Education, Children and Young People Committee
Scottish Funding Council Follow up information from December 2021 Committee meeting
Scottish Funding Council Follow up information from Skills Alignment with business needs inquiry
Scottish Funding Council
Stephen Kerr MSP
Committee Convener
Education, Children & Young People Committee
Dear Mr Kerr
Skills - Alignment with Business Needs
Thank you for inviting the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to contribute to the Committee’s Inquiry into skills and alignment with business needs. We were pleased to have the opportunity to give evidence at your meeting on 15 December and would like to follow up with some additional information as outlined during that session.
1. Monitoring of YPG, NTTF and Upskilling Funds
As mentioned during the session, formal reporting on YPG and NTTF will not be available until the end of the academic year. However, at this stage we can provide the following update on the performance of these programmes.
1.1 National Transition Training Fund (NTTF)
Established in late 2020, the NTTF was designed to support individuals aged 25+ who had lost their jobs or who were at risk of redundancy as a result of COVID-19 to retrain or upskill by offering short, sharp training opportunities for people to learn in-demand skills. It provided adults with tailored support to identify relevant training and employment opportunities, followed by funded training to match each individual’s needs. The fund supported a range of smaller initiatives in areas of the economy where there was the greatest need for additional skilled staff. In AY2021-22 the eligibility criteria was broadened to include those in work with an identified, strategic skills gap specifically targeting skills gaps around the transition towards Net Zero.
In AY 2020-21 the Scottish Funding Council managed the streams of NTTF funding in Annex A- Table 1
College activity
The college sector collaborated to develop a proposal for the use of NTTF funding in colleges using a tailored and regionally relevant approach called ‘Skillsboost’. In essence this was aimed at providing adults who had identified barriers to employment such as IT skills, interview skills, entry level qualifications with a tailored approach to helping them back into jobs where there were emerging skills gaps in the local economy. These courses were developed in close partnership with local industry and business to support regional economic needs, some offering guaranteed interviews.
Annex A contains a case study of successful NTTF delivery at West Lothian College.
Delivery and Performance in 2020-2021
· Approximately 240 courses were available to learners in the NTTF demographic supporting a total of 1,942 students.
· 52.6% of enrolments were from the four most deprived SIMD deciles with 17.2% from the most deprived decile.
· 64.8% of enrolments were recorded as female.
· 91.3% of students on NTTF courses identified their ethnicity as white.
· 19.5% of students identified as having a disability
· Of the 16 subject areas taught, courses in Care, Computing and ICT and Business, Management and administration were the most popular, accounting for 54.2% of all enrolments
University Activity
In 2020-21 SFC allocated £1.5 million to the university sector to provide up to 1,000 places for delivery of micro credential training focused on areas of the Scottish economy with most potential for growth. Universities
Delivery and Performance in 2020-2021
Seventeen universities were allocated NTTF funding in AY2020-2021. Approximately 120 micro-credential courses were offered by universities in this academic year and programmes were designed to support career transitions and respond to local and national economic recovery.
In line with government commitments to achieving carbon net zero, institutions responded by developing and delivering courses with a sustainability focus. These included Decommissioning of offshore installations; Renewable energy systems; Sustainability for Construction Professionals; and Climate Change and Carbon Literacy.
NTTF provision in universities also had a noticeable focus on business and change management, in response to disruption and technological trends. Provision included courses focused on change management within organisations with courses related to Understanding Transformational Change in a Digital World, and Contemporary Approaches to Organisational Change.
Sectoral Projects
In addition to college and university delivery, SFC funded several sectoral projects in March 2021 with delivery scheduled to run until the end of the academic year. See Annex A – Table 2.
Funding was allocated to the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland (NMIS), Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC), Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) and Forth Valley College to undertake targeted sectoral work in specialist fields. The ongoing Covid restrictions on in-person learning presented significant challenges to delivery in some of the sectoral projects and they adapted their delivery methodology for AY2021-22. However, despite these challenges, NMIS Manufacturing Skills Academy and CSIC performed well against their targets reporting healthy levels of demand from both employers and students. A more detailed report will be available once final data is available.
NTTF Fund delivery in 2021-2022
In AY 2021/22 the budget for NTTF increased to £10.7 million. Colleges were funded to provide up to 2,680 opportunities for short, targeted training in subject areas where there is the highest demand, with an additional focus on digital skills and Net Zero skills.
Universities will provide c.2500-3000 opportunities for adult learners to acquire skills which are in demand at a university level with a similar approach to last year, targeting areas of high demand, high growth and in line with national skills planning priorities.
Working with other partners, such as CSIC, NMIS, Scottish University Life Science Association, College Development Network and ESP, SFC is also supporting around 4,000 opportunities in access to adult social care, progression for adult social care workers, green construction, engineering and manufacturing skills as well as life science lab skills.
Initial assurance discussions with the sectors in this academic year have indicated that progress is being made at this early stage, with some challenges being flagged. The first reporting period in February 2022 will provide additional detail of delivery.
1.2 Young Person’s Guarantee (YPG)
The YPG aims to ensure that every young person has access to a job, education, training or development programme. SFC secured £10m from the fund in 2020-21 to work with colleges and universities to develop proposals to meet the aims of the fund. This collaboration resulted in a series of interventions, linked to key priority sectors, which included courses to increase the employability skills of those furthest from the job market; higher level skills interventions with fast track HNCs to help learners move into new areas of employment more quickly; and micro credential courses to support a greater number of recent graduates or those in insecure employment, on furlough or who were unemployed.
