Executive summary

1. Semta has focused on the employer engagement of further and higher education. Our view is that employer engagement is patchy for a number of reasons, which are common across the UK, but that the challenges faced by FE and HE in engagement are different.

Semta, the Sector Skills Council

2. Industry owned and led, Semta aims to increase the impact of skilled people throughout the science, engineering and manufacturing technologies sectors.

3. We work with employers to determine their current and future skills needs and to provide short and long term skills solutions, whether that be training and skills development, or campaigning with government and other organisations to change things for the better. Through our labour market intelligence and insights from employers across our sectors, we identify change needed in education and skills policy and practice, and engage with key industry partners and partners in the education and training sector, to help increase productivity at all levels in the workforce.

4. The sectors we represent are: Aerospace; Automotive; Bioscience; Electrical; Electronics; Maintenance; Marine; Mathematics; Mechanical; Metals and Engineered Metal Products.

5. Semta is part of the network of 25 employer-led Sector Skills Councils.

Semta response

Further and higher education cross-border employer engagement

6. Semta manages a 4 Nations Group, which was set up specifically to highlight cross-border issues, and promote good practice across the 4 nations of the UK. This group has already identified a specific issue with the lack of a joined up strategy for UK PLC, which positions the needs of the economy within the business strategy for the higher education funding councils and Universities UK.

Further Education

7. FE employer engagement in England is variable, with some colleges and providers managing to offer a wide range of training services appropriate to and tailored for companies in our sector.

8. The engineering sector is particularly fortunate in its network of Group Training Associations (which are found in England, Scotland and Wales), which provide apprenticeship management services, and bespoke training which is especially relevant for small firms.

9. The issues around FE employer engagement are typical across the 4 nations, namely:

a. Lack of flexibility of provision, particularly in colleges, whereby courses are offered from a "menu" of content and delivery which does not permit an employer to access the kind of short, "just-in-time", on-site courses it requires. This is usually due to the funding being linked to completion of whole qualifications, which necessitates the provider charging full cost for any provision outside this. Private providers may have an advantage in the "full cost" market as they have more credibility with employers to deliver bespoke, specialist training.

b. Indirect and direct cost to FE and employers of the process of engagement - setting up networks, and spending time building relationships can be a costly process for both parties.

c. FE college staff lack of time to improve their vocational skills in the workplace. One of the ways in which employer engagement can be facilitated is through tutor placements in industry, but the process of setting these up and giving them proper support is time-consuming. FE tutors' current industry knowledge can be somewhat patchy, which also means their training delivery may compare poorly to that from private providers who can call on current practitioners.

d. Potential conflict between many colleges' ethos of social inclusion, and the principle of "skills for employability" which is increasingly their remit. Some colleges have built their excellent reputations on local community links, helping those on the margins of society engage for the very first time in meaningful learning, but this reputation means local employers do not see them as credible providers of technical training.

e. The necessarily competitive market for employer training can lead to employers being "turned off" from FE providers, particularly if they are cold-called repeatedly by local providers, all offering similar provision and funding.

Higher education

10. As mentioned previously, HE has particular issues in that economic need should be embedded in the strategy for funding across the 4 nations, in order to present a coherent picture. HE is more of a national and international consideration than FE, with students and institutions engaging across borders.

11. Issues with employer engagement with HE:

a. Problems of "language" - HE uses a very different vocabulary to that of business, and the two sides can feel that their viewpoint is little understood by the other. University career structures and succession plans should give more importance, currency and priority to relevant job roles where business knowledge and experience will add value; thus encouraging staff in these job roles to maintain and improve their business knowledge and experience via employer secondments. However, these career structures and succession planning processes must be transparent to give staff the incentive to develop this knowledge and experience. Current higher education culture does not appear to encourage this type of personal development.

b. Similarly to FE, HE has a potential conflict between meeting employer needs and its wider accepted remit - not social inclusion in this case, but rather the enlargement of knowledge, and development of pure research. Balancing these priorities can be problematic.

c. Although employers recognise and value higher education qualifications, not enough of these qualifications deliver the business-driven higher level skills that employers need and demand to drive their businesses forward. As a consequence employers buy the majority of the business driven higher level skills training and education from the private sector. The higher education sector needs to work more closely with Sector Skills Councils and employers to fully understand employer needs and demands for higher level skills and then develop new products and services that employers are prepared to buy.

Examples of good practice

Higher Apprenticeship at Airbus

12. The Higher Engineering Apprenticeship is being delivered for Airbus via a partnership arrangement between North East Wales Institute and Deeside College. Working with Semta, the company and providers have been able to develop a programme which meets the needs of the company, and which can be funded through existing channels. The Higher Engineering Apprenticeship comprises a Foundation Degree (or HND), NVQs at Levels 3 and 4, and Key Skills to the highest levels. It also links to professional standards through the engineering institutions. The individual therefore achieves a nationally recognised set of qualifications within a framework of delivery which suits the company, and which provides the skills the company needs both now and in the future.

Work on composites

13. In the Deeside area, work has recently been undertaken to establish the feasibility of the establishment of a Composite Skills Academy. The academy would particularly support the aerospace sector across the UK as it moves into advanced composites, but other sectors such as marine, automotive, construction and healthcare would also benefit. There is clearly a will to become world class behind such projects, and we hope the Committee will consider supporting schemes which are built on strong employer engagement.

June 2008