ACL Data Report published by HOLEX and LSIS

23rd January 2012

HOLEX and LSIS have now published the data report on the Adult and Community Learning workforce:

thttp://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/media/Qualifications%20and%20Skills/ACL_FINAL_Jan2012.pdf)

Main findings from the survey:

Within the ACL sector, most organisations are Local Authority Adult and Community Learning providers with primarily direct delivery of learning programmes (71 per cent), followed by Local Authority Adult and Community Learning providers primarily securing provision via sub-contracting / partnership arrangements (24 per cent).

Independent Adult and Community Learning providers - primarily voluntary and community organisations from the third sector - accounted for five per cent of the total sample. 

Just over 50 per cent of the providers are of medium size, operating with a budget of between £1 million and £4 million, and most drew on the SFA Adult Safeguarded Learning Budget. 

In total, 13,824 staff members are employed by providers participating in the survey. The majority work part-time and occupy a professional role (e.g. teachers, tutors, trainers, assessors and examiners) and comprise 67 per cent of the total workforce. Ten per cent of Executive Summary  Page 5 staff are administrators / clerical staff, and nine per cent take support roles (including teaching assistants). Managerial roles account for eight per cent of the ACL workforce. 

Teaching staff figures are included in 'professional' role totals: looking at teaching staff on their own (minus non-teaching professionals), 68 per cent of the workforce delivered teaching. 93 per cent of the teaching staff work on a part-time basis, and most are sessionally paid. •

Most teaching staff in ACL (66 per cent) were employed before September 2007. Of these, 81 per cent either hold or are working towards a relevant qualification, while 77 per cent of those employed after September 2007 hold or are enrolled on a teaching qualification. Further to this, an assessor qualification is held by eight per cent of all teaching staff. 

22 per cent of ACL teaching staff hold a level 6 qualification and are therefore graduates. 17 per cent hold a postgraduate qualification (level 7) and a further six per cent hold a doctorate (level 8).  

The most taught subject is art / crafts and creative (16 per cent of all ACL teachers work in this area), followed by foreign languages (11 per cent), and ICT (nine per cent). Some 13 per cent of ACL teachers work on literacy and numeracy programmes and a further eight per cent are engaged in ESOL provision. The World Class Skills target for 2020 sets out 95 per cent of the UK population achieving Literacy Level 1 and Numeracy Entry Level 3 by 2020, and this report revealed that just five per cent of all teaching staff are working in numeracy, accounting for 466 teachers. This suggests a significant boost in numbers of trained teachers delivering these subjects is needed in order to meet targets. As it stands, the ACL sector has more creative arts and foreign languages provision than basic literacy and numeracy skills tutors.  

The demographic findings show the workforce is predominantly female, within the age group 45 years and above, and mostly of white ethnicity. Data on disabilities and sexual orientation was difficult to analyse due to a large proportion of 'unknown' data. A high proportion of respondents preferred not to answer these questions.  Conclusions and Recommendations.

The 2010/11 Adult and Community Learning (ACL) Workforce Survey yielded rich and robust data, and provides an authoritative baseline for future research to track year on year trends. The data can, with confidence, be used to inform policy decisions, and by the providers themselves to assess their organisation and the landscape they operate within.  

In the main, the findings of this study are representative of the ACL sector, especially from providers that are Local Authority ACL providers with primarily direct delivery of learning programmes and those that secure provision via sub-contracting / partnership arrangements. There are fewer than anticipated responses from the Independent / third sector providers, suggesting a deeper level of engagement is needed through specialist networks to boost participation. 

In total, the sample reported on around 14,000 staff working in adult and community learning. As 44 per cent of the total sample database responded, it can be approximated that 25-30,000 staff are working across ACL in England.  

Employment is likely to be on a part-time basis, although in independent providers full-time employment is as likely as part-time employment. Research1 has suggested that part-time roles will increase over this decade, so it is key to track employment basis trends for next year, especially in light of predicted public sector redundancies. In terms of demographics, staff in ACL tend to be female and aged 45+, of white ethnicity. Data on disability sexual orientation is very limited, therefore reducing the scope of any further analysis.  

Overall, of over nine thousand teaching and training staff identified in this survey, 7,108 - nearly 80 per cent - hold or are working towards a teaching or training qualification, which suggests a strong sectoral commitment to professional skills and qualification. • ACL makes a strong contribution to basic skills and ESOL, and also has staff active in family learning and in community development. Arts and crafts and foreign languages dominate the list of general subjects taught, but independent providers slightly differ, offering more in the way of subjects like ICT and engineering. 

As this is the first year of the ACL survey in aggregate format, there is no comparable data, but successive surveys will reveal year on year trends and yield a greater wealth of information for policy-makers and employers alike. This year's response of 44 per cent of the total sample is very promising, showing good penetration with both types of local authority providers. However, data from the following areas need improving in future years: Independent and third sector, certain regions of England, data on disability and sexual orientation 

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