Demand-side evidence. Within FE, stakeholders prioritised professional/technical/practical skills such as gaining current industry experience, keeping vocational courses up-to-date and other teaching skills e.g. teaching and assessment that reflects current industry practices. • Almost half of the English employers in HE reported that their existing support and technical staff lacked professional/technical/practical skills. This included subject specific knowledge and experience and teaching skills. A quarter of employers indicated that support and technical staff lacked transferable skills, including communication and bilingual skills. • More than a third of LAIS employers reported skills gaps in their existing professional staff in relation to specialist technical and professional skills. LAIS stakeholders prioritised wider employability skills such as the ability to support people and help them to learn. • Stakeholders of WBL prioritised competence in teaching basic and key skills and gaining current industry experience.
Demand-side evidence. In CLD, up to a third of English employers felt their existing management staff lacked specialist professional and technical skills, including skills specific to the Community Learning and Development workforce, such as building effective partnerships to enhance community learning and development and managing the work and input of others. • Employers in CLD also reported that over a quarter of all applicants to management roles lacked specialist professional and technical skills. • Priorities for CLD are transferable and wider employability skills, including leadership and professional/technical/practical skills such as organisational and financial planning. • The vast majority of English employers in FE were very satisfied with the skills and competences of existing management staff. • Employers reported skills shortages among managers at NVQ level 4. Stakeholders prioritised the development of leadership and management skills in HE. • Only a minority of English employers in LAIS were dissatisfied with the skills and competences of management staff and the further education and training they have undertaken. • More than a third of WBL employers in England reported difficulties in recruiting management staff at NVQ level 4 with the largest proportion of shortages among organisational managers – similar for skills gaps among managers at level 4. • In WBL, over a third of English employers reported that applicants to management positions lacked professional, technical and practical skills, including subject specific knowledge and teaching skills. • Well over a third of employers in WBL reported that management staff lacked professional, technical and practical skills including subject specific knowledge and ICT skills. • A small proportion of WBL employers experienced difficulties recruiting staff at NVQ level 3 and indicated that applicants lacked transferable skills including communication and bilingual skills. • Almost a third of employers in FE, a quarter in WBL and a fifth in CLD reported that their existing management staff lacked transferable skills including communication and language skills.
Demand-side evidence. Of CLD employers in England, almost half reported that applicants to professional roles lacked specialist professional and technical skills. These included specialist CLD skills such as the ability to engage with people in a learning context and work with individuals and/or communities to identify needs, aspirations and goals. Some employers also cited wider employability skills, including customer services, as an issue for professional and administrative occupations. • CLD stakeholders prioritised transferable and wider employability skills, including interpersonal and outreach skills and the ability to create social inclusion as a need within the workforce. • In HE, up to a third of English employers said existing professional, learning support, technical and management staff lacked transferable skills including communication and language skills. Approximately one fifth said applicants for technical and learning support posts lacked transferable skills including communication and bilingual skills. • Some employers in HE prioritised the development of customer service and client management skills as well as the capabilities to cater for different learning styles and a more diverse student group. • In LAIS, around a fifth of employers reported a lack of transferable skills including communication and bilingual skills in applicants for professional and paraprofessional roles. Moreover, a vast majority of English employers expected the demand for transferable skills including communication, language, customer services and problem solving skills to increase over the next 5-10 years. • Approximately one third of English WBL employers reported that professional, support and administrative staff lacked transferable skills, including communication and bilingual skills.
Demand-side evidence. English employers in FE reported skills shortages at NVQ level 4 and above when recruiting professionals and managers. Skills gaps, attributed to the need for teaching and learning staff to have current industry experience, were also reported for these occupational groups. • Participants in LLUK’s ‘future scenarios’ workshops anticipated that employers will demand that more specific job-related training is delivered within employment settings. • Stakeholders prioritised: o development and maintenance of professional/technical/practical skills in FE, such as gaining current industry experience, keeping vocational courses up- to-date, up-to-date teaching and assessment skills that reflect current industry practice o need for current industry experience in WBL
Demand-side evidence. In most cases, around half of English employers reported difficulties in attracting or recruiting suitable applicants to fill professional vacancies in CLD, FE, LAIS and WBL; support/associate professional vacancies in CLD, FE and HE; management and administrative occupations in HE. • Approximately four in ten employers in CLD, FE, LAIS and WBL constituencies reported that applicants to professional roles lacked specialist professional, technical and in some cases practical skills. • Specific constituency issues around the skills of applicants also included: o in CLD, the ability to engage with people in a learning context and working with individuals and/or communities to identify needs, aspirations and goals o in FE, subject specific skills and knowledge and teaching and pedagogical skills o in WBL teaching and subject specific knowledge and experience • Professional, technical and practical skills were also lacking amongst applicants for support and technical roles in CLD, WBL and paraprofessionals in LAIS. • Around two-thirds of employers expect the demand for technical staff in WBL as well as professionals and support professionals in both WBL and CLD to increase over the next 5-10 years. Over half of FE employers expected an increase in the demand for professional staff. • The vast majority of employers in HE reported that they were very satisfied or satisfied with the quality of new academic professional recruits. • Employers in the lifelong learning sector identified shortages o in transferable skills and wider employability skills for professional and administrative occupations in CLD o at NVQ level 2 for manual staff in LAIS o among organisational managers