Annex A contains a case study of successful YPG delivery at Edinburgh College.
Delivery and Performance in 2020-2021
• Approximately 240 courses were available to learners in the YPG demographic supporting in the region of 2,438 students.
· 53.6% of enrolments were from the 4 most deprived SIMD deciles with 18.2% from the most deprived decile.
· 51.4% of enrolments were recorded as female
· 93.4% of students on YPG courses identified their ethnicity as white.
· 26.8% of students identified as having a disability
· Of the 18 subject areas taught, courses in Special programmes, Computing and ICT and Business, Management and administration were the most popular, accounting for 48.1% of all enrolments
Young Person’s Guarantee delivery in 2021-2022
In AY 2021-22 £10million was allocated to colleges, with an additional £3.5 million allocated for a University Graduate Internship Programme targeted at recent graduates who are likely to be disadvantaged in the labour market and an additional £135k for HE-level digital internships.
Initial assurance conversations with the sectors in this academic year have indicated that good progress is being made at this early stage, with some Covid-related challenges being flagged. Further detail is anticipated in February 2022.
1.3 University Upskilling Fund
SFC’s Upskilling Fund for Universities provides funding for upskilling and reskilling opportunities for employers and employees. The Fund is now in its third year and with a budget of £6.5 million in academic year (AY) 2020-21, and £6.9m in AY 2021-22 it enables universities to be more responsive to both local and national challenges. All 19 Universities receive an allocation.
The funds support the development of qualifications at a minimum of SCCF 7 and above with upskilling courses typically shorter in duration than a full academic year, and full-time or part-time, to suit varying learner circumstances
Delivery and Performance in 2020-2021
• Approximately 6,700 learners were supported across a range of programmes.
• The majority of courses offered to learners were at SCQF level 11 (equivalent to Postgraduate Master’s).
• A number of institutions delivered courses in partnership with, or accredited by, industry or employer organisations.
• Courses focused on Health; Climate and Sustainability; Programme / project management; Cyber, Computing, Data Analysis; and Leadership and Digital Transformation.
Delivery and Performance in 2021-2022
In academic year 2021-22 SFC asked Universities to develop and prioritise provision to take account of the post-pandemic ‘new normal’, sectors that have been disproportionately impacted by Covid-19, and a focus on courses supporting upskilling and reskilling to support a just transition to Net Zero and the impact of EU Exit. The first reporting period for AY2021-22 is the end of January 2022. We will provide a further update for the committee once we have analysed the reports.
2. Students with Additional Needs
SFC collects a wide range of data on college students’ characteristics to better understand the make-up of the student cohort and support future policy direction.
In 2019-20, 15.0% of Scottish-domiciled entrants to full-time first-degree courses at university had a declared disability. In the college sector, 18.4% of enrolments to full-time HE level courses were by students with a declared disability, and 26.6% of enrolments to full-time FE level courses were from students declaring a disability.
This data is further broken down according to the following disabilities:
• Specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD
• Social / communication impairments such as Asperger’s syndrome / other autistic spectrum
• Long standing illnesses or health conditions such as cancer, HIV, diabetes, chronic heart disease, or epilepsy
• Mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia or anxiety disorder
• Physical impairment or mobility issues such as difficulty using arms or using a wheelchair or crutches
• Deaf or hearing impairment
• Blind or a serious visual impairment
• Specific learning disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome
The annual Report on Widening Access reports on the disability type declared by students in both sectors. The extract in Annex A – Table 3 is taken from the latest report which covers academic year 2019-20:
As reported at the session on 15 December, there are some extremely good case studies that involve colleges that provide pathways for particularly challenged groups in society. We referred specifically to the work of West Lothian College in supporting neurodiverse communities. Further information on that project is provided in Annex B.
3. Reaching Students Furthest from the Labour Market / Education
Through our Tackling Child Poverty Fund, we have supported seven colleges to reach people furthest from the labour market / education. The fund totals £400,000 and in Annex C we have provided some examples of college activity.
4. Graduate Apprenticeships
We are currently working on the funding allocations for academic year 2022-23 and will be publishing indicative allocations in late March. We will share information with the Committee on the number of Graduate Apprenticeships that will be supported at that point.
5. Pathfinders
Following Ministers’ approval of our recommendation for a refreshed approach to skills planning, we are establishing two regional pathfinders, one in the North East of Scotland and one in the South of Scotland, with the following objectives:
· To assess how well colleges and universities are planning for current and future skills needs in two regional areas, and the factors that drive provision planning and partnership working.
· To determine the degree of alignment or mismatch between current provision and the pipeline of talent across colleges, universities and SDS funded private providers and the future skills needs of employers and the regional economy, and agree how this will be addressed by institutions and national agencies.
· To improve learning pathways for people furthest from the labour market and the learner journey from the senior phase of school.
· To develop expectations and guidance for colleges and universities on better provision planning for skills alignment; to adjust SFC’s funding and accountability mechanisms.
We will work closely with our partners in Skills Development Scotland alongside stakeholders in the regions, including tertiary institutions, the enterprise agencies and the business community.
Work is at an early stage following initial consultation with partners in the regions which has seen a positive response to our proposals. We will now move to develop more detailed workplans and will be happy to provide further updates as these pathfinders progress.
I hope the additional information provided in this letter is helpful to your inquiry and we look forward to engaging with you on this and other work as it arises.
Yours sincerely
Karen Watt
Chief Executive