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6
Conclusions
With an increasing shift towards ‘demand-led’ provision in vocational education, the voice of the employer has increasing importance. This is highlighted by the introduction of Sector Qualification Strategies22 and the recently launched Training Quality Standard.23 This research brings together the views of two different groups – stakeholders in post-16 education and employers. The stakeholders in post-16 education had a predominant focus on ‘delivery issues’ in part 1 of this research, whereas the employer response in part 2 provides an insight into the demand view, with a focus on the practical application of skills in the workplace. With two distinct perspectives on employability skills, the research has identified a number of areas where there is common ground and where there are differences. Feedback from both groups confirms that no single set of skills is seen as the definite requirement for someone to be, and remain, employable. Employers and stakeholders in post-16 education viewed employability as a mix of skills, attitudes and behaviours. Moreover, groups were comfortable about and able to articulate their views by differentiating the ‘skills’ aspect into generic and vocationally specific skills. Literacy and numeracy skills were seen as generic requirements, and workrelated skills as vocationally specific. Both groups highlighted the importance of having functionality in literacy and numeracy skills at the time of securing a first job. Vocationally specific skills tended to be seen as only requiring a basic grasp on entering employment, and something that employers felt comfortable to develop through the workplace. This emphasises the need for school leavers to acquire a functional level of literacy and numeracy, with employers reporting they are not prepared to have financial responsibility for skills they think should be in place when entering employment. The extent to which employers view the current provision in school as satisfactory was reported as low, with one in three employers reporting they found difficulty in recruiting a school leaver with the right employability skills. Furthermore, opportunities to enhance generic skills and develop vocationally specific skills need to be sufficiently flexible to incorporate the workplace as a place for learning.
22 www.ukces.org.uk 23 www.newstandard.co.uk