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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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The Train to Gain service, run by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), provides impartial, independent advice on training to businesses through a network of Skills Brokers across England. The service was launched nationally in August 2006, and by the end of June 2007, 119,153 learners were registered for Train to Gain on the LSC's Individual Learner Record (ILR). Ipsos MORI and the Institute for Employment Studies were commissioned by the LSC to conduct the learner element of the evaluation of Train to Gain in accordance with an overall evaluation framework. This report covers the findings from the first wave of research. Key messages: (1) overall, learners were very satisfied with the training they have received through Train to Gain. Their satisfaction levels were 10 percentage points higher than those expressed by learners in the FE [further education] sector more generally; (2) learners felt the training was benefiting both themselves and their employer. Specific benefits included greater awareness of the tasks they carried out at work and greater confidence in their ability to learn and handle difficult situations; and (3) following completion of their Train to Gain learning, 69 per cent hoped to continue on to further qualifications. The majority of learners, whether they had completed or not, felt they had received good quality training.

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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 all four waves of evaluation of the pilot phase of the service, and covers employers contacted between April and September 2006. The evaluation is intended to ascertain employer ratings of importance and satisfaction about 11 key measures related to the service. Some comparisons are made between all four waves.

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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 3 of this employer evaluation, comparing these findings with those from Sweeps 1 and 2. The findings of Sweep 3 cover: analysis of how employers became involved with Train to Gain, and their expectations and motivations in doing so; the extent to which they found their Skills Broker to be responsive and accessible; employer views on the impartiality and relevance of advice given, and the Skills Broker's knowledge of potential training and funding opportunities; the impact Train to Gain has had on the ability and willingness of employers to engage with training; employer satisfaction with any training provision accessed through Train to Gain, and with the training provider delivering this; the benefits of involvement with Train to Gain, for the employer and the staff trained; and the likelihood of future involvement with Train to Gain amongst those who have been involved so far.

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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 two waves of evaluation of the pilot phase of the service, and covers employers contacted in April and May 2006 and June and July 2006. Evaluation is intended to ascertain employer ratings of importance and satisfaction about 11 key measures related to the service.

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This report documents the findings from the fifth wave of the learner evaluation of Train to Gain - service managed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) that is designed to help employers improve the skills of their workforce. The evaluation has been running since 2007. This wave comprised a telephone survey of a representative sample of learners, carried out in July 2009. The survey invited the views of Train to Gain learners on Level 2 and Level 3 programmes. In total, 7,431 learners were interviewed, as follows: (1) a cohort of 1,357 Level 2 and 274 Level 3 learners who had also been interviewed during wave 4 six months earlier - this group is referred to as the 'longitudinal learners' group; and (2) a cohort of 4,800 Level 2 and 1,000 Level 3 learners; these learners had enrolled on their training more recently and had not previously taken part in the survey, and is referred to as the 'new entrant' group. Each of the five waves of the Train to Gain learner evaluation have demonstrated that training and qualifications funded or facilitated through Train to Gain are valued by, and demonstrates benefits to, the learners who take part.

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The Train to Gain service, run by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), provides impartial, independent advice on training to businesses through a network of Skills Brokers across England. The service was launched nationally in August 2006, and by the end of June 2007, 119,153 learners were registered for Train to Gain on the LSC's Individual Learner Record (ILR). Ipsos MORI and the Institute for Employment Studies were commissioned by the LSC to conduct the learner element of the evaluation of Train to Gain in accordance with an overall evaluation framework. This report covers the findings from the second wave of research that surveys learners involved in workplace training through Train to Gain. The sample is made up of two elements: (1) re-interviews with respondents to the first survey (Wave 1) and referred to in this report as the longitudinal group; and (2) a new sample of learners who had recently started their qualification, termed the new entrant group. Key messages include: learners' awareness of Train to Gain is rising; recent learners are spread more broadly across occupational groups and are less concentrated in personal service jobs than are the earlier starters, suggesting that Train to Gain is reaching a more diverse range of employers and, through them, learners; good practice is spreading as learners engage with the Train to Gain process; half of the learners in the longitudinal group who had completed their qualification reported that they had acquired new skills, and the vast majority of them (92 per cent) said they had used these skills in their current job; almost a fifth (17 per cent) of completers had started further training, and 57 per cent of the rest thought it likely that they would start within the next three years; a quarter of completers got a financial reward (e.g. bonus, promotion or pay rise) as a direct result of gaining their qualification; and over nine learners in 10 (92 per cent) are satisfied with their learning, and the same proportion is satisfied with the quality of teaching they had experienced.

