UKCES Employer Skills Survey 2013
Source: data.gov.uk (2014-12-09)

The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey (UKCESS) is the largest of its kind in the world. It gives a comprehensive and robust picture of skills needs and training investment in UK business. Topics covered in the survey include training and staff development, vacancies and skills shortages, employee skill gaps and the recruitment of education leavers.

The UKCESS 2013 is the most recent survey in the series, and the second UK-wide employer skills survey. The results provide a comprehensive source of data for users:

• Employers can identify how they compare to their sector in their provision of training or own experience of skill deficiency and identify key challenges and opportunities for their sector;

• Individuals and careers advisers can identify sectors and occupations experiencing particular shortages;

• Providers of training and development can use the results to help shape provision to need in their locality or their specialist areas.

The first survey published in this series is the UKCESS 2011, available at: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/ukces-employer-skills-survey . Please note that in order to compare 2011 to 2013 results; the data tables comparable with UKCES Evidence Report No. 81 should be used due to a change in sampling strategy (for more details please see the 2013 Technical Report, available as an 'Additional Link' below).

Evidence Report 82
January 2014
UK Commission’s
Employer Skills Survey
2013: Technical Report

UKCESS Technical Report

UK Commission’s Employer Skills
Survey 2013:
Technical Report

IFF Research

November 2013

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Table of Contents
1
Introduction .................................................................................................. 3
2
The core survey ........................................................................................... 4
2.1
Sampling ................................................................................................................... 4
Sampling unit......................................................................................................................... 4
Survey scope / eligibility ...................................................................................................... 4
Setting quota targets ............................................................................................................ 6
Geographic quotas ............................................................................................................... 7
Broad sector quotas ............................................................................................................. 7
Sample sources ..................................................................................................................... 8
2.2
Questionnaire design ............................................................................................ 10
2.3
Fieldwork ................................................................................................................ 13
2.4
Response rate ........................................................................................................ 16
2.5
Data edits ................................................................................................................ 19
2.6
Coding ..................................................................................................................... 19
2.7
Weighting and grossing up .................................................................................. 20
3
Investment in training survey ................................................................... 23
3.1
Sampling ................................................................................................................. 23
3.2
Quotas ..................................................................................................................... 24
3.3
Questionnaire ......................................................................................................... 24
3.4
Data collection method ......................................................................................... 25
3.5
Fieldwork ................................................................................................................ 25
3.6
Weighting/grossing up .......................................................................................... 26
3.7
Data cleaning and editing ..................................................................................... 27
3.8
Data modelling ....................................................................................................... 27
3.9
Cost calculations ................................................................................................... 31
4
Using the survey for analysis ................................................................... 35
4.1
Modelled data ......................................................................................................... 39
Appendix A: Industry coding ............................................................................ 40
Appendix B: Occupational coding.................................................................... 44
Appendix C: Quota targets, drawn sample and achieved interviews ............ 45

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Appendix D: Response rates by subgroup ...................................................... 52
Appendix E: Sampling error and statistical confidence ................................. 53
Appendix F: Questionnaire changes for 2013 ................................................. 55
Appendix G: Briefing notes and core questionnaire ...................................... 63
Appendix H: Edit specification ....................................................................... 176
Appendix I: Investment in training datasheet ................................................ 179
Appendix J: Reassurance email ..................................................................... 182
Appendix K: Effect of the 2+ employment reweight on 2011 data ............... 183

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1
Introduction
The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013 marks the second occasion that
Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) on employer skills needs has been collected on a pan-
UK basis, allowing for both UK-wide analysis and analysis within and between the four
nations. Prior to 2011, each nation in the UK gathered their own LMI within their nation;
when the UK Commission for Employment and Skills inherited responsibility for the
National Employer Skills Survey in England in 2009 they took the opportunity to align the
data gathered by the four nations in one UK-wide skills survey suite.
The UK Employer Skills Survey sits alongside the Employer Perspectives study to produce
a pair of surveys that complement each other and are run in alternate years. The focus of
the Employer Perspectives survey is primarily outward-looking, covering provision of and
engagement with the wider skills system, whereas the Employer Skills Survey is inward-
looking and takes a measure of the current skills position and skills needs of the employer.
The 2013 survey is the first time we can make time-series comparisons across the UK as
a whole, as well as within the individual nations. It is worth noting upfront that the 2013
survey used a slightly different population to the 2011 survey, and as such the 2011 survey
has been re-weighted based on the 2013 population to facilitate direct comparisons. This
means that 2011 figures that appear in the 2013 report will not necessarily match those
published in the 2011 report itself; this is discussed further in this technical report with a
demonstration of how the reweight affected key figures in the 2011 survey in Appendix K.
The 2013 Employer Skills Survey had two facets:

Core survey: the main skills survey, covering business strategy, recruitment, skills
gaps, upskilling and high performance working;

Investment in Training follow-up survey: covering the investment establishments make
in training their staff;
This technical report covers each of these in turn.

