Skills and Education
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation identifies gaps in education and professional skills as being one of five main contributing factors towards poverty. Theoretically, professional skills empower individuals to increase their value in the labour market. By developing skills, a worker in turn can improve their productivity, allowing a business to produce more and thus extract more profit as a natural result of improved efficiency. The UK however has struggled to develop its productive capacity since the 2008 financial crisis, and more recently Brexit. Both had significant effects on domestic business investment – the primary driver for developing productivity. The ONS measure for productivity growth GVA (Growth Value Added) has consistently shown Wales to be the slowest growing nation in the United Kingdom, with a significant proportion of this GVA developed in the public rather than private sector (p. 11). Cardiff exists outside of this trend.
The Welsh productivity issue demonstrates a cruel irony. Wales was one of the first nations in the world to industrialise, yet the contemporary Welsh economy is stymied with features more common to a deindustrialised economy. Namely, low activity rates, weak skill competancy, and a lack of opportunities. The mining closures of the 1980s initiated a continuous downward trend for the Welsh economy. Sequential governments determined that the lack of an industrial strategy would encourage growth: market forces would favour certain industries, in turn increasing production which would drive up demand for whatever skills happened to be required to sustain that growth!
There remains a passive implication that Wales' difficulty in adjusting to modern economic realities is down to an inherent Welsh disdain for intellectual pursuits or being "Workshy". This, however, is not a recent problem – Wales has long had to deal with conceptions of being backward, bordering on a socially acceptable form of ‘playful’ bigotry.
To this end we sought to investigate the contemporary education and skills training infrastructure that exists in South Wales and the impacts of Policy Decisions to support people in the various forms of education or skills training.
Please use the menu below to explore our findings of skills and education training in Wales :
Source : Statswales
Welsh Universities are held in high esteem, both for the quality of education they provide to their students, and for the quality of research they produce. This has not, however, led to the development of a local highly skilled work-force. The “Brain Drain” effect suffered by Wales is significant, with Resolution Foundation reporting that twice as many university graduates leave Wales than stay after attending Welsh Universities. ONS data shows that Wales has the highest level of graduates working in non-graduate roles at 20% in 2017. The overqualification rate has dropped since to has since dropped to 14%, however this is not due to productivity growth. 27.7% of the 2017 cohort of Welsh university attendees would go on to jobs in England.
Looking at the representation of recent years' graduates from Welsh Universities alongside graduate employment amongst Welsh domiciles, we can see that the biggest employers (of which the Welsh University system does not produce a high enough number of graduates than employment opportunities in those positions) are in the public sector. namely: Healthcare, Education, and Social services.
"I don’t necessarily think I’ll be more employable following my Masters/PhD but I think I’ll have more credibility and confidence because I have hard research skills, and these will help me progress. Before coming back to university, I feel like I’d hit a bit of a brick wall – I was employable but not at an advanced level... I’m not convinced an undergraduate degree makes you any more employable than following different paths such as apprenticeships.” said Eira Jepson, a research student at Cardiff researching language uptake at Welsh Schools. A graduate of Cardiff, she’d decided to apply to conduct research after working for a PR firm, and the European Commission.
“I graduated during the recession. The skills I learnt during uni weren’t always useful for the work place. I was turned down for job after job because I didn’t have ‘office experience’. The skills I learned as President of the Uni’s Canoe Club ended up being far more applicable to the workplace. After a few years working (not using languages because I didn’t want to be a teacher or translator), I realised I only really had soft skills. That’s why I came back to do a PhD.”
Wales had the lowest retention rate of graduates amongst nations of the UK at 64.9%, a 5% drop from the retention rate observed in 2012. “Wales has been a net exporter of jobs for some time.” Says Professor of social sciences Alan Felstead. “There is a high level of competition for graduate-level positions. Wales is no exception.” Most graduate places in Wales are based in the public sector; however, after a consolidated period of austerity the competition for these places is tough. In 2010, 60,000 Cardiffians were employed by the public sector; this would drop as low as 45,800 in 2015 and today sits at 55,600. Throughout this entire period the proportion of public sector employment remained as 30% of overall employment in Cardiff, even in 2015, where the sector shrunk by 25%.
