Sector Skills Insights:
Education
Introduction
The UK Commission is working to transform the UK’s approach to investing in skills to
help secure jobs and growth. Key to our ambition is the need to encourage greater
employer ownership of skills, working to secure long term sustainable partnerships.
This slide pack and accompanying evidence report present the case for more employers in
this sector to invest in the skills of their people. It does so by presenting real-life, skillbased business solutions that have been used by leading employers to tackle the
performance challenges they face and by drawing on examples of the investments being
made by the UK Commission through its investment funds.
There are several determinants of employers’ skills needs and training behaviour including
firm size, strategy and location but it is by sector which the strongest variations appear.
Hence this work focuses on the Education sector. Slide packs and reports are also
available for a number of other sectors from: http://www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/sector-skillsinsights . Each of the sectors are important to the economy in terms of employment,
productivity or their future potential.
For information about this slide pack and accompanying report please contact:
Rachel Pinto (rachel.pinto@ukces.org.uk)
Source information can be found in the notes section of each slide
Storyboard
What are key
skills challenges in
the
Education sector?
The importance
of Education
sector today
Imagine where the
sector could be
tomorrow
Performance
challenge (1)
Performance
challenge (2)
Performance
challenge (3)
MANAGEMENT
SKILLS
ATTRACTING
TALENT
DEVELOPING
SUPPORT ROLES
Tackling these
performance
challenges: Growth
through skills
Tackling these
Benefits
performance
to business
challenges:
Growth
through skills
3
What is the Education sector?
Primary Education
includes basic education for children in reading,
writing, maths, and an elementary understanding of
other subjects.
Pre-primary Education
Secondary Education
includes activities designed
to introduce very young
children to a school-type
environment.
lays the foundation for lifelong
learning and human
development , and includes
general, technical and vocational
secondary education.
Education
Other Education
Higher Education
includes sports and
recreation, cultural education,
driving school activities.
Includes post secondary education,
tertiary education, first-degree level
higher education and post graduate
higher level education.
Educational support
Includes educational consulting,
counselling and organisation
activities for school programmes.
What are the key skills challenges in the
education sector?
The sector is going through a period of unprecedented change
Budgets are being squeezed especially in Further and Higher Education.
Education policy continues to develop at a pace with implications for new and
developing skills requirements in new technologies, ICT and management and
Leadership. Developing support roles are also essential to help the sector
adjust to these changes.
It is not just about STEM
Economies increasingly compete on their knowledge base.
Policy has tended to focus on improving education in the STEM subjects (Science
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) as they have the highest rate of return.
However, the development of knowledge of all kinds adds to the competitiveness,
and cultural capital of the country,.
Attracting and retaining individuals with in-demand skills
The Education sector already carries out an above average level of training, but
these in-demand skills are lost if people leave the workforce.
Continuing to invest in the workforce is essential but with the focus of making the
best use of professional development and training resources to attract new
talent and retain demand in skills.
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Education... Matters
The sector TODAY
The sector employs around 9 per cent of the UK workforce equating to 2.7 million people.
The sector contributes 7 per cent to the total output of the UK.
.
It contributed around £70 billion to UK economy in 2010.
Further and Higher Education institutions are increasingly
operating in international markets, with the majority of top
universities in the world being UK based.
The heart of the UK’s R&D capabilities lies within
the Education sector. In particular, the HE sub-sector plays
a significant role in attracting international R&D investment to
the UK .
The workforce is highly skilled and dominated by
people working in professional teaching and
learning roles.
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The sector is rooted in the public sector, but at
primary and secondary levels, there is a substantial
and growing private sector.
Education matters:
Imagine where it could be TOMORROW
The sector builds on its international reputation for excellence and
increases its share of the global market for education.
R&D capabilities are used to drive innovation and
competitiveness across the sector and the wider economy.
The sector recognises that people are a source of
competitive advantage, and continues to invest in and
support continuing professional development activities.
The sector continues to be a valuable source of jobs
and growth for the economy.
