Unit 214
Understanding the active leisure and
learning sector
Learning Outcomes: What you need to
know:
• 214.1 Know the key features of the active leisure
and learning sector
• 214.2 Know the key features of the active leisure
and learning subsector in which they work
• 214.3 Know employment and career
opportunities in the Active leisure and learning
sector in which they work
Task
A. Produce a fact sheet about the Active Leisure and
Learning sector that includes: roles of the sector skills
council, sectors size and scope, sectors contribution to
society
B. Produce a leaflet on one sub-sector that includes:
composition in terms of public, private and voluntary;
size of employment and participation, roles of key
organisations
C. Produce a career guide on one sub sector
Using the form provided make notes on the
relevant blank boxes to be able to complete
Task A
What you need to know:
What is a Sector Skills Council?
• Sector Skills Councils are independent, strategic UKwide organisations.
• They have responsibility for skills and workforce
development of all those employed in their sectors from professional staff to tradesmen and women,
administrative staff, support staff and other ancillary
workers.
• They also cover all sizes of employer - from large firms
to micro-businesses and the self employed.
What you need to know:
Continued...
• Each SSC is an employer-led organisation that actively
involves trade unions, professional bodies and other key
stakeholders. They replace a network of over 70
National Training Organisations (NTOs).
• Collectively the SSCs form the Skills for Business
Network, which is responsible for tackling the skills and
productivity needs of the UK. The Sector Skills
Development Agency (SSDA) is responsible for funding,
supporting and monitoring the network of Sector Skills
Councils.
What you need to know:
What is their purpose/role?
Sector Skills Councils have been established to influence how
training is delivered in the UK. All SSCs have the same four key
goals and each SSC is responsible for dealing with the skills
needs within their sector UK-wide. The four key goals are:
• Reduce skills gaps and shortages
• Improve productivity
• Increase opportunities for all individuals in the workforce
• Improve learning supply
What you need to know:
INTRODUCTION TO ACTIVE LEISURE AND LEARNING
Skills Active is the Sector Skills Council for the Active Leisure and Learning
Sector
• Active Leisure and Learning encompasses 5 sub sectors, namely Sport and
Recreation, Health and Fitness, The Outdoors, Play work and the Caravan
Industry.
• In the UK, there are 576,000 people in paid employment in the sector,
accounting for almost 2% of the UK workforce, across 230,708 public,
private and voluntary organisations. There are also an estimated 5 million
volunteers working in the sector.
• Although the sector is largely based on leisure and recreation, each of the
sub sectors play an important role in the UK economy and lie at the heart
of the Government’s agenda to improve community cohesion and
promote healthy lifestyles.
• The sector as a whole directly employs around 654,000 people. In
addition to its paid workforce, the sector has a substantial voluntary
workforce (both in sport and recreation and delivering youth services to
children).
What you need to know:
• It is forecast that by 2014, employment levels in England will have
increased by 100,000, an increase of 21%. The sector will also
have to recruit 85,000 annually to cope with replacement demand.
• The regions with high levels of employment in the Active Leisure
and Learning sector include: South East (73,500); Scotland
(52,800); North West (49,900); and London (48,800). The majority
of employers across the regions expect employment levels to
increase in the future. The North East with 20,900 employees has
the smallest sector workforce in the UK
• The diversity of the sector means that it contains a vast range of
occupations; everything from personal trainers to activity leaders
and play assistants to leisure centre managers.
What you need to know:
• There is some evidence of skills shortages and likely future trends
include the need for higher levels of management and business
skills together with greater customer service and communication
skills.
• The SkillsActive workforce has a high proportion of women and
young people (aged 16 -24). This is however misleading as few
people under 18 years will be employed because of regulatory
requirements. The workforce is predominantly drawn from white
ethnic groups (95%).
• One in five (18%) of the 81,000 higher education applications onto
SkillsActive courses were accepted. There are a wide range of
further education college-based courses in areas such as sport
science and fitness instruction as well as general courses in each of
the Active Leisure and Learning industries. 83% of students are
aged under 25 years.
What you need to know:
A Voluntary Organisation is an organisation that gives up its services
for free, the people who run the organisation or work in it are not
paid. E.g. Local Youth football teams are normally Voluntarily run.
A public organisation is something that anyone can use but will cost a
fee, it also payees its employees. Normally these services are run by
local councils. E.g. Bracknell sports centre, anyone can use it but you
must pay.
A Private organisation is a service or facility only open to members
and Not to the general public. E.g. Wentworth Golf course
Different types of Sectors within the Industry
• Sports
• Fitness
• Outdoors
• Playwork
• Caravan
Size and Scope
With a workforce of 371,800 people,
working in 176,000 businesses and
organisations throughout the UK, sport
is one of the largest sectors in Skills
Active.