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2
The core survey
For the Core survey, a total of 91,279 interviews were undertaken; interviews were
achieved by country as follows:
Table 2.1 Interviews achieved by country
Country
Number of interviews
England
75,255
Northern Ireland
4,014
Scotland
6,014
Wales
5,996
2.1
Sampling
Sampling unit
The sampling unit was the establishment rather than the organisation, in recognition of the
fact that it is at the site level that skill shortages are most acutely experienced and strategies
to combat them pursued. This mirrors the establishment-based approach adopted in 2011
and in the legacy Skills Surveys in each of the four nations.
The individual approached was the ‘person at [the] site [with] most responsibility for staff
issues such as training, recruitment or resourcing’. For smaller establishments this was
most often the general manager or owner; for larger establishments this was most often
the HR manager.
Survey scope / eligibility
The most appropriate survey population for UKCESS for 2013 and beyond was re-
evaluated as the survey transitioned from a set of discrete country-based surveys into a
common UK-wide survey. As result of these considerations UKCESS 2013 moved to a 2+
employment population (i.e. establishments were eligible if they had two or more people
working at them, regardless of whether or not they owned the organisation), whereas
UKCESS 2011 had covered all establishments except those with one working proprietor
and no employees (to facilitate time-series analysis in each of the four home nations).
The diagram below summarises the survey eligibility associated with the alternative “1+
employees” and “2+ employment” approaches. A “2+ employment population”, as used in
2013, includes employers from boxes 1 and 3, whereas the population sampled in 2011
also included those in box 2.

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Table 2.2 Population segments

2+ Employment

Yes
No
1+
Employees
Yes
1. All establishments with 2+
employees, or 1 working
proprietor and 1 employee
2. Establishments with 1
employee and no working
proprietors
No
3. Establishments with at least
2 working proprietors and no
employees (potential
recruiters/engagers)
4. Establishments with 1
working proprietor and no
employees (one-man bands)
The challenge with the 2011 survey had been to produce a set of data that had the ability
to generate figures that would allow time series comparisons for each of the four nations.
England and Wales historically sampled their skills surveys from boxes 1 and 3; Northern
Ireland and Scotland historically sampled from boxes 1 and 2. No previous survey sampled
from box 4, and so neither did the UK-wide survey. In order to allow the calculation of
comparable data in each nation, the approach taken in 2011 combined the two historical
approaches, so all establishments that would have been included in the previous surveys
were covered in the 2011 survey.
This decision to move the 2013 survey to a 2+ employment population (covering boxes 1
and 3 in Table 2.2, but not box 2) followed consideration of a number of practical and
conceptual considerations.
From a conceptual viewpoint, the focus of skills surveys is on the workforce, and as such
any establishment covered logically needs to have staff (or the desire / potential to employ
staff in the future). On this basis, such surveys more naturally lean to an approach covering
all establishments with at least one employee (to ensure we are not solely speaking about
working proprietors).
On a more practical level, however, it tends to be much easier for survey respondents to
think in terms of the overall ‘headcount’ for their site – including both working proprietors
and employees – than to split out the two groups (particularly when the lines between the
two are blurred / not clear-cut). For example, it is typically easier for employers to answer
about the proficiency levels, training requirements, etc. of all managers, rather than ‘only
those managers who are working proprietors’.

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Furthermore, through discussions with ONS, it had become evident that there is
considerable ‘blurring’ in the Interdepartmental Business Register (IDBR) figures between
the ‘1 working proprietor / no employee’ (sole trader) and ‘1 employee / no working
proprietor’ employers (which collectively account for between 28 and 33 per cent of all units
in the four countries). This is a result of inconsistencies in the way sole traders classify
themselves / are recorded, in that whilst they should all be defined as working proprietors
for the purposes of VAT/PAYE returns, many are in fact wrongly classified as employees.
UKCESS 2013 also excludes the self-employed (with no employees), because of the
absence of robust population figures for this group, and since this would necessitate a
supplementary sample source (with a large proportion of the self-employed falling “below
the radar” of both the IDBR and Experian’s business database). The question approach /
context for this group would also need to be different, since they are by definition not
“employers”.
The possible impact of moving to a 2+ employment population on the data was also
evaluated; for example, the ‘1 employee / no working proprietor’ group is (statistically
speaking) no more or less likely to experience internal skills deficiencies and/or undertake
training activity than their counterparts in the 2-4 employment sizeband.
Data implications were also considered for the impact on UKCESS 2011 findings. Despite
the ‘1 employee / no working proprietor’ group not being particularly distinct in their
behaviour, their removal does nonetheless have a relatively large impact on time-series
findings. This is a result of a) the sheer number of establishments that exist in this group
according to IDBR data, and b) the strong correlations between size of establishment and
propensity to experience skills deficiencies / undertake training.
In order to facilitate time series comparisons between the 2013 survey and the 2011
survey, the 2011 data has been reweighted to produce a set of figures that are directly
comparable. The impact of this change is shown in Appendix K: when the 2011 data is re-
weighted to a 2+ employment population, the key incidence-based survey indicators have
increased by several percentage points.
As would also be expected, though, changes are virtually negligible in respect of key
density-based measures (proportion of vacancies attributed to skills-related causes;
proportion of staff regarded as lacking full proficiency; proportion of staff receiving training).
Setting quota targets

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Population statistics used to size and stratify the business population were established
through the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) administered by the ONS, which
holds records of all businesses registered for VAT and all businesses operating a pay as
you earn (PAYE) income tax scheme. The IDBR is widely regarded as being the most
accurate and comprehensive “official” source of population data available, and was used
for sampling/weighting all previous editions of the skills surveys in England, Scotland,
Northern Ireland and Wales.
Geographic quotas
The allocation by country was 75,000 interviews for England, 6,000 for Scotland, 6,000 for
Wales and 4,000 for Northern Ireland.
The same approach was taken to setting the quotas as in 2011. Within England, half the
interviews were divided evenly across the nine old Government Office Regions, and then
the remaining half in proportion to the number of business units that each region accounts
for. This ensured a minimum number of interviews were achieved in each English region,
whilst still apportioning more interviews to the larger regions (in terms of business
population).
Similarly, within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, non-interlocking targets were set
by Broad Region. In Scotland this was the Enterprise regions (Scottish Enterprise and
Highlands and Islands Enterprise); for Wales this followed the four region groupings of
North, Mid, South East and South West; and in Northern Ireland the definitions for region
were taken from the old Workforce Development Forum (WDF) regional definitions.

