The Office for National Statistics has published the findings of the Learning and Training at Work (LTW) 2001 survey. The overall response rate was 63%. The figures here relate to those employers in England with five or more employees, regardless of their size or industry sector, with the exception of schools and Local Education Authorities. The response rate was 63%.
The survey gives an indication of how much training is undertaken nationwide. Presented as statistics, it's not an engaging read, but it does offer a picture of national averages of training.
(You can also take part in TrainingZone's own survey of Training Trends)
Learning and Training at Work Survey Results
Almost nine out of ten employers (88 per cent) had provided some job-related training (either off- or on-the-job training) to their employees in the 12 months prior to the interview, a decline from the 92 per cent found in 2000 and similar to the 89 per cent found in 1999.
Off-the-job training
Over half of employers (55 per cent) had provided off-the-job training to their employees in the 12 months prior to the interview. The figure was 59 per cent in 2000 and 52 per cent in 1999. The provision of off-the-job training increases with increasing size of employer. The survey indicates that 49 per cent of employers with 5-24 employees provided off-the-job training compared with 93 per cent of employers with 500 or more employees. Overall, the proportion of employees receiving off-the-job training over the previous 12 months has increased – 28 per cent in 2001, compared with 27 per cent in 2000 and 23 per cent in 1999.
The amount of off-the-job training provided per employee has increased to 2.3 days from 1.7 days in 2000 and 1.6 days in 1999. The amount of off-the-job training provided per trainee has increased to 8.2 days from 6.1 days in 2000 and 7.1 days in 1999. Of employers who provided off-the-job training, 55 per cent reported that some of the training was leading to a formal qualification – compared with 56 per cent in 2000 and 52 per cent in 1999.
Three out of four employers who had funded or arranged off-the-job training in the last 12 months (76 per cent) had a member of senior management responsible for training. This figure is very similar to those found in 2000 (78 per cent) and in 1999 (77 per cent). Job-specific training (70 per cent) and Health and Safety training (78 per cent) were the types of off-the-job training most commonly provided. Over three out of four employers (78 per cent) had provided on-the-job training for their employees in the 12 months prior to the interview. This represents a decline from the 83 per cent found in 2000 and is very similar to the 79 per cent found in 1999.
On-the-job training The provision of on-the-job training increases with increasing size of employer, though the variation is not as great as it is with off-the-job training. The survey indicates that 75 per cent of employers with 5-24 employees provided on-the-job training compared with 94 per cent of employers with 500 or more employees. Of those employers that did not provide any job-related training, the main reason given for not doing so was that the existing skills of employees meet the needs of the establishment (62 per cent). The only other reason mentioned by more than 10 per cent of respondents was that new recruits are sufficient to obtain the skills required (16 per cent).
Thirty per cent of employers said that they had helped employees learn things not directly connected to their job. This is similar to the 32 per cent found in 2000 and the 29 per cent found in 1999. Over a quarter of employers (28 per cent) were formally recognised as an Investor in People and half of employers (49 per cent) had a formal training plan.
Training Initiatives
As in earlier years, NVQs are the initiative with the highest level of awareness, with 94 per cent of employers having heard of them. This compares to 96 per cent in 2000 and 93 per cent in 1999. A third of employers (34 per cent) were currently offering NVQs to one or more of their employees. This is a slight increase on the 31 per cent found in 2000 and the 30 per cent found in 1999.
As many as 56 per cent of employers were aware of New Deal, 51 per cent of Advanced Modern Apprenticeships and 44 per cent of Learning Partnerships.
Half of employers (51 per cent) had built links with external organisations in order to offer their employees training and development opportunities.
Definitions
Off-the-job training includes all training away from the immediate work position. It can be given at the employers’ premises or elsewhere. It includes all sorts of courses - full or part time; correspondence or distance learning, Health and Safety and so on - as long as it is funded or arranged by the employer.
On-the-job training includes training given at the desk or place where the person usually works. Typically, this kind of training is planned in advance, with no, or very little, useful output whilst the training is being under-taken. This does not include off-the-job training, which is under-taken away from the usual work position.
