Recruitment and Retention in the Post-16 Learning and Skills Sector

• HR Managers views on the reasons for these;• the reported impact of difficulties in recruitment and retention ofstaff.2.35 Fieldwork was conducted between the 27 th July and 16 th August 2005.Of the 392 institutions many were unavailable during the fieldworkperiod. The final achieved sample size was 182 institutions (46%response rate). Key dimensions of the survey respondents arepresented under a range of headings as follows:• total staff employed;• balance between part-time and full-time;• use of temporary staff for teaching;• use of agency staff.Provider Type and Location2.36 The sample’s characteristics in terms of provider type and locationclosely matched the proportions represented in the universe data (Table2.13). General FE colleges were the largest sector accounting foralmost two thirds of respondents. Sixth form colleges represented justover a quarter of institutions and specialist colleges account for justunder a tenth of colleges surveyed.Table 2.13 Provider TypeProvider Type Respondents PopulationGeneral FE colleges 64% 65%Sixth form colleges 27% 26%Specialist colleges 9% 8%Base: all 182 respondent InstitutionsSource: YCL/MORI quantitative survey of FE HR managers, 20052.37 The sample also closely reflects the geographical spread of institutionspresent in the sample universe (Table 2.14). The South West has thelargest proportion of institutions, almost a fifth of all surveyed, and theEast Midlands accounts for the fewest, as 5% of institutions sampled.18