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

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Main Benefits and Drawbacks of Working in the Sector10.12 The key benefits identified by staff working in the post-16 sector are;personal rewards gained from teaching, professional rewards fromworking with the client group, a sense of contributing to the community,the supportive working environment (less so for part-time and sessionalworkers), flexibility and autonomy.10.13 The main drawbacks of working in the sector relate to organisationalissues (and a lack of funding), low pay, insecure terms and conditions,paperwork and bureaucracy, constant change and unclear careerpathways.10.14 Pay is not the most important drawback as perceived by staff althoughit is raised regularly by those who are considering leaving the sector.Those working on a part-time or sessional basis perceive some specificdrawbacks including less support from their employer, less access totraining and development, and concerns about tenure of position.Reasons for Leaving the Sector and Subsequent Destinations10.15 Most respondents interviewed as part of this research expect to stayworking in the post 16 sector and are committed to doing so. Evidenceindicates that many ‘leavers’ stay within the sector.10.16 Key reasons for considering leaving held by potential leavers includethose recent entrants whose expectations have not been met, thosewho never saw teaching/training as a long term career and those forwhom the drawbacks have started to outweigh the benefits.Areas for Further Consideration10.17 The issue of pay remains important across the sector, particularly infurther education. It is not the most important drawback perceived bystaff however, there is a sense of imbalance particularly compared withother education sectors such as schools. Some HR managers feel thatlower pay may be limiting the quality of applicants, particularly in certainsubjects. However, many individuals continue to enter the sector fromworking in schools and cite specific benefits which clearly override anyperception of low pay.87
10.18 Development and progression opportunities could be more clearlystructured across the sector. Availability of training is generallyregarded as good however, constraints on time mean that attendancecan cause negative ‘knock on effects’ and implementing new learningcan be compromised. There is a desire among some to progress inresponsibility but to remain as practising teachers/trainers. However,elements of management responsibility may be inevitable as levels ofexperience and wider responsibilities grow.10.19 Promoting the sector and its benefits in order to give it clearer definitionand to encourage potential recruits is an important requirement. Thismay be challenging, even just across the range of further educationprovision. Consideration must be given to whether it can be effectivelyachieved across the whole post-16 learning and skills sector.10.20 The issue of paper work and bureaucracy was raised regularly by staff.This is not a new issue within the sector and has been the subject ofdrives to reduce its impact. There may be little that can be done tochange this significantly; although staff feel increased administrativesupport may help.10.21 One element of the study focused specifically on maths and scienceteacher. There is limited evidence of systematic problems in mathsand science areas, although there are a number of less positiveattitudes among science staff. A summary of issues across the twosectors is as follows:• there does not appear to be excessive vacancies compared withother subject areas;• there is some evidence of hard to fill vacancies but they do notappear extreme;• there are some concerns regarding the effectiveness of measuresto address hard to fill vacancies;• science staff indicate major concerns regarding workload, this ismoderate for maths staff;• science staff are least satisfied among subject staff with the qualityand quantity of resources available;• science staff indicate relatively low satisfaction with their job, formaths this is moderate;• science staff indicate relatively low levels of perceived morale intheir organisation, for maths staff this is moderate.88
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RESEARCHRecruitment and Retention i
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ContentsPage1 INTRODUCTION ........
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of respondents), closely followed b
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32. Key concerns where resources we
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52. The most common qualification h
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Definitions1.5 A number of terms ha
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• at what point in their career t
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1.16 Key question areas relevant to
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2 METHODOLOGY AND PROFILE OF RESPON
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2.13 Prior to the main survey, a fu
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Ethnic Background2.22 Nine out of t
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Types of Provision2.26 In addition
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Table 2.10: What are the main subje
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• HR Managers views on the reason
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Table 2.15: Total StaffStatus ‘Oc
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2.44 A total of 113 in-depth interv
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3 MOTIVATION TO JOIN THE SECTOR3.1
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Entrants from Teaching3.13 Responde
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Vocational Reasons3.21 This is the
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• “I met one of the managers at
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Perceptions of Entry Routes4.6 A ma
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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
Page 55 and 56: Table 5.7: What could your organisa
Page 57 and 58: • “there is a shortage of maths
Page 59 and 60: 6 WORKING IN THE SECTOR6.1 This sec
Page 62 and 63: 6.9 Respondents working in further
Page 64 and 65: Figure 6.4: Respondents satisfied w
Page 66 and 67: Staff Who Have Considered Leaving6.
Page 68 and 69: Figure 6.7: Respondents who have ap
Page 70 and 71: • levels of satisfaction with the
Page 72 and 73: Figure 7.1: Respondents satisfied w
Page 74 and 75: Staff Attitudes7.8 Respondents were
Page 76 and 77: 7.14 Younger employees aged 18 to 3
Page 78 and 79: Personal Problems7.20 Respondents w
Page 80 and 81: • lack of administrative support.
Page 82 and 83: 8 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT8.1 Succe
Page 84 and 85: 8.8 Issues relating to involvement
Page 86 and 87: • quality. A minority of responde
Page 88 and 89: Table 8.2: Which Teaching Qualifica
Page 90 and 91: 9 GOVERNMENT STRATEGY9.1 Research t
Page 92 and 93: Table 9.3: To what extent do you ag
Page 94 and 95: 10 CONCLUSIONS10.1 Recruitment and
Page 98 and 99: ANNEX AQUESTIONNAIRES
Page 100 and 101: Section A: Background informationAS
Page 102 and 103: 6) Have any teaching posts been fil
Page 104 and 105: CATI NOTE: routing from Q10 has bee
Page 106 and 107: Q16a) And what is the main reason,
Page 108 and 109: 22) In which subjects are teaching
Page 110 and 111: ASK IF YES AT Q25 A) OR C), OTHERS
Page 112 and 113: 33) To what extent do you agree or
Page 114 and 115: DfES Recruitment and Retention Surv
Page 116 and 117: 8. Are your standard weekly working
Page 118 and 119: • 5- less than 10• 10- less tha
Page 120 and 121: • Any other training (please spec
Page 122 and 123: 28. What motivates you personally t
Page 124 and 125: ASK ALL32. How satisfied or dissati
Page 126 and 127: ASK ALL CODES 1-7 AT Q41, OTHERS (N
Page 128 and 129: 49. To which of the following group
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Recruitment and Retention in the Post-16 Learning and Skills Sector

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