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The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has responsibility for planning and funding work-based learning (WBL) for young people and adults in England, and this document sets out the LSC’s approach to funding WBL in 2007/08. Some sections are also relevant to learning agreements,Young Apprenticeships, and Apprenticeships for Adults. It constitutes an integral part of the LSC’s funding agreement, conditions of funding (grant), conditions of funding (employers) and the financial memorandum with providers for the delivery of WBL in 2007/08. This 2007/08 edition is based on the 2006/07 edition. It has been updated to (1) integrate the 2007/08 changes into the main text (2) notify providers of a limited number of technical changes and points of clarification made for 2007/08 (3) reflect the LSC’s current approach to setting rates for Apprenticeships (4) reflect the ongoing development of WBL programmes. All important policy changes for 2007/08 are identified in paragraphs 19-43.

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Skills in England 2007 provides an up-to-date assessment of the skills arena. It highlights the key skills issues facing the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and its partners, based on a comprehensive review of developments and of the evidence that has emerged over the past year. The report highlights that collectively, the LSC and its partners must continue to find ways to increase the demand for skills from employers and ensure that everyone, whether an employer or an individual, is able to access the learning opportunities that are suitable for them.

Four volumes have been produced: 1. Key Messages: outlining key findings and policy implications; 2. Research Report: providing in-depth analysis; 3. Sectoral Perspectives: providing insights across industry; 4. Regional/Local Perspectives: summarising the geographical situation.

Volume 1: Key Messages sets out the main findings and broad policy implications stemming from the research undertaken and reviewed for Skills in England 2007. It highlights the key issues facing the LSC and its partners, with a view to helping identify the key priorities for skills.

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Volumes 2-4 are indexed from TD/TNC 91.283 to TD/TNC 91.285. Show less

Skills in England 2007 provides an up-to-date assessment of the skills arena. It highlights the key skills issues facing the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and its partners, based on a comprehensive review of developments and of the evidence that has emerged over the past year. The report highlights that collectively, the LSC and its partners must continue to find ways to increase the demand for skills from employers and ensure that everyone, whether an employer or an individual, is able to access the learning opportunities that are suitable for them.

Four volumes have been produced: 1. Key Messages: outlining key findings and policy implications; 2. Research Report: providing in-depth analysis; 3. Sectoral Perspectives: providing insights across industry; 4. Regional/Local Perspectives: summarising the geographical situation.

This volume presents a set of industry sector profiles that covers the whole of the English economy. These profiles summarise the economic and labour market context for each sector. The commentary examines, for each industry: key economic developments; trends in occupational structure; and key findings from the National Employer Skills Survey 2005 (NESS2005).

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Volume 1 is indexed at TD/TNC 91.282, volume 2 at TD/TNC 91.283 and volume 4 at TD/TNC 91.285. Show less

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and what was previously the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) have been working with the FE system (and particularly with FE colleges) to implement the reforms set out in Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances, and to respond to the challenges set out by Lord Leitch in his recent report Prosperity for All in the Global Economy: World Class Skills (published by HM Treasury in December 2006). One of the key issues is the need to improve awareness and understanding of the role of the FE system among stakeholders. To achieve this, the LSC commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct research among key stakeholders on their understanding and perceptions of the role of the FE system. This research provides a baseline measure of perceptions and attitudes against which future progress can be measured.

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'Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances' is indexed at TD/IRD 88.158 and 'Prosperity for All in the Global Economy: World Class Skills' is indexed at TD/IRD 88.157. Show less

The Policy Research Institute was commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to carry out a rapid review of research evidence on 'what works' to inform the development and activities of the Skills for Jobs programme. Groups who continue to face difficulty in entering and staying in employment include disabled people and those with health conditions, lone parents, ethnic minorities, people over 50, and people with no or low qualifications. Focusing on the five groups identified above, the aim of this rapid review is to provide a summary of existing research evidence to inform the development of the Skills for Jobs programme. Specifically, the review aims to provide: a summary of the key findings from systematic reviews of evidence by Hasluck and Green (2007) and Sanderson (2006), and our research undertaken as part of the worklessness strand of New Deal for Communities; and a summary of literature and reports published in the last 12 months. Show less

This report summarises the key research findings from a study conducted by IFF Research on behalf of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) London Region that tracked learners to evaluate the effectiveness of further education (FE) learning across the London region. The Learner Tracker Survey focused on the following three areas: 'hard' benefits, which relate directly to skills the learner has gained, including improved numeracy, literacy, teamwork, communication and social skills, and skills for current or future employment; 'soft' benefits such as increased confidence in their abilities, enthusiasm about learning, job prospects and quality of life, as well as having a better idea of what they want to do in the future; and 'actual benefits that the learner has gained, such as a promotion, increased job satisfaction, job security, a new job with a different employer at a higher level, moving out of unemployment, and progression onto a higher-level course. The results of the survey confirmed that 'FE study really does open doors to better job prospects, higher productivity in the workplace and progression to even higher skills'. The contents of the report are: Introduction; What is the impact of getting a Level 2 qualification?; What is the impact of getting a Level 3 qualification?; What has been the impact on learners of achieving their first qualification at full Level 2 or above?; How does further education help those who are unemployed?; What has been the impact of further education on self-employment?; What has been the impact of further education on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups?; Why do learners want to do Level 2 and Level 3 courses?; How has the course improved employability?; How do employers benefit?; Are learners willing to pay for further learning and training?; Summary findings among all learners. Show less

This review of existing research evidence pulls together information from four Learning and Skills Council reports on issues surrounding migrant workers and the labour market. The review also includes some references to work on the subject by other organisations. The paper covers the key issues of labour market participation, skills and skills provision, but it also covers contextual information such as stocks and flows, drivers of migration and the provision of education and training.

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Train to Gain is a national skills service to support employers of all sizes and in all sectors to improve the skills of their employees as a route to improving their business performance. It is a commitment to jointly invest in training, by employers and Government. This plan for growth sets out the actions that will be taken to provide more employers and individuals with the skills that they need. The plan includes details of the actions and investments that are required as well as the impact on the numbers of employers and individuals we will help to up-skill.

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The FE [further education] White Paper, Further Education: Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances (March 06) [indexed at TD/IRD 88.158] set out the commitment to develop a new approach to funding for 14-19 year-olds and to move to a position where more funding is driven directly by employer and learner choice. The Leitch Review (December 06) [final report indexed at TD/IRD 88.157] endorsed this direction of travel. The DfES [Department for Education and Skills] and the Learning and Skills Council are working together on the details of how we can put the purchasing power into the hands of the customer - whether employer or individual learner - to make sure the system is as responsive as possible to their needs. This consultation paper seeks your views on the proposed reforms required to deliver the adult skills, employer skills and 14-19 challenges. We are seeking your views on how a demand-led FE system would work in practice, including developing the new relationship with light touch planning, qualification and curriculum reform, ensuring quality and diversifying the market. We are also seeking your views on funding models for young people, adults and employers which would be implemented for 2008/09, designed to support the wider reform programme.

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UK government policy already explicitly recognises the potential role of migration to address labour market deficiencies, especially in key professions and some unskilled jobs. Migration is also increasingly being viewed as a solution for replacing workers who are retiring and not being replaced at the younger end of the workforce because of falling birth rates.

This report contains the findings of the research by the task group set up by the adult learning committee of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) which aimed to gain a better knowledge of the current position of learning and skills issues in relation to migrants. The ultimate objective was to determine the key issues relating to skills and migration, and to consider how this can inform LSC policy.

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