Training delivery models

1. Training delivery models Linda Miller Senior Research Fellow Institute for Employment Studies

2. Changes to delivery models • Review of policy background • Overview of national developments • IES evaluation and emerging findings

3. Policy background • In demand: Adult skills for the 21st century (Cabinet Office) • 21st Century skills: realising our potential (White paper on national skills strategy)

4. ‘In Demand’ • ‘A relatively high proportion of UK working population…lacks basic and intermediate skills’ • ‘A particular problem is the large number of low-skilled adults in the workforce’ • ‘Tackling basic skills must be the top priority’

5. ‘In Demand’ conclusions • Change must focus on raising demand for WFD from both employers and individuals • Action plan included breaking down barriers to participation, reform of funding, building capacity and reform of qualifications

6. Introduction of the ETPs • Employer Training Pilots (ETPs) • Announced in April 2002 budget; 6 pilots commenced September 2002; extended in 2003 with further 6; extended again in April 2004 budget • Aim ‘to increase demand for training by reducing barriers which prevent people - particularly those with lower skills - from training’

7. Employer Training Pilots • To explore impact on demand for training up to L2 of providing a package of support that includes: • free training programmes • support for employers to meet costs of giving staff paid time off to train • brokerage of training and ensuring training provided in way that suits needs • IAG (and now includes initial ITN)

8. Employer Training Pilots • Now in second year • Pilot design: offer varies by area to determine impact of • number of hours training funded (2 levels) • level of wage compensation (3 levels) • Outcomes measured include • uptake, completions, qualifications • employer and employee perceptions

9. The ETP training process • Training is workplace oriented • Takes around 100 hours to complete (over 7 to 8 months) • Learners spend about half the time in contact with trainers (on assessment, training and portfolio building)

10. IES evaluation of ETPs • Over 9,000 employers and 50,000 learners involved • Take-up faster than in the first year • Original pilots still recruiting strongly • Participant profile largely unchanged • Continued need to focus on hard to reach

11. 5,000 learners now at level 2 • 42 per cent of early starters have completed • Low drop-out, high satisfaction • some learners say they learn little new, but do tend to gain both UK and confidence in their ability; and • most want to do further training - mainly at level 3

12. ‘Assess Train Assess’ in ETPs • Emerging feature of around 50% of ETPs is use of ‘ATA’ approach • initial assessment, identify skills gaps, deliver appropriate training, re-assess

13. 21st Century Skills • ‘skills gaps remain stubbornly persistent’ • ‘market failures inhibit take up of training by those with few or no qualifications’ • ‘We are learning important lessons from the [ETPs] about the key factors motivating employers and learners’

14. Second major national initiative • LSC Sector Skill Pilots • Second major initiative aimed at addressing: • specific learning and skills gaps • failure to reach certain groups; and • testing range of delivery and funding models

15. LSC Sector skill pilots • Local evaluations to IES framework • IES meta-analysis of SSP outcomes

16. Sector skill pilot coverage • Range of pilots (28 at present, more in development) include cleaning, care, school support, ITQ • Pilots test various models for developing skills in sectors • Around 30,000 learners 2003-2004 • Over 4500 employers involved

17. Interim SSP findings • Findings vary with nature of sector pilots, but across sectors, findings are: • high achievement rates (anecdotal) • some difficulty in engaging employers • importance of ‘up-front learner assessment to determine learning needs in general and basic skill needs in particular’

18. The emergence of assess-train-assess • 21st Century skills: • ‘Training programmes, particularly those provided for employers, should start by assessing people’s existing knowledge and skills, so that skills gaps can be identified and training targeted at filling those gaps’ • ETP ‘embodies best practice...in training to the gaps using ATA’ • SSP outcomes emphasise this also

19. The ATA project • DfES-funded project to look at good practice in assess-train-assess models of staff development • identify good practice and draw out guidance • identify staff development & other issues • IES with Nick Stratton (FERA) • December 03 - August 04

20. ATA project method • Trawl for potential ATA contacts via FERA, AOC, TUC, CBI, LLSCs, RDAs, ALI, LSDA, SSCs…… • Phone contact and interview • Set of questions to determine what organisations are doing • Case study visits to range of organisations

21. ATA project progress • What have we found? • Trawl generated ~ 80 potential examples • More than 40 contacted • Identified range of practice in colleges, private training providers & employers • Around quarter way through visits (plan on 24 - 30 case studies)

22. Findings? • ATA most frequently encountered in context of NVQs • COVEs and Business Development Units • Variations in practice at A, at T and at A!

23. Emerging findings • Initial assessment • sensitivity/clients • inappropriate with ‘menu/volunteerism’ • can be unwieldy to offer full APL system, hence little accreditation of ‘experience’ • Training easiest to modify when working 1:1 or bespoke training (>6), but computers help

24. Next steps • Draw out good practice guidance - but likely to be ‘horses for courses’ • Publication later this year • Would appreciate views from participants on implications of attempts to widen use of ATA