES) Green Paper, '14-19: extending opportunities, raising standards' (indexed at TD/IRD 88.170). The Pathfinders were intended to: test ideas; develop best practice in 14-19 education and training; identify how 14-19 policy will interact with other policies; identify barriers to a coherent 14-19 phase and propose ways to address them; and demonstrate that a coherent 14-19 phase can be achieved nationally in the UK despite the diversity of participants and locations. This report presents the key findings of a costing study focused on the 14-19 Pathfinders. The purpose of the study was to establish the costs associated with collaborative development and delivery of 14-19 Pathfinders, and in particular: the costs that arise as a result of working collaboratively rather than individually, for example, partnership management, communication, and timetabling costs; and specific development and delivery costs for new collaborative programmes and provision, including for example, course development costs, teaching costs and support costs. The research has been undertaken in two broad phases of work. Phase One involved case study work with 15 Pathfinders to gain an understanding of: the types of cost that might occur in the delivery of collaborative working; for each type of cost, estimates of the actual costs incurred by the 15 Pathfinders; and the factors that influence the level of cost incurred. Phase Two involved an analysis of the information obtained from the 15 Pathfinders in order to provide: indicative estimates of the likely costs associated with collaborative working; case study examples of the costs associated with the development and delivery of collaborative provision; and qualitative analysis of key issues and findings in relation to the costs of developing and sustaining collaborative delivery of 14-19 learning opportunities. The findings provide new and important information about the types of cost, influencing factors and likely cost levels associated with collaborative delivery. This can be used to inform future decision making, particularly in relation to the development of plans to meet the objectives and proposals set out in the 14-19 White Paper (indexed at TD/IRD 88.163) and subsequent Green Paper 'Youth matters'.

A related report is indexed at TD/TNC 85.379. Show less

In December 2004, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) commissioned a mapping of qualifications and training developments across the children and young people's (CYP) workforce. The aims of the research were: to support the creation of a qualifications framework and structure for career progression opportunities for members of the CYP workforce; to map the qualifications and existing training and development provision that is available; to provide information on the current take up of key qualifications and training provision that is available both nationally and locally; and to identify specific variations and gaps in qualifications and training provision and the funding streams available to support individual members of the workforce. The project covered all major occupational groups within the children's workforce, nationally available and approved qualifications from levels one to eight together with a mapping of the detailed content of significant qualifications against the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge. The research was organised in two related strands: the collection data about qualifications and training; and the exploratory development of the workforce through contextualising studies. This report addresses issues associated with the accurate representation of information about the CYP workforce on the database and in discussions with stakeholders. It begins by synthesising some of what is known about the make up of the CYP workforce and then considers how to define the workforce for the purposes of the project. The report then discusses the implications for role definitions of defining occupations, pay and qualifications in relation to job functions. Issues of clustering and the relation of roles to qualifications are then presented.

This report is one of six, each with a different theme. The reports are indexed from TD/TNC 85.226 to TD/TNC 85.231. Show less