It attracts and retrains the highest calibre
teachers and researchers from around the world.
Employers collaborate on, own, and lead the development of solutions to the
sector’s problems in the pursuit of mutual gain.
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The Performance Challenge:
Developing management Skills
Education institutions are increasingly
self-governing , this means educational
professionals have more management
responsibilities than previously.
Management capabilities also include the
capacity to recruit and retain staff, especially
in those areas where staff are in high demand
and where there is competition from other sectors.
Challenges at each level include:
SCHOOLS
•Reduced capital funding
•Managing performance
•Ensuring sufficient
enrolments.
FURTHER EDUCATION
•Budget cuts
•Focus on more demandled provision.
•Developing overseas
markets
HIGHER EDUCATION
•Increase in tuition fees
•Reduction in funding for
STEM subjects.
•Developing international
markets
See how the National College for Leadership has adapted their Headship qualification to
meet the changing needs of the sector – see case study
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8
Case Study - Developing Management
Skills
The Challenge
With increasing self-governance and leadership demands
being placed on head teachers the current National Professional
Qualification for Headship (NPQH) was failing to meet their needs.
The approach
The National College for School Leadership in England decided the best way forward was to
revamp the NPQH so that it was more targeted and relevant to their needs. This included a
tougher entry bar, more demanding content and a much sharper focus on the key skills required
by heads to achieve higher standards for pupils.
The benefits
In developing initiatives like the NPQH, the sector is developing management and leadership
skills across schools in England, and providing a wealth of support to head teachers as
requirements change.
Steve Munby, Chief Executive of the National College, said: “Raising the bar will help to drive up the
standard of school leadership in this country even further. We believe the new non mandatory NPQH will
become the first choice qualification, ranked alongside the best leadership development in the world, and
the mark of quality that governing bodies and academy boards choose to rely on when appointing head
teachers and principals, as only the most talented candidates will get through”
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The performance challenge:
Attracting Talented Individuals
Attracting more people to work in the sector is a necessity
•
125,000 professionals will be required in the education sector between 2010 – 2020.
•
There is strong competition for high quality teachers – both within the UK and from
abroad, and between private and public sectors.
•
The capacity of schools to compete on the basis of salaries is constrained so there is a
need to develop policies that will attract people into the sector and ensure that they
develop their careers.
Providing on-going training and Continuing Professional Development
•
Although there is a substantial infrastructure in place to attract people into the sector,
obtain their initial training, and then further develop their skills, this is not a solution in
itself.
•
These initiatives need to be developed further to ensure that talented individuals are
attracted to the sector.
A number of successful initiatives have been developed in the UK to encourage
individuals to enter teaching and develop their capabilities –see case study
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Case Study – Attracting and
Developing Talented Individuals
The Challenge
Only four per cent of all teachers would consider teaching in a school in challenging
circumstances. This poses a huge challenge for tackling educational disadvantage, and
attracting talented individuals to work in these schools.
The Approach
Teach First is a charity that harnesses the energy, enthusiasm and drive of exceptional
graduates to provide leadership, motivation and, above all, inspirational teaching in schools
in challenging circumstances across England. It attracts new
talent to the sector by providing an intensive two year
Over 90% of Teach
Leadership Development Programme, opportunities for
First recruits stay for a
internships, networking and the opportunity to work
minimum of 2 years
towards a Masters qualification.
with 50% staying for
longer .
The Benefits
Every Teach First teacher is placed in a challenging school. This benefits the school and
provides a good source of employment for the graduate. While 67 per cent of those placed
since 2003 remain actively engaged with addressing educational disadvantage through the
Teach First ambassador community.
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The performance challenge:
Developing Support Roles
The growing need for people in support roles
There are a variety of support roles that are specific
to the education sector, including:
•
Teaching and educational assistants
•
Business development and support managers
•
Laboratory technicians
•
A variety of general support activities associated
with managing and maintaining premises.
Increasing the number of older workers in support roles.
