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

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1. This report explores the important issues of recruitment and retentionof staff who work with learners across the post-16 learning and skillssector.2. The assignment, commissioned by the Standards Unit within theDepartment for Education and Skills, has been undertaken by YorkConsulting in association with MORI Social Research Institute betweenSeptember 2004 and September 2005.3. The study has involved four key elements, comprising of:• a large-scale quantitative telephone survey;• a large-scale quantitative telephone survey of HR Managers in FE;• large-scale qualitative interviews with staff - with an emphasis onthose working in maths and science subjects;• small-scale qualitative telephone interviews with dissatisfied staff(identified at the initial survey stage).Summary of Key FindingsKey points arising from the research relating to individuals’ motivation tojoin the sector are as follows:4. The majority of staff (61%) started working in the sector between theages of 18 and 34.5. Most entrants did not begin their career with a clear ambition to go intoteaching/training in the post-16 sector. The majority of staff entered thesector after working in other industry sectors – smaller numbersentered from teaching in schools or with no previous experience.6. Entrants from industry were most likely to go into work based learningor adult and community learning provision. Many left industry due tostress or a desire to do something ‘more worthwhile’.7. Only a small number of respondents joined the sector early in theircareer after qualifying as a teacher via the PGCE route. Few plannedto join the sector and most ‘discovered’ the sector through a variety ofmeans;8. The common reasons for leaving the school sector to work in thelearning and skills sector included better discipline and learnermotivation.9. Nearly half of respondents (46%) indicated some vocational reasonsfor joining the sector, this was followed by just over a third ofrespondents (35%) who indicated personal reasons. The biggestsingle reason for joining the sector was to help people to develop (26%i
of respondents), closely followed by those who wanted to change theircareer path (19%).10. A specific personal reason relating to women with families is theattraction of the sector’s comparative flexibility, particularly, comparedwith school teaching.11. For a minority of staff working in the sector a major influencing factorwas personal or family links to education or inspiration by a goodteacher/trainer.Key points relating to entry into the sector are as follows:12. The majority of staff working in the sector (51%) believe that there areenough entry routes into the learning and skills profession, althougharound one third of respondents (31%) do not believe this to be thecase. This is supported by the views of HR Managers in FE.13. Staff in work based learning provision have a more negative view of theadequacy of entry routes compared with those in further education andadult and community learning.14. The recruitment experience is generally perceived as straightforwardwith most members of staff undergoing a formal recruitment processinvolving an application for an advertised post and attending astructured interview.15. In a minority of cases more informal recruitment processes have beenadopted involving networking and personal contacts.16. A major barrier to entry is awareness of the sector and theopportunities within it.17. Important concerns which may be limiting entry into the sector includedifficulty in finding more permanent and longer term hours and, in somecases, a protracted recruitment period.Key issues emerging relating to hard to fill vacancies are as follows:18. There was a 10% turnover of teaching staff in FE. This comparesfavourably with other sectors. Most teachers leaving their post weretaking a post in another FE college.19. The level of vacancies is low in colleges (2%), with only 11% ofcolleges indicating a rate of more than 5% of teaching/ staff. Although,nearly two fifths of colleges (38%) are experiencing hard to fillvacancies.20. Two fifths of staff (40%) are aware of recruitment difficulties within theirorganisation. This was higher amongst managers compared with othermembers of staff. Staff working in further education colleges wereii
Page 1 and 2: RESEARCHRecruitment and Retention i
Page 3: ContentsPage1 INTRODUCTION ........
Page 7 and 8: 32. Key concerns where resources we
Page 9 and 10: 52. The most common qualification h
Page 11 and 12: Definitions1.5 A number of terms ha
Page 13 and 14: • at what point in their career t
Page 15 and 16: 1.16 Key question areas relevant to
Page 17 and 18: 2 METHODOLOGY AND PROFILE OF RESPON
Page 19 and 20: 2.13 Prior to the main survey, a fu
Page 21 and 22: Ethnic Background2.22 Nine out of t
Page 23 and 24: Types of Provision2.26 In addition
Page 25 and 26: Table 2.10: What are the main subje
Page 27 and 28: • HR Managers views on the reason
Page 29 and 30: Table 2.15: Total StaffStatus ‘Oc
Page 31 and 32: 2.44 A total of 113 in-depth interv
Page 33 and 34: 3 MOTIVATION TO JOIN THE SECTOR3.1
Page 35 and 36: Entrants from Teaching3.13 Responde
Page 37 and 38: Vocational Reasons3.21 This is the
Page 39 and 40: • “I met one of the managers at
Page 41 and 42: Perceptions of Entry Routes4.6 A ma
Page 43 and 44: 4.13 In terms of finding suitable c
Page 45 and 46: 5 TURNOVER, VACANCIES AND HARD TO F
Page 47 and 48: 5.11 The major reason given for vac
Page 49 and 50: 5.16 Generally HR Managers did not
Page 51 and 52: Maths and Science• “there are i
Page 53 and 54: 5.27 Teacher/trainer respondents we
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Table 5.7: What could your organisa
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• “there is a shortage of maths
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6 WORKING IN THE SECTOR6.1 This sec
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6.9 Respondents working in further
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Figure 6.4: Respondents satisfied w
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Staff Who Have Considered Leaving6.
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Figure 6.7: Respondents who have ap
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• levels of satisfaction with the
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Figure 7.1: Respondents satisfied w
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Staff Attitudes7.8 Respondents were
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7.14 Younger employees aged 18 to 3
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Personal Problems7.20 Respondents w
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• lack of administrative support.
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8 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT8.1 Succe
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8.8 Issues relating to involvement
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• quality. A minority of responde
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Table 8.2: Which Teaching Qualifica
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9 GOVERNMENT STRATEGY9.1 Research t
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Table 9.3: To what extent do you ag
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10 CONCLUSIONS10.1 Recruitment and
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Main Benefits and Drawbacks of Work
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ANNEX AQUESTIONNAIRES
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Section A: Background informationAS
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6) Have any teaching posts been fil
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CATI NOTE: routing from Q10 has bee
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Q16a) And what is the main reason,
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22) In which subjects are teaching
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ASK IF YES AT Q25 A) OR C), OTHERS
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33) To what extent do you agree or
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DfES Recruitment and Retention Surv
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8. Are your standard weekly working
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• 5- less than 10• 10- less tha
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• Any other training (please spec
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28. What motivates you personally t
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ASK ALL32. How satisfied or dissati
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ASK ALL CODES 1-7 AT Q41, OTHERS (N
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49. To which of the following group
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