Broad sector quotas
Sectorally, UKCESS 2011 marked a shift in emphasis away from the Sector Skills Council
(SSC) focused analysis used in previous incarnations of the Employer Skills Survey in
individual nations and towards sectoral analysis that focused in the first instance on the 14
Broad Industry sectors. This approach was again adopted for UKCESS 2013. Standard
Industrial Classification (SIC) definitions for these sectors can be found in Appendix A of
this report.

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Half the interviews within each country and each English region were divided equally
across the 14 Broad Sectors, and the remaining half in proportion to the number of business
units each Broad Sector accounts for. In this way, this raised the number of interviews
achieved in the smaller Broad Sectors compared to their allocation through a purely
representative approach, thereby enhancing the confidence with which findings could be
reported.
Adopting such an approach ensured as far as possible that the Maximum Standard Error
associated with findings disaggregated by Broad Sector would be no greater than +2%
(UK-wide, at the 95 per cent confidence level). Critically, this also helped to ensure that
within Broad Sector key cuts of the data, such as the nature of skill gaps relating to
individual occupations or the causes and implications of specific types of skill-shortage
vacancy, were associated with sufficiently robust base sizes.
In the case of some sectors, for example Mining and Quarrying, using this approach
produced a target which was higher than the number of interviews realistically achievable
from the amount of sample available for that sector. Where this occurred targets were
revised to approximately one-eighth of the available sample, and the difference
redistributed across the remaining sectors. The analysis possible for these small sectors is
therefore commensurately less detailed.
Sizeband Quotas
Interview targets were distributed by size within each region by distributing interviews in
each Broad Sector between seven sizebands (this distribution can be found in Appendix
C). The approach here was to distribute within sizeband proportionate to the overall
employment accounted for by employers of that size, with target ratios set at no more than
1 in 4 of the population universe in any cell.

Sample sources
In line with previous Skills Surveys in each of the four home nations, Experian’s Business
Database was used as the core sample source. This is regarded as the most
comprehensive and up-to-date source of establishment-based data that is commercially
available with telephone numbers.

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Reflecting the Experian database’s origin as a business database, however, there are
certain pockets in which Experian consistently under-represents the business population,
most notably in the Public Administration & Defence and Energy & Utilities sectors. In light
of this, an application was submitted to ONS’ Micro Data Release Panel to obtain details
of all the records they hold in this broad industry sector.
Since these IDBR records did not include telephone numbers, these instead had to be
looked up manually.
Sample was ordered on an average ratio of approaching 8:1 against interviews required.
Due to the availability of sample this varied between quota cells from 7:1 (Mining and
Quarrying in the North East) to 12:1 (Agriculture in London). The ratio was chosen to
maximise response in the length fieldwork period allocated to the survey; any smaller ratio
would have required a longer fieldwork period to achieve the necessary response. In total
706,470 records were ordered from Experian, and 145,895 drawn from IDBR (from which
it was possible to source a valid telephone number for 11,849).
Before distribution to fieldwork contractors, all sample was postcode-validated to ensure
that geographical region had been correctly defined.
Checks were also undertaken in instances where duplicate telephone numbers existed
within the sample. In certain sectors, for example retail and finance, it is common for a
number of establishments to appear under the same centralised telephone number. By
signalling on the sample that the telephone number given is a centralised switchboard, this
made interviewers aware of the fact before they attempted to get an interview with specific
branches.
In terms of the sectoral markers Experian append, there are a small number of known
sectors for which misclassification commonly arise. For example, the Yellow Pages
classification “Nursing Homes” is always translated to SIC07 code 86.1 (which includes
"Medical nursing home activities"), whilst nursing homes are in fact more likely to be
residential than medically-focused, in which case they actually fall into SIC07 87.1. As
such, procedures were established to correct such systematic misclassifications before
fieldwork was undertaken, in order to reduce the proportion of employers who disagreed
with the classification of their business when fieldwork contractors went on to verify this at
the outset of the interview.

