Enhancing Employer
Engagement in the Design
& Development of Effective
Skills Solutions
Amman
8-9 September 2015
All images © Mat Wright
1
Skills Development in the
UK
Employers in Partnership
Richard Beamish
All images © Mat Wright
2
Training Boards
•
1964 Industrial Training Act
• Over 27 Industry Training Boards:
• Secure provision of training courses
• Identify course content and standard
• Levy/grant system in place
• Exemption system for smaller firms
• 1982 Industrial Training Act – responsibility for
training to industry rather than boards
• A few survived, including Construction and
Engineering Construction
3
Sector Skills Councils
• Introduced from 2002
• Employer owned but licensed by Government
• 16 SSCs and several related organisations
undertaking similar work, including ECITB and OPITO
• Develop Labour Market Information
• Responsible for National Occupational Standards
• Usually responsible for Apprenticeship Frameworks
• Work with UK Commission for Employment and Skills
4
Sector Skills Councils & Industry
Training Boards
5
Leitch Review of Skills 2006
• By 2020 in England:
•
95% achieve functional literacy & numeracy
•
•
85% literacy & 79% numeracy in 2005
Over 90% qualified to at least level 2
•
69% in 2005
•
Balance of intermediate skills to level 3
•
40% to level 4 and above
•
29% in 2005
6
Vocational Skills Partners in the United Kingdom
Employers
Directly and through:
Sector Skills Councils
Industry Training Boards
Education
Universities
Colleges
Private Training
Providers
Government
Ministries
UK Commission for
Employment & Skills
Local Enterprise
Partnerships
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Fit for purpose programmes
UK skills system is demand-led:
• Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) & Industry Training Boards
(ITBs) are employer led bodies that develop skills
solutions for their industry sectors.
• UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) which
offers advice on UK skills and employment issues
• Labour market intelligence
• Occupational standards define the competence
(knowledge and skills) required for occupations and job
functions
• Employers increasingly involved in designing and
delivering vocational qualifications and learning
programmes, such as Apprenticeships
8
Learning environment
Colleges and other providers of skills training:
•
work with employers, higher education and other stakeholders
to ensure learning is relevant to employment, meets learner
needs and offers progression
•
must comply with requirements for delivery, assessment and
standardisation
•
undertake continuous improvement through self-assessment
and make the outcomes of this available
•
are inspected by an independent inspectorate in each country
•
are judged on the quality of their programmes and the success
of their learners
9
Functions of UK Skills Organisations
•Labour market intelligence – sector specific skills
research
• Sector Skills Assessments annually
• Regular intelligence papers
• State of the nation Reports
•Create national occupational standards, accredited
qualifications and apprenticeships
•Develop career pathways and supporting careers
information
•Support for provision of training and qualifications at all
levels
• Employer engagement
• Skills Academies
10
What are National Occupational
Standards?
• Occupational Standards break down the skills,
knowledge and understanding needed to undertake a
particular role
• They describe what a person needs to do, know and
understand in order to carry out their role in a
consistent and competent manner – key
competencies
• Competence is defined as an ability to apply skills,
knowledge and understanding in the workplace – to a
standard agreed by employers
• Occupational Standards are the building blocks for
many UK-wide qualifications and for numerous
professional and/or business improvement tools
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How do National Occupational Standards
help employers?
• They define in detail the performance criteria expected of an
individual in a role
• They set out clearly what an individual needs to know and
understand to enable them to meet the performance criteria
• They can be used by employers to:
- Improve quality of goods and services
- Increase productivity
- Reduce costs for recruitment
- Provide for better human resources planning
- Help effective skills upgrading
- Act as a benchmark for rewarding experience,
knowledge and competence
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How do National Occupational
Standards help education providers?
• NOS, the bedrock of qualifications development, can
underpin training and qualification provision for the
workforce
• Education materials can be reviewed and refreshed as
revised NOS are approved
• Identify skills gaps
• Identify new areas for qualification and / or training
development
• Assist workforce development planning
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Investing in National Occupational Standards
Standards
- Advice to Governments on which
standards will achieve the best
outcomes and impact
- Securing standards to support
apprenticeships and vocational
qualifications
- Managing the quality assurance
and approval of standards
- Reporting on the impact of
standards across four nations
LMI/Evidence Base
- UKCES Research portfolio
- Triangulation of evidence from
other sources
- International benchmarking and
comparisons including links to
European standards and
qualification frameworks
- Evaluation – outcomes and
impact
14
What is the relationship between National
Occupational Standards and qualifications?
• Skills organisations have a key responsibility of ensuring
that fit-for-purpose qualifications are available for
employers and the wider workforce across the UK
• Once new or refreshed occupational standards are
approved by the UK Commission, it is expected that a
review of qualifications will also take place
• Skills organisations also set out current and future learning
and qualification needs of their respective employers and
sectors in specific Sector Qualification Strategies
15
How National Occupational Standards are
developed
National
Occupational
Standards
Occupational
Map
Functional
Map
Qualifications system
• In the UK accredited qualifications are admitted to
qualifications and credit frameworks.
• Key purposes of a qualifications framework – quality
•
Organising qualifications against clearly defined principles
and characteristics
•
Offers public confidence in the quality of qualifications
•
Offers a basis for comparison
•
Avoids duplication and overlap between qualifications
•
Allows users to identify relevant qualifications
•
Clarifies progression opportunities
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UK context
Four country dimension
Political diversity
Democratic approach to policy development
UK Parliament (Westminster)
Welsh
Government
Department
for
Education
Department
for
Business,
Innovation
and Skills
Department
for
Education
and Skills
Northern
Ireland
Assembly
Department
for
Employment
and Learning
Department
of
Education
Scottish
Government
Learning
and Justice
Directorate
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Over
1000
£117k
Extra income
earned by
someone who
completes a
Level 3
Apprenticeship
Employers
already involved
in redesigning
Apprenticeships
Return for every
pound that
Government
invests in
Apprenticeships
£1
£28
11 out of 11
£1.5 bn
Amount we
invested in
Apprenticeships
last year
Industrial Strategy
sectors covered
by our
Trailblazers
Over
1.9m
Apprenticeship
starts this
Parliament. We
are committed to
delivering at least
2 million.
Over
70 sectors
Over
220,000
Workplaces
already offering
Apprenticeships
Number of ‘full
Apprenticeships’
has trebled since
2009/10
96%
At least 12
months
involved in
developing new
Apprenticeships
Duration for
Apprenticeships
68,000
Apprenticeships
in smaller
businesses
supported by our
Grant for
Employers
New
Higher
Apprenticeships
In occupations like
space engineer and
pilot
Employers who
take on an
apprentice say
their business
benefited.
Organisations
representing half
a million
businesses
support our
reforms
Over
20,000
Apprenticeships
All images © Mat Wright
pledged
during
National
Apprenticeships
Week 2014
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Working with Employers
Use occupational and
functional mapping to
create National
Occupational Standards
LMI
Develop and maintain
provision network
Delivery
NOS
Engage with employers
to meet national
standards
Develop qualifications
based on the national
standard
Engage
Quals
20
A simple support plan
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Typical Global Skills Cycle
1. Identify skills
needed to deliver
industry
objectives
6. Quality assure
delivery against
industry objectives
2. Examine skills
and competence
of current
workforce using
international
benchmarks
5. Deliver
certified training
programmes to
international
standards
3. Identify skills
gap in current
and future
industry
requirements
4. Design training
programmes, train
the trainer, and
build high
quality provision
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