Graduates who are looking to qualify for positions outside the public sector, however, find it difficult to stay in Wales. “After graduating, I started working [a large multinational] - they have offices based in quite a few countries! The Welsh managerial structure was relatively flat, in direct contrast to the office based in London.” says Natasha Wynne, alumna of Cardiff University. “It became increasingly clear the longer I work here that the Wales office existed as a smaller franchise that would implement Wales-specific tweaks for the business with little input. Like most, I ended up transferring to London,” though this would be ultimately a polarising choice. “I really wanted to stay, my family all live in Gloucester! Not to mention everything is so much more expensive... We’re looking to move out of London now!”
Retention of qualified graduates is an issue but recruiting to students is a challenge. The Higher Education (Wales) act was passed in 2015, and due to be implemented in 2017. The bill sought to improve support for students (both financially, and academically) while increasing access to education. However, Wales was the only country of the home nations to see the number of students take places at its universities fall in 2018 . While Cardiff University's recruitment figures did not drop, there remain concerns about the STEM research capacity of the institution, an area in which future jobs are anticipated to emerge. Cardiff University is currently under intense financial pressure, with a £20 million budget deficit and job losses amongst academic staff almost certain. Cardiff currently occupies 83rd place in the student satisfaction rankings, despite falls in “Teaching” and “Research” rankings between 2018 and 2019.
Due to historic low business investment, the biggest employers in Wales look to continue to be typically based in the public sector, and this is visible in the University graduates gaining jobs in relevant fields. As such the Welsh economy is placed in a position where in order to fill positions effectively, non-local candidates will need to be recruited, despite attempts to attract employers, even if it means occasionally debasing Welsh workers.
Eira Jepson thinks there is potential for the system to improve. “Lots of work has been done to identify what skills are needed for the future of Wales, but little is done to involve employers in developing these. Employers/businesses in Wales are too used to getting things for free due to over-investment from the Welsh Government and rarely invest in the workforce themselves. They expect skills to be developed elsewhere and to be able to employ the finished product.”
The Future of Welsh Education?
Source :Careerswales
Primary and secondary education provide a pivotal role in educational development. By investing early in foundational learning skills, schools can provide children with the ability to develop independently. However, educational attainment in Wales has been historically amongst the lowest amongst the UK’s home nations. A recent briefing from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that while the academic attainment gap in Wales is closing, this is due to improved academic attainment by students receiving free meals. These children however are still significantly less likely to achieve 5 or more ‘good’ (C grade or above) GCSEs. 2016/17 saw 54.6% of students in Wales attain ‘good’ GCSEs compared to 61.2% in Scotland and 70.3% in Northern Ireland. England has the lowest score (this is however due to a change in methodology). This bottleneck of academic attainment disincentivizes employers looking to invest in Wales, as skills requirements can't or won’t be met by the domestic population.
“There just isn’t enough time... I mean generally. I work in the evenings, I work on the weekends, I work on the holidays!” Eleanor Jones, a Swansea-based languages teacher. “I’ve gone beyond the point of being exhausted all the time. I just don’t see how it’s sustainable!”
Compulsory education is at a crisis point currently in Wales, with NEU reporting that only 11% of people currently working in the profession see themselves there in 5 years' time. Primary drivers of professional dissatisfaction in the profession are pay and workload-related. NASUWT Cymru reports that 76% of respondents consider workload as their primary concern at work (after pay). Complaints about workload in teaching have been historically consistent. Recent reporting indicates an intensification of these issues – headteachers turning to measures as extreme as cleaning toilets to facilitate hiring out school facilities to private organisations, reducing the school week, or reductions in staff.
The Welsh Labour government has responded citing budget shortages directly related to austerity cuts. Vaughan Gething AM for Penarth told the Penarth Times “The Welsh Government has chosen to prioritise health spending in our budget. That means that the £1.2 billion cut in our budget has affected local government and schools.” However, the Welsh Government is treading a fine line – budget cuts have led to large classroom sizes, despite the kindergarten legal limit of thirty students per class. Last year the number of unlawfully large classes dropped from 27 cases across 23 schools, to 11 over 11, however, the average number of students per class in Wales has risen over the last five years to 25.6 from 25.1. This can only compound recent troubles in teacher recruitment reported by the sector.