•
Some of these staff are supported through the teacher training infrastructure, but there
is also a potential role for programmes, such as Apprenticeships, to contribute to the
training of these groups.
•
A key challenge is to ensure that the skills needs of those in support roles are met.
Support roles are essential to the success of the sector, developing business
opportunities and raising revenue, along with the sector’s R&D capacity.
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Growth through skills
Securing future success
•
•
Across the sector, raising skills is key to raising performance, but while there is no silver
bullet, a mix of actions which push and pull in the same direction can help.
Employer leadership in the development of solutions and then taking ownership of those
solutions is fundamental to their success and sustainability.
Sources of investment are available to support the implementation of solutions led by
business on behalf of the sector.
•
The Employer Ownership pilots offers all employers in England direct access to up to £250
million of public investment over the next two years to design and deliver their own training
solutions.
•
The Growth and Innovation Fund (£9 million invested so far, £29 million to invest in 2012-13)
gives priority to solutions for the sector e.g.:
•
Employer commitment and investment in Apprenticeships
•
Creation of employer networks to overcome skill problems
•
Employer-backed proposals for other skills solutions such as: management and leadership;
professional standards; high performance work practices incorporating people
development (e.g. Investors in People).
•
Information and business advice is also important as a solution.
Ultimately this is trying to catalyse sustained investment in the development of the sector’s
workforce led by employers which lies at the heart of an enterprising and dynamic nation.
Investors in People provides a framework in which employers can develop workforce skills which has
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proven to be a success in construction.
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Growth through skills
Securing future success
Ultimately the success of the sector is dependent upon the skills of the people who
work in it.
There are enormous skill replenishment needs once people are in the sector this is to
meet the changing demands placed on the sector.
•
•
•
•
There are areas of shortage, such as those people who are skilled in teaching STEM
subjects, and individuals needed in support roles.
The sector workforce needs to develop technical and ICT skills in the future to
respond to the increasing demand for e-learning and technology implementation in
service delivery.
Management and leadership skills will also be required to manage programmes of
change, to address policy reforms, to compete in an international market and to address
environmental and sustainability issues.
Future skill requirements include: subject knowledge; pedagogical skills development;
IT skills; thinking and creative skills; management and leadership; customer service;
community engagement; fundraising skills and low carbon knowledge.
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Benefits to Business
•
Evidence suggests that employers investing in training they are twice as likely to survive
than their counterparts who do not.
•
In schools, evidence show that students perform better in organisations with developed
supervisory skills, information sharing and employment skill development practices.
•
At a time when the economic recovery is dependent on growth in skills, demand for the
education sector is high. The business benefits of training go beyond company survival.
•
The sector has a strong commitment to continuing professional development.
Therefore there is potential for initiatives, such as Investors in People (IiP) to assist the
sector is high.
•
Adopting high performance working practices through IiP also has positive benefits for
opportunities for innovation and creativity, greater task discretion, higher job satisfaction and
employee motivation.
•
Ultimately the success of the sector is dependent upon the skills of the people who
work in it and their capability to communicate knowledge.
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Key messages
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Continuing Professional Development and skills development are well-established in
the sector, but skills need to be developed in a range of new areas.
The key challenge is to ensure that the best is obtained from the substantial
professional development facilities that are available as the sector invests heavily in
training
There is a need for frameworks, such as Investors in People, within which schools,
colleges, and universities as it can effectively develop their workforce and help with
management and leadership skills.
Whilst much of the training infrastructure is directed towards the development of
teachers and lecturers, the wide variety of support staff need development too;
programmes such as Apprenticeships, have a role to play.
Attracting and retaining the best and brightest teachers and research professionals,
particularly those with STEM and modern language skills, from the UK, the EU and
beyond is key to the sector.
The sector also needs to be attractive to attract new talent and replace the ageing
workforce. Initiatives need to be put into place to boost supply and attract new talent.
The UK Commission is looking to work with employers to transform the UK’s
approach to investing in skills of its people to secure growth and prosperity.
More information about the UK Commission’s investment funds is available here
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