Using an index framework, we can monitor movements in a series of indicators tracking trends in the West Midlands' skills performance, benchmarked against performance in other English regions and England as a whole.
We are currently working on a new report, updating trends in the skills performance indicators, which will include an update on the skills performance index. This will be published in summer 2010. There will be some small changes in the framework and we'll update this page with details closer to the report release date.
Our summary ‘skills index’ indicates that the gap in performance with England has narrowed from 6 percentage points in 2003 to 1 percentage point in 2007, a position which has been maintained in 2008.
Chart: West Midlands Overall Skills Performance Index (share)
Skills performance indicators: review of performance 2008
Published 30th June 2009 (indicators are updated to 2008)
Skills performance indicators: full report (pdf, 1.34mb)
Skills performance indicators: dataset (xls, 1.34mb)
Skills performance indicators: charts (pdf, 187kb)
Investment in higher level skills vital for recovery
Investment in higher level skills is vital to kick start the region's recovery from recession, but the proportion of the workforce qualified to degree level or above is well below the national average, particularly in the private sector.
The Regional Skills Performance Indicators report (pdf, 1.34mb) shows that overall investment in skills and training is holding up despite the recession.
In the first quarter of 2009, three quarters of manufacturing firms and 80% of service sector firms were planning to either increase or maintain levels of spending on training despite the recession – in both cases the second highest proportion in England. This largely reflects a healthy uptake of initiatives such as Train to Gain, Apprenticeships, the Skills Pledge and the Public Sector Skills Challenge.
At the same time, more young people in the region are gaining good qualifications at school and going on to college, university or work based training.
In 2008, 46% of 15 year olds achieved 5 or more GCSEs at A*–C including Maths and English – up from 43% in 2007 and only 2 percentage points behind the national average. The proportion of 16–17 year olds going on to full time education or work based learning has increased and now maches the national average.
But the region still falls short in terms of investment in higher level skills (normally degree level or above). Such skills are becoming increasingly important as employers move into higher value added products, services and markets and kickstart the region's recovery from recession. Specifically:
- The region continues to perform poorly in terms of the recruitment and development of highly skilled workers. In 2008 only 23% of people working for private sector firms had higher level skills and qualifications. This is marginally down from 2007 (24%) and is in stark contrast to the South East (30%) and London (45%).
- While the number of employees acquiring higher level skills through a vocational route is increasing, it is at a slower rate than in many other regions. For example, growth in the take up of foundation degrees of 18% between 2006/07 and 2007/08 in the West Midlands compares with 30% in the East Midlands and 31% in Yorkshire & the Humber.
- The proportion of graduates opting to stay in the region to live and work after completing their studies has fallen slightly – from 65% in 2005/06 to 64% in 2006/07.
How the skills performance indicator framework was developed
Building on ideas developed for the East Midlands Development Agency by Anne Green, Institute for Employment Research at Warwick University, we developed a skills performance indicator framework for the West Midlands. The framework is built around three tiers of indicators:
Details on the methodology behind the skills index is covered in the full report (pdf, 1.34mb).