Despite the bleak outlook on domestic education spending, locals aren’t deterred from studying in Wales. “I want to stay in Cardiff to study!” Says Mercy Taylor, a prospective actor. “I suppose I am lucky Royal Welsh [College of performing arts] is local. If I didn’t get an offer I still would have gone [to university] but, I don’t know if I would have if it was harder?” Mercy Taylor had the relative fortune of experience in her field, having had an active amateur acting career. “For others it may not have been easy. I had a bunch of ‘work’ on the internet from things I’d done for a laugh.” For Welsh students there can be help in the form of the SEREN network – a collection of regional hubs that provide extra support and advice for promising Welsh Students. However, government research shows that between the period of 2008 and 2013 over half of high-achieving Welsh students would favour English over Welsh Universities. Mercy isn’t one of them, though. “I don’t want to go to London, it’s bloody expensive.”
Most of Cardiff’s young people graduating from compulsory education typically stay in education, with the majority taking the 6-Form / College to A-level. By the end of 2017 27% of the Welsh working adults were qualified to a degree level (NVQ 5). 80% of Working adults in Wales were qualified to NVQ level 2 (4-5 A-C GCSEs achieved), with less than 9% having “no qualifications”. It should be noted that achieving “less than 5 A-C GCSE/A-levels” is the highest predictor of 16-19 non-economically active adults.
With austerity cuts having wide implications across public spending, the future of compulsory education looks set to continue a negative trajectory. There is a further darker dimension to the issue, with students having to take more exams than ever. There have been reports of severe mental illnesses amongst students. This may soon change however, with the introduction of the new ”transformational” curriculum for Wales. This comes as a result of the Successful Futures report commissioned by Welsh Government. Despite criticism from parents and teachers regarding excessive assessment, the new programme proposes expectations on learners will broadly be set to ages 5, 8, 11, 14 and 16.
The Future of Welsh Education?
Source : Statswales
Cardiff Area FE composition
The Additional learning, non-traditional qualifications and vocational sectors of education are
oft overlooked in the greater context of educational performance. The majority of those in FE
education are engaged in “Preparation for Life and Work” courses: these are typically remedial
courses designed to teach basic life skills. There is a steady stream of attendees from all
age-groups to these courses, but the average age is skewed towards the higher end.
For the most part, FE attendees in Wales are studying subjects in which demand is high:
Health services, Business, and IT. Education at the FE level is relatively unpopular considering
the professional demand.
However, the FE sector is still somewhat in transition, having published a “code of good
governance” for Colleges in Wales in
2016, when a distinct move was made towards further autonomy for FE’s in Wales. The
advantages of such a move will allow for more dynamic governance in the years ahead: FE’s
could adjust to suit local needs on their own prerogative. However, such independence comes
with a significant downside, as a lack of centralised authority could lead to difficulty should
sweeping changes hit the sector in the coming years. It would also undermine the ability for
Wales to adjust its skill development programme to complement a potential industrial strategy,
unless provision to teach those skills happened to exist beforehand.
Sorce : Statswales
“I remember going to the classes but, if I'm honest. I don’t remember much else!” says John Sullivan, from Tonypandy. John previously worked for a while at the Tower Colliery. After final closure over ten years ago, John attempted to redevelop his skills. “The problem wasn’t my bloody CV. It was what was ON my CV! I’ve worked every day of my life, but I’m an old man, you want me to do computers now?! It’s bloody daft!”
John’s story is not an uncommon one. Digital literacy has been a Welsh Priority since the government commissions the 2010 Digital inclusion strategy was devised (this would later become known as Digital Communities Wales). In a relatively short amount of time significant gains have been made in digital literacy, but only at the lowest level of understanding. Survey respondents to a 2018 review of digital skills showed that in a given week, 94% had “managed information” (using search engines, downloading pictures) compared to 61% who had used “problem solving” (such as watching self-help videos, or using customer support). This number falls to 38% when considering “Creating” which includes form filling (and thus applying for work).
