L&W Chief Exec's briefing

Depressingly, 22 years after the Moser Report showed the scale of the basic skills challenge in England, one in five adults still have low literacy, numeracy or digital skills. Yet our new report shows participation in adult basic skills learning has fallen 60% in the last decade: at current levels it would take 20 years for all adults to get access to learning.

This is bad for almost every public policy objective you can think about, but the issue has dropped down the political agenda over the last decade. However, we’re hopeful that the new Education Secretary will work with our Skills for Life Alliance to try and change that. And hear more at our free English, maths and ESOL conference in November.

The Spending Review could help tackle this. But it looks like it’ll be a tight settlement: the Treasury wants to reduce the deficit; poor economic growth since the financial crisis means a smaller amount of money to divvy up; and a growing share of public spending is going to health as the population ages. Anyone looking for a return to pre-austerity levels of investment in further education may be disappointed.

This comes against the backdrop of a recovering economy and worries about a tight labour market: there’s a record 1.1 million vacancies and many employers are struggling to recruit. With unemployment lower than expected, might the Government be tempted to roll back some of its Plan for Jobs measures to save some money?

They shouldn’t. There are 3.2 million people out of work who want a job and employment is 650,000 lower than before the pandemic. To match people to available jobs, we should extend employment support to all out of work (not just those who are categorised as unemployed), improve support for retraining where needed, and employers need to consider how they recruit, how they structure work, and the terms and conditions they offer.

Taking the longer view, this year marks our centenary. There’s lots of celebratory plans during our Lifelong Learning Week, beginning 8th November, come join us to highlight your role in the sector.

Stephen Evans
Chief Executive

Work with us!
To help us continue to deliver our important work, we’re recruiting for a Business Support Officer.

This is an exciting time to join L&W as we continue to focus on the big questions. Your work will be varied, from supporting business development and income generation, to managing our London office and ensuring GDPR/ISO 9001 compliance across the organisation. We also are looking for someone who would be willing to support other functions such as IT, HR and SMT when necessary.

You will be based in our London office but will be expected to spend 40% of your time at home, and 60% of your time in the office.

As a Silver Investors in People award holder, we are committed to building a great place to work. We are a friendly and supportive team, passionate and enthusiastic about our work. Find out more about the role and apply here.

Learning and Work Institute welcomes three new board members
We are delighted to announce that we have appointed three new members to our board and committee, who bring unique skills and expertise. We look forward to working together to achieve our mission and support lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion.

Tony Lawlor - Group Finance Director, TEC Partnership
Abdul Islam - Director of Finance and Operations, Virgin Media O2
Lauren Harris - Director, Standard Chartered Group Internal Audit function

Call for Evidence on the future of work and people with protected characteristics (PCs)

We are conducting research, commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), on the changes in long-term employment trends in Great Britain and their impact on people with PCs such as disabled people, ethnic minorities, women and younger/older workers.

If you have unpublished research or a project that is underway on the future of work and people with PCs, we are keen to hear from you. We are particularly interested in receiving submissions on the impact of changing working practices (for example more home/remote working) in response to the Covid pandemic, the expansion of the gig economy and/or the growth of AI and new technologies on the employment of people with particular PCs.

Please email futureofwork@learningandwork.org.uk by 12 November with your submissions or inquiries about the research, which will later include a series of wider engagement events with relevant stakeholders and experts.

Improving apprentice experience
On behalf of the Department for Education, Learning and Work Institute has produced four guides to support apprentices’ on-programme experience:

Apprentice support: A guide for apprentices on the support they can expect during their programme and where they can access help
Choosing the right apprenticeship: A guide for employers and training providers to ensure apprentices are on the right programme for them
Line manager guide: Hints and tips for line managers on the support they provide to apprentices throughout their programme
Being apprentice ready: A checklist to help training providers to review, develop and promote the support they offer to apprentices

Number of adults in basic skills learning plummets by over 60% in a decade as new group launches to reverse the trend
Our new report lays bare the impact of sharp cuts in government funding to the adult education budget, which more than halved between 2011/12 and 2019/20. This period has also seen a dramatic fall in participation in English, maths and ESOL learning, down by 63%, 62% and 17% respectively between 2012 and 2020.

It is against this backdrop that we have convened the Skills for Life Alliance with Holex, which brings together researchers and experts in the sector to call for urgent action to reverse these concerning trends.

Youth Employment and Skills Summit hears sector say the job is not done for young people
At yesterday’s Summit, around 500 delegates came together for keynotes from Employment Minister Mims Davies - who announced an extension of flexibility for Universal Credit claimants - and Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor for Liverpool City Region. Catch up on the Summit here.

Delegates were polled on In terms of skills and employment opportunities for young people, is the job done? Whilst 55% of the 146 respondents said it's going in the right direction but isn't there yet, 42% said No, we need a major shift in direction for young people, just 2% didn't know, and none of the respondents thought Yes, young people have enough support into education, skills and employment opportunities. Many speakers echoed that there is still work to be done in tackling youth unemployment and ongoing skills shortages.

New evaluation highlights impact of moving employability training online
Since the outbreak of Coronavirus, many education and employment programmes have switched to online delivery. As we look to a future where many such programmes will retain at least some element of online or hybrid delivery, we need to consider the impacts on different groups, address the challenges, and identify what works.

We were commissioned by EY Foundation to review the impact of the move to online delivery on different groups of young people, identify effective practice to inform the future delivery of youth employability programmes.

The new report looks at what worked well, the outcomes for young people, and key lessons and implications for the future.

Adult Learners’ Week – Change your story
Last month we celebrated our annual Adult Learners’ Week campaign in Wales, with over 500 events, courses and resources registered, over 100 campaign partners and thousands of learners accessing opportunities to change their story through adult education and skills.

We also celebrated the achievements of 13 award winners at our online Inspire! Awards ceremony. Thank you to all campaign partners that got involved and to our sponsors - the Welsh Government, Open University in Wales, Agored Cymru, Adult Learning Wales and National Centre for Learning Welsh for their continued support.

Support Lifelong Learning Week 2021

We are excited to share that this year’s Lifelong Learning Week 2021 will take place across England from 8 to 12 November, as part of the Festival of Learning. This week of activity aims to celebrate the difference learning can make, inspire adults to take their first step back into learning, and showcase the importance of lifelong learning.

The latest results of the adult participation in learning survey will be released and we’ll be holding a series of events, including the English, Maths and ESOL Conference. We are looking for learning providers and organisations to get involved by hosting taster sessions and online events on the Tuesday - Find out how you can get involved.

Employer engagement in pre-apprenticeship programmes | Tuesday 9 November | 14:00 – 15:30 (BST)
Pre-apprenticeship programmes support young people to develop the skills and competencies that employers need. Effective pre-apprenticeship programmes can save employers resources on recruiting and training new employees as young people coming from a pre-apprenticeship programme should arrive with a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities they might undertake.

This interactive webinar will provide guidance and good practice examples on how to engage employers in programme development and delivery, presenting both pre-apprenticeship provider and employer perspectives.

Annual Conference on English, Maths and ESOL: A Higher Ambition for Adult Basic Skills |Thursday 11 November | 10.00am – 1.00pm
Basic skills – including literacy, numeracy, ESOL and digital skills – are key to improving adults’ life chances. With participation in learning falling, the need to rethink how we widen access and engage more adults in learning is greater than ever.

Our conference will highlight the importance of a clear ambition that every adult is equipped with essential basic skills. It will showcase learner voices, policy innovations and effective practice to engage adults and deliver high quality learning that makes a difference.

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact helena.wysocki@learningandwork.org.uk