Research library

This online library provides a comprehensive repository of the different and effective approaches to employer engagement and careers education. Developed over the last decade it brings together the latest thinking with selected research published over the past 40 years for the benefit of researchers, academics and policy makers.

Free to access and searchable by keyword, it features summaries of a wide range of studies with abstracts and links to the full reports. With research articles and reports from leading figures and education bodies, you can examine issues such as employer-led learning, youth employment, career related learning in primary schools, and social mobility, as well as information on gender, ethnicity, and specific subject study such as STEM.

The main library is complemented by an extensive online video collection and a physical library. The video collection comprises over 150 videos of researchers discussing their work and its implications for policy and practice, together with conference presentations and seminars.

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Careers guidance and access for education and training providers: Statutory guidance for governing bodies, school leaders and school staff

October 22, 2018

By the Department for Education (Published October 2018) The updated statutory guidance for governing bodies, school leaders and school staff expands on the aims set out in the Government’s Careers Strategy (2017) to ensure that all young people in secondary receive stable, structured and well-delivered career learning. The statutory guidance has been restructured around the […]

Creating a workforce for a prosperous and productive future: Adding an extra £108 billion to our economy

October 22, 2018

By the Commission on Sustainable Learning for Life, Work and a Changing Economy (published September 2018) This new report from the Commission on Sustainable Learning for Life, Work and a Changing Economy evaluates the potential economic value of having a UK workforce that has benefitted from a well-designed technical and vocational education. After an analysis […]

Not for them: Why aren’t teenagers applying for apprenticeships?

October 22, 2018

By GKP (published September 2018) This report from Gerard Kelly & Partners surveyed 1,000 teenagers between the ages of 16-18 to understand why apprenticeships remain unpopular amongst young people. Despite the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017 and a renewed focus from government ministers, apprenticeship numbers fell by 59% in the year to August 2017 […]

Perceptions of Vocational and Technical Qualifications

October 22, 2018

By Ofqual (published July 2017) This 2017 Ofqual report investigates the perceptions of employers, training providers and learners towards Functional Skill Qualifications (FSQs), End-Point Assessments (EPAs) and a wide range of other Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs). Three separate surveys with 2070 employers, 532 training providers and 604 learners were conducted. Perceptions of FSQs and […]

Constructing the Future: How the skills needed for success in the workplace are changing

October 22, 2018

By Work Foundation and City & Guilds Group (published September 2018) In this new report by the Work Foundation and City & Guilds the authors examine how new technologies in the UK construction industry are shaping skill-demands and training. The UK construction industry is reported to be struggling to attract young people and fill positions […]

Insights into skill shortages and skill mismatch: Learning from Cedefop’s European skills and jobs survey

September 26, 2018

Cedefop Using Cedefop’s 2014 European skills and jobs (ESJ) survey, which covers around 49,000 EU employees, this report investigates the current state of skills shortages and mismatches within the European jobs market. The survey collected information on the match of individual’s skills with those they needed by their jobs at the time they were hired. […]

Omnibus survey of pupils and their parents/carers. Research report wave 4.

September 26, 2018

Department for Education In this new report from the Department for Education (DfE), the authors present the findings from the fourth wave of the omnibus survey of pupils and their parents/carers in England. Data was gathered from school pupils aged 11-17 (years 7-13), attending a state funded secondary school across England, and their parents or […]

Do Apprenticeships Pay? Evidence for England

September 26, 2018

CVER Researchers from the Centre for Vocational Education Research (CVER) have investigated whether doing an apprenticeship is economically beneficial for young people in the short term. The research, composed of a cohort of 565,000 students who left compulsory education in 2002-2003, analyses the earning between they were around 22/23 years to when they were 27/28 […]

Skills for a global Future

September 26, 2018

NCVER In this latest National VET Research discussion paper, the authors explore how emerging technological, economic and demographic changes will affect the Australian jobs market. Automation, the increasing shift to a service economy and an aging population are identified as three key factors that will shape which skills and attributes will be most desirable for […]

Reforming technical education: Employers’ views of T Levels

September 26, 2018

CIPD In this new report from the CIPD, the authors shine a light on employers’ views and attitudes to T Levels, investigating: employers’ current level of awareness; what they would like to see from T Levels and whether they have the capacity to support the work placement element; and their likely response to T Levels […]