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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 for them 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. 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 met, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) initiated an ongoing employer evaluation of the Train to Gain service. The employer evaluation has been conducted by IFF Research on a twice yearly basis since 2007. This document reports the findings from the latest new user 'sweep' of this employer evaluation (sweep 4), conducted by IFF Research between January and March 2009. This consisted of a structured telephone survey to obtain the views of 3,750 employers who were initially in contact with a Train to Gain skills broker between May and October 2008. Central to the evaluation has been a longitudinal element, designed to allow more effective tracking of how Train to Gain has evolved over time. This report includes discussion of the findings from the second longitudinal survey element of the employer evaluation, which looked at employer experiences of the service and the impact of Train to Gain between 13 and 20 months after the employer's initial contact with the skills brokerage service (in May to October 2007). A total of 1,906 employers were followed up between January and March 2009.

Throughout the report, time series comparisons are made between the current situation, as measured at sweep 4, and the trends evident across earlier sweeps of the employer evaluation. The key issues covered by the employer evaluation relate to: (1) how employers first heard of, and became involved with, Train to Gain, and their expectations and motivations in becoming involved; (2) the extent to which they found their skills broker to be responsive and accessible; (3) employer views on the impartiality and relevance of advice given, and the skills brokers' knowledge of potential training and funding opportunities; (4) the impact Train to Gain has had on the ability and willingness of employers to engage with training and on the numbers of employees trained; (5) employer satisfaction with the training provision accessed through Train to Gain, and with the training providers responsible for delivery; (6) the benefits of involvement with the skills broker and of any training conducted under Train to Gain; and (7) the likelihood of future involvement with Train to Gain.

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Train to Gain has become a cornerstone of the UK government's skills policy in recent years. First launched in April 2006, and then fully rolled out in August of that year, Train to Gain is a national service for businesses that provides support for employers to identify their training needs and to source appropriate training solutions that enhance the skills of their workforce and their overall business performance. The service also aims to encourage employers to invest more in training and skills development for the benefit of their employees. To ensure that these objectives are being met, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) commissioned an ongoing Employer Evaluation of the Train to Gain service, which has been conducted by IFF Research on a twice yearly basis since 2007.

The Employer Evaluation was originally established to assess employer views on the Train to Gain skills brokerage service. This report focuses on the last group of employers to use the skills brokerage service, which ended in March 2009. From April, the Regional Development Agency (RDA) integrated brokerage service delivered by Business Link assumed responsibility for providing skills advice to employers interested in Train to Gain. This report provides key messages from the evaluation of the skills brokerage service which highlight how Train to Gain can continue to support employers moving forward, in the context of the current recession.

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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 report presents the findings of the longitudinal element of the employer evaluation. It looks at the views of the same employers at two points in time, initially their views as collected during Sweep 1 of the main evaluation survey conducted in June and July 2007, and more recently their views of the service collected between June and August 2008. The findings cover: the position of employers with regard to their relationship and contact with the Skills Broker since the initial contact; engagement and satisfaction with the skills brokerage service including level of contact in the previous year, change in contact level and type over time and changes in satisfaction with the service over time; take-up of training since initial engagement with Train to Gain, whether additional training has been undertaken and whether employers' expectations with regard to future engagement at Sweep 1 have been fulfilled; the impact Train to Gain has had on the ability and willingness of employers to engage with training and how this compares to the impact at Sweep 1; employer satisfaction with any training provision accessed through Train to Gain, and the impact on the business in terms of training culture and future training investment; and the longer-term benefits of involvement with Train to Gain, for the employer and the staff trained.

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