DOI: 10.5255/ukda-sn-7745-4
title: Employer Skills Survey, 2011-2017: Secure Access
title: UK Commission's Employer Skills Survey; ESS; Investment in Training

description: The UK Commission for Employment and Skills' (UKCES) &lt;i&gt;Employer Skills Survey&lt;/i&gt; (ESS) is a biennial UK-wide individual establishment telephone survey, providing the most detailed picture of training, vacancies, skills gaps, and investment in training. The aims are to provide rigorous and robust intelligence on the UK labour market and the market for skills.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; The ESS harmonised skills surveys from across the four UK nations, following individual surveys undertaken in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Two previous studies, the &lt;i&gt;National Employer Skills Survey, 1999-2009: Secure Access&lt;/i&gt;, covering England only, and the &lt;i&gt;Scottish Employer Skills Survey, 2008-2010: Secure Access&lt;/i&gt;, covering Scotland, are held at the UK Data Archive under SNs 6705 and 6857 repectively. Both studies are subject to restrictive secure access conditions (see the SN 6705 and 6857 catalogue records for full details).&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; The UKCES also conducts the &lt;i&gt;Employer Perspectives Survey&lt;/i&gt; (UKCEPS) series (held at the Archive under SN 33466), which began in 2010. The UKCEPS provides a comprehensive examination of employer perspectives on key aspects of the employment, skills and business support systems in the UK.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;i&gt;Secure Access data:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt; The Secure Access version of the ESS contains the mainstage questionnaire data which includes Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) enterprise reference numbers, Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and Local Authority Districts (LAs). The 2011 data also include postcodes. There are two data files for 2011. One file contains Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) enterprise reference numbers but no postcodes, and only includes cases where the enterprise reference number is known. The other file contains postcodes but no enterprise reference numbers, and only includes cases where the postcode is known. The follow-up Investment in Training Survey data are also available for all years.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; The Archive also holds standard End User Licence versions which do not include IDBR reference numbers, postcodes or local authority districts available under GN 33477. There are also Special Licence versions which do not include IDBR reference numbers and postcodes which are available under GN 33510 &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; Further information may be found on the GOV.UK &lt;a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-employer-skills-survey-2017" target="_blank"&gt;Employer Skills Survey 2017&lt;/a&gt; web page.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;i&gt;Linking to other business studies&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br&gt; These data contain IDBR reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; For the fourth edition (October 2019), the 2017 survey data and documentation have been added. This includes the Investment in Training follow-up survey.&lt;br&gt;