Work, Learning & Skills - DfES Skills Survey
Background
The Government launched Success for All in 2002 with the aim of building a more effective and responsive learning and skills sector. The Success for All initiative, the post-14 Maths enquiry, the Science and innovation investment framework and the Foster Review have all highlighted the need to recruit and retain highly qualified and professional staff.
There was very little evidence at a national level concerning the recruitment and retention of teachers and trainers, although it had been acknowledged that many employers in the sector faced difficulties. As a result the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) commissioned York Consulting and MORI to explore issues of staff recruitment and retention across the post-16 learning and skills sector. The survey sampled teaching staff and those in support roles across the sector, as well as HR managers in FE Colleges. The report was published on 16 November 2005 and the findings provide a new and rich source of information about the views of staff in the sector.
Download a copy of a summary of the report. — pdf document, 52K
Download a copy of the full report. (opens new window at Success For All website)
Further Research Needed
One of the key findings from this study was that teaching of construction subjects has one of the highest proportions of hard-to-fill vacancies — 25% of available jobs are vacant. Therefore, DfES has commissioned a further stage of research to inform and develop a comprehensive recruitment campaign in order to:
- Recruit experienced professionals into the teaching of construction.
- Present teaching as a respected and viable alternative to working in construction itself.
- Communicate to partners and stakeholders the steps taken to address the gaps in the workforce.
Rationale
The Recruitment and Retention Survey undertaken last year incorporated a large scale quantitative survey of HR managers based at FE institutions and post-16 learning, of which all 392 were approached. We are therefore aiming to approach these HR managers again in order to ask specific questions to ascertain the key issues surrounding the construction sector in particular.
The key aims of the study are to:
- identify the actual number of vacancies per region and identify the anticipated annual vacancy rate aside from the 25%;
- how are the vacancies apportioned by discipline (e.g. plasterers, plumbers etc);
- identify the key barriers to recruitment in the sector and the ways these barriers are currently being addressed and/or could be addressed in the future;
- opinions and perceptions to the proposed recruitment campaign.
Methodology
The key elements of the study methodology are as follows:
- Early qualitative interviews and desk research — as part of the survey preparation we are undertaking document research; interviews with organisations such as the Association of Colleges as well as four f2f interviews with HR managers based at FE colleges in order to explore question areas.
- Survey Development in November and December 2005 including a pilot stage involving 10 HR managers.
- Survey fieldwork in January 2006.
- Analysis and Reporting — January/February 2006.
It is anticipated that colleges will benefit from the results of this survey as the findings will enable a comprehensive and relevant recruitment campaign to address the difficulties colleges are facing in this sector.
If you have further questions about the research please email: skillssurvey@ipsos-mori.com.
Read a letter from the Standards Unit about this research (pdf, 34K).
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