A new AoC study shows that the average college provides training for more than 1000 unemployed people a year.
As unemployment climbs to 2.6 million, including more than one million young people, colleges are working harder than ever to give people the skills they need to get a job, according to a report published by the Association of Colleges.
‘Back to Work: Colleges Supporting Sustainable Jobs’ was launched at the House of Commons on Tuesday 24th January and outlines the innovative programmes colleges are developing, often alongside Jobcentre Plus (JCP), and details some of the barriers jobseekers face in getting the training they need.
AoC surveyed 88 member colleges to assess how they are helping unemployed people gain the skills essential to finding work. Colleges have been providing training which results in sustainable employment for decades and can respond swiftly to changes in the employment market. The survey found:
95% of colleges offer provision for the unemployed
64% of colleges have changed their provision to better meet the needs of jobseekers; this has been aided by the Government’s relaxation of a number of rules and regulations
The average college provides training for 1,003 unemployed people a year – 12% of the survey respondents were helping more than 2,000 people annually
This equates to 220,000 unemployed people gaining work-related education and skills at colleges across England
The launch event was hosted by Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd, who co-chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning and sits on the Work and Pensions Select Committee. He said: “This report offers valuable insight into the sterling work that colleges, including Sussex Downs College in my constituency, are doing to help people find jobs.
“It is important in these particularly challenging times, that many colleges report a strong relationship with Jobcentre Plus and are running courses that adapt and respond well to local employers. However, the report also identifies areas where the system can be streamlined and improved to remove barriers to training in order to ensure people are given good access to the skills they need to find employment.”
AoC Chief Executive Martin Doel said: “Colleges are integral to the local communities they serve and are well-placed to provide responsive programmes to help people into employment. Our members are showing real flexibility and initiative in this area and their links with employers and JCP mean that those candidates they put forward for jobs are ready for work. Not only are they providing people with the skills they need, but they are helping increase their confidence with personal advice and tailored support.”
The report includes case studies of the work colleges do and stories from the unemployed people they have helped to find jobs. It also gives examples of – and offers some solutions to – the barriers both colleges and individuals face in getting people into employment.
These include:
- Perhaps unsurprisingly, the key barrier is the lack of job opportunities
- Tracking student progression due to data protection rules; JCP can access progression data but, to date, colleges are unable to do so.
- Skills Funding Agency restrictions on funding can hinder provision – for example, there is very little funding available to support unemployed people below level 1.
- Limited knowledge among some JCP staff about college provision.
- JCP rules which can restrict the offer and its fit to the claimant – for example, job centres report vacancies for heavy goods vehicle drivers but the college can’t get funding to provide the HGV training needed to get a licence.
Martin Doel said: “Colleges have welcomed the greater freedoms provided by Government relating to how they can use their adult skills budgets and in the way that they can teach units, rather than whole qualifications, to meet specific skills gaps.
“But more work needs to be done; many of these barriers are not insurmountable and can be addressed if colleges and job centres work together to share information, develop personal solutions and work with employers in order to more efficiently tackle the scourge of unemployment. All of the colleges featured in this report have a good relationship with JCP, but can see ways in which it can be improved and offer possible solutions.