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2.2
Questionnaire design
The questionnaire design aimed to build on the success of the 2011 UKCESS
questionnaire that had brought together the four different nation surveys into one
harmonised surveys. As a result, UKCESS 2013 did not require extensive redevelopment,
with the core questionnaire remaining the same. However, a considerable period of
questionnaire review did take place at the outset of the survey with a particular emphasis
on:
1. Reviewing all questions included in the 2011 survey, identifying questions which
brought less value and/or which are anticipated to have less value to the new survey.
2. Considering whether other questions should be further developed or take added
prominence.
3. Integrating the skills equilibrium questions which were asked as a separate, online
follow-up survey in 2011.
4. Developing any learning and or findings from the UK Commission’s Employer
Perspectives Survey 2012.
This needed to be achieved in a questionnaire that would take no longer than 25 minutes
on average to administer via telephone, to keep the burden on employers to a minimum
and to maintain a healthy response rate. This was achieved in two stages:
1. An initial pilot covering all nations was held in late January 2013 consisting of 100
interviews. These were carried out with a cross-section of UK employers across a range
of establishment sizes, industry sectors, and regions
2. Cognitive testing was carried out with ten respondents from the pilot to review in depth
whether the new questions on the survey were understood and were gathering the
required information.
Areas covered in the cognitive questionnaire were selected for the following reasons:

They were new questions to the UKCESS survey where understanding needed to be
tested

They had been used in previous surveys but a further check was required as to how
they were understood

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The cognitive interviewing confirmed that questionnaire changes were working and
were being understood correctly by respondents; there were a few cases where
confusion was identified and explanatory wording was consequently added to these
questions, and the ordering of some of the questions around the recruitment of young
people was changed.
On average the pilot interviews were just over 24 and a half minutes long. As such,
sweeping changes to the questionnaire were not required. A number of refinements were
made to improve the flow of the questionnaire and lead to small reductions in the length of
the questionnaire.
As with UKCESS 2011, the 2013 survey was modularised to reduce the length whilst
maintaining coverage of key question areas. Establishments were randomly allocated to
one of two modules, and questions were directed as follows:
Module 1:
The High Performance Working questions were asked of establishments in Module 1 only:
A10 Are your products or services primarily sold… / Does your establishment primarily
serve the population…?
F2
Approximately what proportion of your staff have a formal written job description?
F3
And approximately what proportion of your staff have an annual performance review?
G1
Does your establishment...

Give employees information about the financial position of the establishment

IF A1>9 Create teams of people, who don’t usually work together, to work on a specific
project

IF A1>9 Have teams of people that solve specific problems or discuss aspects of work
performance? These are sometimes known as “problem solving groups” or “continuous
improvement groups”

Have an equal opportunities policy

Have formal procedures in place for employee consultation (such as a staff association,
employee forum or trade union consultation)

Currently hold any of the ISO 9000 Standards

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G1A And does your establishment have any of the following pay and incentive schemes
for your employees?
G2
Do you have processes in place to allow you to identify “high potential” or talented
individuals within your establishment?
G5
To what extent would you say employees at your establishment…

Have variety in their work

Have discretion over how they do their work

Have access to flexible working
Module 2:
The recruitment of young people, under-use of skills and upskilling questions were asked
of establishments in Module 2 only:
A1A Compared to 12 months ago, has the number of people employed at this
establishment… ?
C5A Have you recruited anyone else in the past two to three years under the age of 25
who were not recruited to their first job on leaving school, college or university?
C5B And was anyone you recruited in the last two to three years under the age of 25?
C2X Can I just check, were any of the University or other Higher Education leavers you
recruited in the last two to three years under the age of 25 when recruited?
C3BX Can I just check, were any of the Scottish FE College or Scottish University leavers
you recruited in the last two to three years under the age of 25?
C5CNEW We want to understand why young people sometimes find it difficult to find
employment. You’ve said that you have not recruited anyone under the age of 25 but can
I just check, did any young people apply for jobs in your establishment in the last 2-3 years?
C5CA Were they unsuccessful in getting the job because they did not meet the
requirements you had in mind for the role, or was it simply that there were other applicants
who were better?
C5D What was it that the young candidates were lacking? Was it…?

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D15 You said that you have [SUM(D9)] staff who are FULLY proficient at their job. Of
these, how many would you say have BOTH qualifications AND skills that are more
advanced than required for their current job role?
E1
Over the next 12 months do you expect that any of your employees will need to
acquire new skills or knowledge as a result of the following?
E2
Which single occupation will be most affected by this need to acquire new skills or
knowledge?
E3
Which, if any, of the following skills do you feel will need improving or updating
amongst your over the next 12 months?

The questionnaire provided reassurances to respondents who needed them on the
confidentiality of the data they were providing and the legitimacy of the survey. Additionally,
questions were included at the end covering permission to call the respondent back for
clarification on the UKCESS survey and for permission to call them for future follow-up
surveys on related issues. There was also a specific question for trainers asking if they’d
be willing to take part in the Investment in Training survey. Finally, a question asking
permission for researchers authorised by the Office of National Statistics to link their data
with other datasets and surveys to enable further statistical analysis.
Further information on changes between the UKCESS 2011 and 2013 questionnaire and
the reasons for these alterations can be found in Appendix F.
The full final questionnaire with interviewer briefing notes is presented in Appendix G.
Finally, the questionnaire was translated into Welsh by a professional translation agency
based in Wales.
2.3
Fieldwork
A total of 91,279 interviews were conducted by telephone using computer-assisted
telephone interviewing (CATI) technology. To ensure consistency one member of the IFF
team was involved in checking the CATI scripts set up by all four agencies.

