Ofqual has today (18 July 2017) published its first
employer qualifications perceptions survey which asked
over 2,000 employers for their views on vocational and technical
qualifications and assessments. These included functional skills
in English and maths and the end-point assessments of
apprenticeships. The survey marks a significant step for Ofqual
in increasing its understanding of what employers think about the
qualifications they use when making decisions about who to hire,
which training to invest in, and what business impact they expect
to see from staff who achieve those qualifications.
Sally Collier, Chief Regulator, commented:
With major reform of apprenticeship assessment and functional
skills in English and maths already underway, and the
introduction of the government flagship T level programme on
the horizon, there has never been a more important time to hear
what employers have to say about qualifications and
assessments.
Phil Beach, Executive Director of Vocational and Technical
Qualifications, added:
We are committed to supporting the government’s ambitious
reform programme. This valuable research is a significant step
in our plans to engage more closely with employers and
understand their needs and views of vocational and technical
qualifications.
We now have an in-depth source of new data to draw upon as we
aim to understand the reasons why qualifications in particular
sectors do (and do not) work well for employers. The data
provides a baseline of employer perceptions, which will be
monitored and explored through further engagement with the
employers, learners and teaching staff who use these
qualifications and assessments.
The survey found that familiarity with qualification reform
varies by industrial sector. For example, nearly twice as many
respondents from the transport and logistics sector (40%)
reported awareness and understanding of functional skills reform
than employers from the hospitality sector (23%). These results
should help Ofqual target future engagement with sectors that
have less familiarity with qualifications to understand whether
this is the driver in their lower uptake.
The survey also found that 65% of employers who recruit staff to
skilled or supervisory roles consider it essential for applicants
to hold a relevant vocational or technical qualification. This
was a higher proportion than employers who required applicants to
hold A levels (48%) for those type of roles. Conversely, holding
a relevant vocational or technical qualification is much less
important for employers when recruiting to other roles, with only
46% considering it essential for professional and managerial
roles. This information will help Ofqual understand how employers
use qualifications according to job types and levels within an
organisation.
Elsewhere the study showed that higher proportions of respondents
in the public sector say their organisation recruits people with,
or arranges training leading to functional skills qualifications,
compared to respondents in the private and third/voluntary
sector. Ofqual wants to understand why there is a greater
reliance on functional skills qualifications in the public
sector, and whether other sectors have lower levels of confidence
in them.
The ‘Employer Qualifications
Perceptions Survey’ was a pilot project conducted by Pye
Tait, who interviewed senior managers with responsibility for
recruitment and training decisions from a range of employers.
This was a representative sample of industrial sector, employee
size and region. Fieldwork took place between February and March
2017 using a quantitative telephone methodology. The intention is
to run further studies to build up a longitudinal view of the
extent to which employers have confidence in vocational and
technical qualifications.
