Publications

The Western Training and Enterprise Council, together with their partner organisation Learning Partnership West has developed a range of schemes aimed at promoting the development of the Key Skills of young people. This report presents the findings of research conducted within training providers, schools and employers. It explores the importance of Key Skills, approaches to developing and assessing Key Skills and the impact this is having upon young people. It builds upon a recent national survey undertaken by IES for the Department for Education and Employment into Employers' Perceptions of Key Skills.

Pre-vocational pilots (PVP) aimed to help people with multiple disadvantages in the labour market access to training and support that would enable them to benefit from mainstream training programmes and subsequently move into sustainable employment. This research investigated the extent to which the PVP had been successful in achieving these aims.

An analysis of the direction, organisation, funding, quality and impact of educational research, primarily in the schools field. Research is only one of the influences on policy formation and practice, and its impact is difficult to measure. However, research is valuable if forward-looking, policy-relevant and practical.

This publication is no longer available. A study of training and development of young people, provided by employers outside government-funded training. It focuses on why employers choose to recruit young people, what roles they perform and with what skills; how employers nurture these skills, knowledge and experience, and how well employers find their approaches work.

This publication is no longer available. The research paid special attention to the impact of changes that had been made to the funding arrangements for the Access to Work programme in 1996. The findings suggest that employers and disabled people who received the help were generally happy with the programme, not only with the nature and level of support provided, but also with its efficiency and responsiveness of service.

This report presents the findings of an in-depth exploration of the skills employers look for in IT professionals, and how their requirements are changing. To operate effectively in modern organisations, it is not enough to be highly skilled technically, and this study explores the range of skills needed. IT specialists need, more than ever, to understand and identify the interplay between IT and business needs.

This study explores employers' needs for and satisfaction with the level of Key Skills held by their employees. It illustrates the importance of all these skills to employers, and generally high levels of satisfaction with their employees' skills (though not necessarily those of the labour force in general). It explores in detail employers' views of the Key Skill Units, and reveals specific concerns about their coverage.

This study examines how managers learn and what kind of learning really makes a difference, through the experiences of individual managers and those that work with them. It shows how certain learning events allow managers to change their thinking and personal styles and become more reflective, action focused, innovative, strategic and people orientated.

This publication is no longer available. This study presents findings from a national survey of 2,000 disabled people of working age who have a long-term disability or health problem, and those who have had such a disability, in line with the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. For these people getting a job is very important, but adaptations to allow many to stay in a job are not often offered. One in six has experienced work-related discrimination. Disabled people in employment are more likely to work in manual and lower skilled occupations and those from ethnic minorities are more likely to be unemployed. Average take-home pay of disabled employees is notably lower than for non-disabled workers.

This study draws together evidence about people's jobsearch activities prior to the introduction of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) in October 1996. The study was commissioned by the Employment Service as part of its programme to evaluate the impact of the JSA. This publication is no longer available.