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Establishments were not pre-notified that they would be called for the survey, partly due to
financial considerations (the cost of writing to over 600,000 establishments being
prohibitive) and partly because it was felt that would be likely to reduce response rates in
the survey, as head offices may opt out for all of the establishments in their operation. An
exception was made for a handful of large organisations who had expressed concerns
about participation in the survey in the past, with personal contact made by the UK
Commission to mitigate the risk of company-wide refusals in these key companies.
A recurrent feature of large-scale employer surveys – particularly in recent years where
there has been increased pressures on employers operating at lower headcounts – has
been the need to carefully manage organisations which are represented through more than
one establishment within the drawn sample.
In previous editions of the survey, such establishments were pre-identified where possible,
so that interviewers had advance warning that other establishments within the chain might
already have been approached for interview. There was a particular focus on the finance
and retail sectors which are characterised by centralised telephony operations, whereby all
or multiple branches are accessed through the same central switchboard (meaning that
this switchboard might be contacted on several occasions, often in quick succession).
For UKCESS 2013 additional focus was placed on processes which could smooth the way
for a more successful resolution of multiple site contacts, and thereby work to improve
overall response rates.
As a result of these considerations large multisite organisations (with over 700 of sites)
were managed and only contacted by the lead contractor. This enabled contacts for
multiple site organisations to be split across a number of batches of sample and released
sequentially, at specific times, to ensure that the various sites are not contacted within too
short a time window.
Fieldwork across the regions was undertaken by four research agencies. The interviewing
was split between the agencies based on region as follows, with IFF Research undertaking
the interviewing in organisations with more than 700 sites (“large multisites”) across all
regions:

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Table 2.3 Interviews achieved by region
Agency
Regions
Number of
interviews*
BMG
East Midlands
7,154

West Midlands
7,722

Yorkshire and Humberside
7,423

South West
8,302
IFF Research
London
10,217

Northern Ireland
3,978

Wales
5,897

North West
8,505

Large multisites*
1,853
Ipsos MORI
East of England
8,321

North East
5,515

Scotland
5,930
GfK NOP
South East
10,462
*The “Large Multisites” interviews were spread across all 12 regions; thus the totals for each
region here do not show the total number of interviews achieved overall for that region. Total
figures for each region can be found in Appendix C.
To ensure consistency between agencies, one comprehensive set of interviewer briefing
notes was created for use by all (see Appendix G), and a member of the IFF team attended
the briefing at all four agencies. Each briefing lasted around 90 minutes and included all of
the interviewers that were due to work on the survey. Answers to any questions raised
were shared with all four interviewing teams. Quality assurance on the interviewing was
carried out by IFF as the lead contractor at all four fieldwork agencies.
Interviews were conducted with the most senior person at the site with responsibility for
recruitment, human resources and workplace skills. Respondents were reassured of the
confidentiality of their data when they agreed to take part in the interview. If after the first
contact the respondent or gatekeeper wanted more information about the survey a
reassurance email was sent; this can be seen in Appendix J.
Fieldwork took place from March to July 2013. Weekly progress updates and feedback
ensured the quotas progressed evenly between the four agencies running the fieldwork
mitigating the possibility of political (or other) events affecting survey results unevenly.
Interim data runs were also provided from all agencies to IFF as lead contractor twice
during fieldwork, which was checked to ensure consistency between the three.
In total 43 interviews were completed in Welsh.

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2.4
Response rate
High response rates are central to the success of UKCESS. Maximising coverage is
especially important in some of the harder to reach sectors and regions that may run the
risk of being underrepresented.
Strategies for maximising the response rate were considered for UKCESS13 and a paper
on maximising response rates was circulated amongst the fieldwork contractors. These
strategies included:

Detailed and enaging interviewer briefings administered to all interviewers working
on UKCESS13. This included: full briefing note handouts, details on SIC and SOC
prompts (what to ask and what information to take) a powerpoint slide pack (including
screen shots of challenging sections) and for particularly difficult sections (for example
section D – occupational breakdown) recordings from the pilot were played.

Sample management: drip feeding sample in proportion to quota targets to ensure
that sample is sufficiently ‘worked’ and that quota progression is as even as possible.
Avoiding calling employers on public holidays (a full list of UK public holidays was made
available to all contractors).
Other aspects that were built into the survey design in order to improve response included
a shorter questionnaire (the 2013 questionnaire was on average 23 minutes, a couple of
minutes shorter than the 2011 survey to reduce drop-out), an improved introduction to the
interview (building on work done to improve this during UKCEPS 2012), improved
reassurance information for respondents on the UK Commission’s website and also a
review of the reassurance information sent to respondents who requested it. The approach
detailed in section 2.3 above regarding the contacting of large multisite organisations was
also designed to improve response among this group.
This drive to maximise response rates was balanced with avoiding over-contacting
employers.
The overall response rate for the survey was 44 per cent, calculated as “achieved
interviews” as a proportion of all “complete contacts”. A detailed breakdown of survey
outcomes in shown below:

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Table 2.4 Sample outcomes and response rate
Outcome
Number of
contacts
% of all
sample
% of
complete
contacts
Total sample
687,439
100%

Ineligible establishments (e.g. just 1
working proprietor at site)
53,914
8%

‘Live’ / not available during fieldwork /
Out of quota
288,276
42%

Unobtainable / invalid numbers
136,914
20%

Total complete contacts
208,108
30%
100%
Achieved interviews
91,279
13%
44%
Respondent refusal
74,789
11%
36%
Quits during interview
10,923
2%
5%
Company policy refusal
31,117
5%
15%