Their work in the sector covers grass
roots all the way through to high
performance
Skills Active ensure the sector has
suitably qualified employees and
volunteers to support the delivery of
sport activities and to help the
government achieve its objective of a
healthier, fitter nation
Sports Sector
Contribution to Society
 The Sports Sector of Skills Active
has a number of schemes that are
contributing to society.
 These are:
1. The Mayor’s Sports Legacy Fund
2. Personal Best
3. Bursaries and Funding
Continued…
371,200 paid workforce
1.9 million volunteers
Work across public, private and voluntary sectors
Provide sports provision from grass routes community projects to
professional sports men and women at the peak of performance
Over 10 million of the English adult population are members of a club
where they take part in sport (25% of the adult population)
Over 8.8million adults in England participate in sport and recreation three
times per week for a minimum of 30 minutes
7.5 million adults in England receive tuition to improve their performance
in sport (18% of the adult population)
Over 6 million adults take part in organised competitive sport
There are over 1,177,000 regularly practicing coaches in the UK
Fitness
Size and Scope
Around 634,000 people work in Active
Leisure and Learning that focuses on
fitness.
Skills Active help the sector cater for
the growing number of fitness club
and leisure centre users by developing
qualification frameworks that meet the
needs of the sector – ensuring fitness
graduates leave college or university
with recognised skills.
Contribution to Society
 Through Skills Active exercise and
fitness technical expert group (TEG),
they also endorse courses for entry
onto the Register of Exercise
Professionals (REPs) and offer
advice and support to training
providers wanting to ensure their
courses meet this standard.
 Skills Active try and make the
people in this sector gain more
qualifications to help the general
public when they are in leisure
centres.
The Outdoors
Size and Scope
The UK outdoors sector covers a widerange of leisure, learning and well-being
activities undertaken within the natural
environment.
There are many people that are qualified
in taking members of the public on
outdoor pursuits events on a weekend or
weekly basis.
Contribution to Society
 Activity within the sector can be
broadly divided into five key subareas:
 Outdoor education - experiential,
environmental, physical and social
education.
 Outdoor recreation - organised and
self-guided outdoor activities for ‘fun’.
 Outdoor development training leadership, team and management
development.
 Outdoor sport development performance coaching, instructor
training and skill development.
 Expeditions and exploration planning and delivery of local,
national and international expeditions
and research.
Playwork
Size and Scope
Playworkers account for around 23% of
the Active Leisure and Learning Sector.
Skills Active job in this area is to provide
as many people as possible with the
qualifications they need in order to
work with children and young people in
various different Playwork settings
Contribution to Society
 Skills Active offer a coordinated voice
for the sector, which is reflected in a
coherent and research based demand
for skills, and work with training
providers to meet the skills and
training needs of the sector.
 Professional, well-trained
playworkers are a key part of the
children’s workforce and they work
to influence education and skills
policies across the four nations,
ensuring their relevance to the sector.
Skills Active also work to advise
government on how to prioritise its
funding, as well as re-directing
funding into the sector.
Caravan Industry
Size and Scope
90,000 people work in this sector in
the UK
There will be 4136 job opportunities
available in the sector each year
until 2014
Skills Active have represented the
training interests of the Caravan
Sector since 2004
Contribution to Society
 It invests a huge amount of
money in providing their
members of staff so they have
the necessary skills in order to
work with not only the
maintenance of caravans but also
other qualifications such as
building and plumbing etc
 It is also contributing a lot of jobs
every year
Public, private and voluntary organisations
Private organisations: These are company's and organisations who aim to
make a profit, normally to be divided by shareholders or company
directors
Public organisations: These are company's and organisations who re
invest any profit made. They are government run and are accessible to all
Voluntary organisations: These are organisations which are free,
(although there are occasional operating costs) and are run to give people
an opportunity to use and take part. Those working for a voluntary
organisation do not get paid.
Using the above definitions can you think of a Private,
public and voluntary organisation you have used to do
with sport?
Who runs football in England
The biggest regulatory body in English football is the FA, the
biggest repressive body in English football is the PFA
Task: Research these two
body's and find out who
they represent, what their
main roles are and who
they report to.
Potential careers in Sport
•
•
•
•
•
•
Coach
Facilities Manager
PE Teacher
Sports Medicine
Sports Photographer
Sports Writer
These are just some examples of
jobs in the Sport subsector
Using one of these or another job
agreed with your tutor you need
to find the following information:
•
•
•
•
Main job opportunities
Potential career pathways
Key factors for career progression
Sources of information in career progression
Questions: