Published

-----------------------------------------------------------
Latest LSC Evaluation Publications
-----------------------------------------------------------  

Train to Gain evaluation – Wave 1 findings

Published: 7 May 2007
Train to Gain represents one of the most important developments in skills policy in recent years.  Introduced in April 2006, and fully rolled out in August of the same year, Train to Gain is a national service for businesses that provide help to identify and source training that will improve their business performance and the skills of their workforce.  It aims to encourage employers to invest in the development of the skills and qualifications of their employees.  It is particularly concerned with increasing the proportion of adults in the workforce with Level 2 qualifications and good basic skills as well as supporting the development of higher level skills.

Throughout Train to Gain's existence evaluation has been conducted amongst employers to gauge their views on the service (primiarly measures of employer satisfaction with Skills Brokers) but following the national roll-out of Train to Gain, evaluation has been completed to gauge the views of the learners themselves and taking more of a wider look at employers opinions.  The overall evaluation framework consists of four telephone surveys with 3,750 employers who have had contact with skills brokers and 7,500 learners who were taking part in, or had completed, fully/part subsidised learning.  The surveys take place at six-monthly intervals over two years.

The first wave of this evaluation took place last year with 3,750 employers who were initially in contact with a Train to Gain skills broker between January and March 2007 and 7,500 learners engaged in publicly funded learning through Train to Gain at the end of February 2007.  Fieldwork took place between late March and early July 2007.

The Train to Gain Wave 1 evaluation reports are available via the links below:

• Employer evaluation report
• Employee evaluation report

 

Education Maintenance Allowance Works

January 2008
Two recent reports show Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), part of the Learner Support Programme, has succeeded in increasing the number of young people staying on in learning after 16, and the number of learners achieving qualifications at 19.

A report by RCU showed that in its first year of national rollout, EMA caused an additional 18,500 young people to participate in further education, who would not have done so without the financial support and incentive. Analysis at national level also showed evidence that EMA has had a positive impact on the retention, achievement and success rates of certain groups of learners, for example those from minority ethnic groups, and those with a background of high deprivation.

Another report, by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), showed that learners in receipt of EMA were more likely to achieve full Level 2 (five GCSEs grade A*-C or equivalent) by age 19, with specific improvement highlighted among ethnic minority groups. Receipt of EMA also impacted significantly on learners’ achievement of full Level 3 (two A levels grade A-E or equivalent).

The full RCU and IFS reports are available here.


Independent Evaluation of the New LSC E-procurement System

22 January 2008
In early 2007 the Learning and Skills Council introduced a new approach to competitive tendering for the supply of learning and skills provision to employers, employees and individuals not in work, using the Bravo Solutions system (used by a growing number of central governement departments and NDPBs).

Competitive tendering for provision was designed to 'open up' the learning and skills market by:

• making LSC funds more constestable;
• enabling the best colleges and providers to extend their range of provision and;
• by attracting new providers into the system to increase diversity, improve quality and stimulate innovation in the market.

Two core principles underpinned this process:

• that all potential bidders would be subject to the same process and evaluation criteria;
• that organisations known to the tenderers were to be given no additional advantage or disadvantage

This document summarises key findings from a comprehensive independent evaluation of the process amongst learning providers and a 'control' sample of market research agencies (who were participating in a similar tender exercise at around the same time).

It also includes the Learning and Skills Council's response to the findingds including actions that have been taken as a direct result of the research.


Prior Qualifications of Adult Learners in Further Education – 2006/07
The Learning and Skills Council commissioned some research to investigate the prior qualifications of adult FE learners undertaking a full level 2 or full or part level 3 qualification. The key aim was to update findings on the proportion of adult learners that are undertaking their first full level 2 qualification.

The proposed work closely matched in aim and approach to that used in a number of recent LSC/DfES studies:

- Prior Qualifications of Adult Learners in Further Education 2005/06 
  (published October 2006)
- Prior Qualifications of Adult Learners in Further Education and Work 
   Based Learning survey 2005 (published March 2006)
- Prior Qualifications of Adult FE learners study commissioned by DfES in
  2004

Evaluating the impact of capital expenditure
The Learning and Skills Council has invested large sums of money in capital investment in recent years. Average capital expenditure has increased from around £110 million per year between 1996-97 and 2001-02 to around £190 million per year since 2002-03 (current prices).

It is also highly likely that this investment has had a positive impact on college performance. However, attempts to date to estimate this impact quantitatively have proved difficult. This is largely because of well understood difficulties of developing a large and sufficiently robust dataset of college performance and capital investment.

The Learning and Skills Council commissioned Frontier to investigate the impact that capital expenditure has on college outcomes, including participation, attainment and retention. This work builds on the previous study by PWC carried out in 2004 that attempted to establish a similar relationship.

Care To Learn (C2L)
C2L funds the costs of childcare for young parent learners, and is an important part of the Government’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. It aims to help young parent learners return to – and stay in – learning. It means that support with the costs of childcare and associated transport is not rationed, but can be met in full. It also provides young parents with access to effective and affordable childcare and ensures that young parents receive the help and support that they need before, during and after their courses.

Impact of Care to Learn: Tracking the Destinations of Young Parents Funded in 2004/05
The Institute for Employment Studies has produced a report for the LSC, Impact of Care to Learn: Tracking the Destinations of Young Parents Funded in 2004/05, that is the result of a major survey of 1,000 of the 3,666 young parents who received Care to Learn funding during the 2004/05 academic year.  The report shows that the LSC’s Care to Learn programme is making a real difference to young parents remaining in, or returning to, learning – whether in school, college or the workplace, and to their level of qualification. 

A Summary of the Evaluation Evidence on the Adult Learning Grant Research Information
This document summarises the evidence so far from the DfES evaluation of the Adult Learning Grant that was announced in the July 2003 Skills White paper.  The document was published to support the March 2005 Skills White Paper.  It covers a summary of the project, a quantitative evaluation of the first year and a study of ALG recipients. 
Full findings of the project are due in autumn of 2005 and will be available on this site shortly.

View all Adult Learning Grant Evaluation Reports

Maximising the Benefits of Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) for Female Offenders
In 2005/06, a new initiative was implemented in which responsibility for the planning and funding of the provision of learning and skills for offenders was transferred from the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Unit (OLSU) to the LSC.  This change was within the wider context of the development of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), and had the overall purpose of providing a more integrated approach to learning and skills provision for offenders. 

Maximising the Benefits of OLASS for Female Offenders: An Evaluation of the Issues.  This report makes recommendations to form the basis of guidance about factors to take into account in the provision of OLASS for female offenders.  There are distinct issues that specifically affect the engagement of female offenders in learning and skills provision.  This has implications for the characteristics, style, content, funding structure and targets for provision.

View all Offender Learning Evaluation Reports

Measuring Progress: The Impact of the Centres of Vocational Excellence Programme
GHK Consulting Ltd was commissioned in November 2002 to undertake the second phase of the evaluation of the CoVE programme.  This report describes the progress of a sample of CoVEs towards the achievement of the eight desired programme outcomes, and comments on how CoVEs are measuring their progress towards each.  The report also describes a series of future success factors identified by the CoVEs themselves, and makes recommendations, to CoVEs and the LSC, on areas which would benefit from further development.

View all CoVE Evaluation Reports