As is common with these types of surveys, it was particularly difficult to achieve interviews
in the smaller sized establishments, predominantly in sectors such as Construction or
Agriculture which are typically site/outdoor based rather than carried out near a telephone.
To attempt to mitigate the effect of this, contractors called these establishments outside of
normal business hours (before 9am and after 5pm) to try to gather responses from these
establishments.
As the survey neared the end of the fieldwork period it was a necessary to adjust some of
the quota targets in order to meet the necessary number of interviews, as some quotas
proved not possible to fill with the given sample. Appendix C shows the drawn sample
ratios; in instances where this is lower than 8:1 this is because the required volume of
sample was simply not available from the sources used. It is in these quotas, due to a lower
starting volume of sample, that most issues filling quotas arose. Appendix C also shows
the areas where it was not possible to hit the original quota targets in the given fieldwork
period.
Appendix D shows how the achieved response rate differed by country, size and sector.
During fieldwork, when it became evident that a target quota within a particular cell had
become unachievable (i.e. when the target is more than 100% of the remaining sample),
targets needed to be increased in other cells to compensate. The following guidelines were
issued to contractors to ensure a consistent approach, and IFF as lead contractor
monitored the changes to ensure the cumulative effect of these did not detract from the
overall picture.

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•
In the first instance contractors looked to increase the target within the same SIC
sector in an adjacent size band.
•
If adjacent size bands had also become unachievable then any remaining achievable
size bands within the SIC sector were used to compensate.
•
In some cases it was preferable to make up the shortfall in a cell within the same
sizeband from a different SIC sector. This would be the case when there was a desire
to maximise the number of interviews in that sizeband irrespective of other
characteristics; this was most common in the larger size bands, or where an
assessment of progress against overall size targets for the locality indicates a need
to boost interviews in the particular sizeband.
•
If compensating within sizeband but across SIC Sector was deemed preferable or if
all sizebands within a SIC Sector had become unachievable, then targets should be
adjusted where possible according to a “neighbouring” SIC Sector, as per Table 2.5.

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Table 2.5 Sector groupings for quota management
Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing
SIC 01 to 03
Mining and quarrying
SIC 05 to 09
Manufacturing
SIC 10 to 33
Electricity, gas and water supply
SIC 35 to 39
Construction
SIC 41 to 43
Wholesale and retail trade
SIC 45 to 47
Hotels and restaurants
SIC 55 to 56
Transport, storage and communications
SIC 49 to 53 & 58 to 63
Financial services
SIC 64 to 66
Real estate, renting and business activities
SIC 68 to 82
Public admin. and defence; compulsory social security
SIC 84
Education
SIC 85
Health and social work
SIC 86 to 88
Community, social and personal service activities
SIC 90 to 96
2.5
Data edits
The survey questionnaire involved some complex data that respondents might have
struggled to answer. There was also, despite stringent quality control, the chance that
interviewers could enter typing errors, for example an extra zero on the end of a numerical
variable.
To safeguard against these problems, data checks were built into the CATI script to ensure
that questions on the number of employees equalled the number of people working at the
site, and that the number of staff not proficient in each job role could not exceed the number
of staff they had in each job role (a full list of CATI data checks is in the questionnaire in
Appendix G). However some data validation needed to occur after fieldwork had finished
to ensure no errors were present in the final data. Guidelines were issued to all fieldwork
contractors on how to edit data to ensure consistency; these guidelines can be seen in
Appendix H.
2.6
Coding
Open ended responses to the survey were coded by each contractors’ coding teams. To
ensure consistency the codeframes were developed in unison, with codeframes regularly
compared and reviewed. As lead contractor IFF Research took the final decisions as to
what codes to use after considering advice and output from the IFF, BMG, GfK and Ipsos
MORI coding teams.

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Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) were coded using 2007 standards (the most up to
date at the time of the survey), and Standard Occupational Classifications were coded
using 2010 standards (also the most up to date available).
2.7
Weighting and grossing up
Data for the survey was weighted and grossed up to population estimates of
establishments and to the population of employees, as derived from the 2012 Inter-
Departmental Business Register (IDBR).
Due to the multiple uses the data was intended for, a number of different weighting options
were produced. It was necessary to produce weights for each of the following situations:

Core weights, used to weight the UK-wide dataset and used for the majority of analysis.
This weighting set is the default to use.

Modular weights, to be used when analysing data from the modular questions (see
section 2.2 of this chapter).

Local weights for use analysing England data by LEA and LEP.Weights were created
in pairs: a “unit-based” weight and an “employment-based” weight. The unit-based
weight was designed for analysis by number or proportion of establishments; the
employment-based weight was designed for use when analysing by number or
proportion of employees (including volume measures of vacancies, skills gaps and
numbers trained). Data dictionary files have been created listing each variable with
notes and guidance on the correct weight to use.
Core weights:
The core weights are the default, to be used for most sets of analysis.
The following grossing-up strategy was used for the UK-wide dataset.

Within each English Region (9 GORs) / Devolved Administration, grossing-up
weights were applied on a 14 broad SIC sector and eight sizeband grid (i.e. 112
cells within each of the 12 geographical areas), based on March 2012 IDBR
population counts. The sizebands used were as follows: 2-4, 5-9, 10-24, 25-49, 50-
99, 100-249, 250+.

The sizebands are employment-based.