While it is encouraging that engagement overall is increasing, especially amongst the older userbase, the practical implementation of these skills in a professional context is still at a very low level. In 2014 the OECD had identified that main impeding factor to education reform in Wales was a lack of leadership development within Welsh education. Leadership skills had been identified by business interests as lacking with the Open University reporting that 64% of organisations struggled to recruit for positions. These positions would often be given to someone deemed “underqualified” or would simply be left open. The Welsh Government responded by starting the National Academy for Educational Leadership in 2018.
Predicting where to place emphasis in the wider education system is easier said than done. David Hagendyk, director of the Welsh Learning and Work institute said “Skills and lifelong learning provision will become even more critical than before, even more so for older members of society. The jobs we’re losing to automation will mostly with the low skilled. The biggest employers are supermarkets – who mostly employ low skilled women working part time.”
“There is an issue getting investors to buy-in. Large private sector employers see the Welsh training provision as double spend, and SME’s cannot afford to make the expensive initial investment to devise the training to upskill their own employees.”
In response to this the Welsh government has placed strategic emphasis on co-operation between FE and HE institutions in the hope to boost cross referrals, under the watch of a new single authority with the remit of post-compulsory education - The Commission of “Research and Innovation Wales”.
The Future of Welsh Education?
Source : Statswales
Cardiff represents a hub of educational activity for Wales, and as such is emblematic for the Welsh Government’s strategy for education and skills development. Despite the noble intentions of the Higher Education act, Wales problems with skills are long-standing.
As many countries brace themselves for the impending automation boom, retraining and skills development will become an even bigger priority. This may be a red herring as the OECD “Future of Work” report predicts more jobs created than destroyed, however these will require intricate technical abilities, and a reflexive education system to accommodate teaching these new skills. The UK generally has an issue with skills training, with the majority “underqualified”. A recent ONS report has shown that 14% of Welsh employees are "overqualified" for their roles (compared to the UKs national average 16%).
Wales' difficulty in adjusting to a post coal-centric economy is still ongoing. According to a 2008 study - after a twenty-year period (1981-2004) of the 27,200 coal jobs lost (held by men only) only 5,200 non-coal jobs replaced them. A further study by Sheffield Hallum University found that between 2008 and 2012 the job replacement rate contained within the “South Wales Coalfield” region was a startlingly low 41%.
The South Wales valleys region (of which is part of the coalfield) is determined by the EU to have the lowest GDP of any member state region. As such, manufacturing jobs are now a precious commodity in Wales as the ongoing financial precarity surrounding Tata’s Welsh operations, as the consistent call for accommodations from of local and national governments demonstrate. The propensity of work in South Wales to be manual in nature also increases the likelihood for the economically inactive to claim health related benefits. Physical injuries are an unwelcome but anticipated side effect of manual labour - sometimes accommodations can be made within a given workplace, however when jobs and entire industries disappear, these physical injuries are difficult to accommodate back into the labour force. As such this leads to a “doubled” welfare cost as those claiming physical incapacity benefits, will often also often claiming out of work benefits. The sad reality is most transfers out of these benefits' programmes are not because claimants find work, but because they had transferred to retirement benefits.
While a large number of Welsh adults are attending various educational establishments, the highest attended are QCF, and OCN credit related courses. These will typically be paid by an employer: typically only 25% of FE attendees pay their own fees for these course types. The benefits of professional development aside, this will exacerbate Wales’ skills deficit. Despite several attempts to fundementally reform education in Wales, the criticism has remained consistent. Prof. Hazelkorn’s “Towards 2030” report mentions as key challenges:
“The need to create greater coherence across the educational system, and particularly the post-compulsory sector inclusive of 6th form, further education, universities, work-based learning and adult and community education The need to better align the post-compulsory system with the future social, cultural and economic needs of Wales, including closer engagement with key stakeholders.”
Should the education system of Wales not engage with its future economy the consequences will be dire. One doesn’t need an active imagination to envision this, merely picture the problems of the 1980s become compounded by a new generation.