How can HEY boost the number of residents choosing technical education routes?
Skills policy is focused on upskilling both new entrants and existing members of the workforce, and technical education and apprenticeships are seen as a key way in which to achieve this. HEY Local Enterprise Partnership commissioned us to identify opportunities for the region to boost the uptake of technical education within the region.
Our approach
Working with the LEP, we identified the organisations who are key to the region achieving its technical education goals and consulted with them. We reviewed national and local data to identify strengths and weaknesses in local provision. We ran a focus group with young people to hear about their awareness of technical study routes. And we drew on our knowledge of how other regions are promoting technical education.
We analysed the views of over 300 employers, training providers and public agencies.
Our report to the LEP focused on five areas where there was scope for HEY to increase the uptake of technical education and gave recommendations on how to achieve this. We suggested methods for boosting the number of females taking up technical education routes. We proposed ways for using public sector and larger employers to make a market for higher level technical education provision in HEY. We recommended how the LEP and others could support training providers to develop their capacity to deliver a step change in technical education provision. Our report gives the HEY LEP Skills team a clear set of actions to pursue.
Our research took place at the same time as the region refreshed its skills strategy. We worked with the LEP management team and other local agencies including both local authorities and the Chamber of Commerce to ensure our recommendations aligned with their thinking and plans.