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
Overlaying these grids, “rim” weights were imposed for LEA area within England,
WDF area in Northern Ireland, Enterprise region in Scotland and Broad Region in
Wales (to ensure the survey population of each matched the true population, though
without further correction for size and sector at this level). “Rim” stands for “Random
Iterative Method”; the weights were calculated by the data processing software
which uses this method to find a “best fit” between the data and the targets that
have been programmed.

Cell merging was applied in instances where, within a region / Devolved
Administration, no interviews had been conducted in cells where the IDBR indicates
that establishments exist, and conversely ones where interviews have been carried
out in cells with a reported “zero population” according to the IDBR. Cell merging
was also conducted in instances where a low number of interviews had been
conducted in relation to the population of that cell, which would result in high relative
weights being applied to these establishments (i.e. where the weighting value
before grossing up to the population was five or more). In each of these instances,
cells were merged either within broad SIC sector (i.e. merging sizebands) or across
industries (i.e. merging different sectors within a sizeband).

Modular weighting strategy
As discussed above, some question areas in the survey were only asked to half of the
survey respondents, to allow wider coverage of subject matter on the questionnaire. These
are known as “modular questions”. Respondents were randomly allocated to one of two
modules:
Module 1:
Not asked A1A, D15, Recruitment of Young
People (C5A to C5D), Upskilling (Section E)
Module 2:
Not asked A10, High Performance Working (F2,
F3, Section G)
As they were randomly allocated, the population characteristics of the two groups were
very similar, as were the response to key questions (incidence of vacancies, skill-shortage
vacancies, skills gaps etc.). This similarity means that the weighting applied to the whole
file would in principle be suitable for the modular data, in that the resulting percentages are
“correct” for the population within each modularised nation. However, if any weighted
counts of establishments or employment figures are required, the modular data with the
main weight will produce a figure which is approximately half of the total number in the
population, since only half of the sample was asked the question.

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A further set of weights was therefore produced for the modularised data, grossing up the
employers and employment within each modular set to the full population. This was done
by simply multiplying their current weight by the factor required to take the weighted figure
in each modular set up to that of the full population. These weights sit in the main file, and
variables to which they apply are clearly marked with the prefix “M_”.
LEA ‘Local’ Weighting Strategy
To allow for analysis in England by LEA and increase the accuracy of analysis by LEP, a
separate set of weights was produced to take into account the size and sector balance
within each LEA. The targets were set on the 14 SIC sectors by four sizebands: 1-4, 5-24,
25-99, 100+. Separate unit and employment weights were created. These weights are in a
separate SPSS file to the main file, and this LEA file should be used when carrying out any
analysis by LEA or LEP.

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3
Investment in training survey
A separate Investment in Training study was conducted by IFF Research to provide
detailed estimates of employer expenditure on training. The approach replicated that of the
Employer Skills Survey 2011, which in turn had replicated the previous Cost of Training
studies conducted in England in 2009 and Northern Ireland in 2008. The process required
to achieve the final training spend figures involved multiple steps, as demonstrated in
Figure 3.1. Once the survey data was collected, modelling was conducted to “fill in” missing
data (i.e. where respondents were unable to provide an exact figure for a survey question).
Modelled data was then combined with figures to create 12 “cost components”. Summed,
these generate the overall training expenditure figure.
Figure 3.1 Summary of the Investment in Training data process

3.1
Sampling
The sample for the Investment in Training survey comprised core UKCESS respondents
who indicated that they had provided training for staff over the last 12 months and who
indicated (question I3 of main stage questionnaire) that they were happy to be re-contacted
and provide more specific information about training expenditure.
The sample was collected from core UKCESS survey fieldwork contractors in three batches
during fieldwork, after each 4-5 week period of interviewing.
Investment in
Training
Questionnaire
Responses
(see data sheet,
Appendix I)
Modelled data to fill
missing values
(see Section 3.8)
Cost factors
(Table 3.4)
12 Annual Cost
Components
(see Table 3.5)
Overall spend
figures

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As with the core UKCESS survey, the population interviewed for the 2013 survey differed
from 2011 in that establishments with only one employee and no working proprietors at the
site were not in scope for 2013.
3.2
Quotas
The aim was to achieve 12,500 complete, useable interviews. This required a fieldwork
target of around 13,000, as some records ultimately prove to be unsuitable for analysis due
to very high levels of “don’t know” answers. UKCES desired an approximate distribution of
1,000 interviews among employers in Northern Ireland, 1,500 in Wales, 2,600 in Scotland
and 7,400 among those based in England. The desired total in Northern Ireland, Scotland
and Wales were known at the outset to be ambitious, and for this reason a census approach
was adopted with the aim of achieving the maximum number of interviews possible in these
devolved nations. As a result no quotas (for example by size, type of training or sector)
were set within the devolved nations.
Within England a target was set using an interlocking grid of size (fewer than five
employees, 5-9, 10-24, 25-49, 50-99, 100+) by training activity (off-the-job only, on-the-job
only and both) within English region, with an additional (non-interlocking) sector target for
each nation.
3.3
Questionnaire
The datasheet and questionnaire were largely unchanged compared to that used in 2011,
that was itself largely unchanged from the previous Cost of Training surveys run in England
in 2005, 2007 and 2009 and in Northern Ireland in 2008.
The only difference was the addition of two questions; Q4a and Q18a to understand the
proportion of external training fees that were paid to Further Education (FE) colleges,
Universities or other Higher Education Institutions. Prior to their inclusion, an initial pilot
was undertaken in order to confirm respondents’ comprehension and understanding of the
questions, and consisted of interviews with 50 employers. There was also some slight
variation in the training grants and subsidies questions for each devolved administration,
to reflect the policy situation in the nations.

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3.4
Data collection method
Employers who had indicated agreement to take part were called by an IFF interviewer to
confirm participation and contact details. They were then sent a datasheet to complete,
before having their answers collected by telephone. There were different versions of the
datasheet depending on the type of training the employer reported undertaking in the core
UKCESS survey and the nation they were based in; there was also a Welsh Language
version of the datasheet. Sending this datasheet in advance allowed the respondent time
to collect the relevant information and increase the accuracy of responses. The datasheet
was sent out to 26,024 respondents in total.
In nearly all cases datasheets were e-mailed (in a very small number of cases they were
faxed). All respondents were called before sending them the datasheet. This involved a
short conversation thanking them for taking part in the core UKCESS interview, reminding
them that they indicated being happy to take part in a short follow-up, introducing the idea
of sending the datasheet, encouraging them to take part and checking their contact details.
A few days after sending the datasheet (set at 3 days unless the respondent specified a
specific date when they wanted to be called back), an interviewer called back to try to
conduct the full interview.
3.5
Fieldwork
In total, information on training expenditure was collected from 13,138 establishments at
UK level, though 616 were rejected because of incompleteness (i.e. a large number of
‘don’t know’ responses) or inconsistencies; hence analysis is based on data from 12,522
establishments.
Fieldwork was undertaken by IFF Research from 2nd May to 6th August 2013. The average
interview length was just under eight minutes in total (six minutes for the main interview
and two minutes for the preliminary call to send out the datasheet).
The overall response rate for the survey was 70 per cent, calculated as “achieved
interviews” as a proportion of all “complete contacts”. Response rates were higher than the
core survey as respondents were already engaged in the research and had agreed to a
follow up survey. A detailed breakdown of survey outcomes in shown in Table 3.1:

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Table 3.1 Sample outcomes and response rate
Outcome
Number of
contacts
% of all
sample
% of
complete
contacts
Total sample
36,895
100%

Still live at the end of fieldwork /
not available during fieldwork / out of quota
17,614
48%

Unobtainable / invalid numbers
587
2%

Total complete contacts
18,694
50%
100%
Achieved interviews
13,138
36%
70%
Respondent refusal
4,078
11%
22%
Quits during interview
1,478
4%
8%

The large number of sample records in “Live / not available during fieldwork / out of quota”
is due to the ratio of sample to achieved interviews being much higher than that needed
given the final response rate; in other words, a large amount of the sample remained after
the quotas had been filled.
Response rates were seen by country as follows:

Table 3.2 Response rate by country

UK
England
Northern
Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Interviews
13,138
9,140
1,070
1,496
1,432
Response rate
71%
70%
76%
74%
65%
3.6
Weighting/grossing up
In order to weight the Investment in Training study, population figures were calculated from
weighted UKCESS core survey data which had in turn been weighted using the IDBR
figures used for the main survey analysis. Data was weighted on the basis of interlocking
grids on six size bands (fewer than 5, 5-9, 10-24, 25-49, 50-99, 100+) by the 14 SIC sectors
used in the core survey, by the type of training they carried out (on-the-job only, off-the-job
only, or both). A regional rim weight was also applied using targets based on the proportion
training in the English GOR regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Only establishment-based weights were created for the Investment in Training survey, as
all data in the survey is establishment orientated.

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3.7
Data cleaning and editing
An initial 526 records were rejected due to incompleteness (i.e. a large number of ‘don’t
know’ responses). Data were checked for consistency both internally and against
responses given in the core UKCESS survey, and a further 90 records were rejected due
to inconsistencies.
3.8
Data modelling
In order to calculate overall training expenditure, each record in the dataset needed to have
a response to each question (even if it is a zero in relation to types of training the
establishments does not supply). As expected, not every respondent was able to supply
every piece of information. In order to ‘fill in’ the missing data, averages were drawn from
those respondents who were able to answer each question and applied to those cases with
missing data.
Matching the approach taken in the Cost of Training Survey in England in 2009 and for the
Investment in Training Survey in 2011, when a respondent could not provide an exact
(integer) answer the survey was set up to prompt respondents to give a range answer
(‘between £500 and £999’ and so forth). Although this range answer still needs transferring
into an exact figure within the range, it guides and greatly improves the accuracy and
reliability of the modelling process since the modelling for these range responses is based
on those respondents who gave an exact answer which fell into that range rather than
simply being an average of all responses.
The modelling process for those questions not relating to salaries was to calculate mean
responses for those giving an exact answer (excluding zero) within each of the ranges, and
an overall mean. These means were calculated within the six employment size bands
described above. Where a respondent gave a range answer, they were assigned the mean
for the establishments within their size band giving an exact answer falling within their
range response. Where they were unable to give either an exact or a range answer, they
were assigned the overall mean for the question within their size band.
For salaries, a slightly different approach was taken to modelling ‘don’t know’ answers,
again based on that used in the previous Cost of Training Surveys in England in 2005,
2007 and 2009, in Northern Ireland in 2008 and in LTW 2000. Initially, as above, range and
overall means were calculated. Rather than size of establishment, location of establishment
(London or non-London) was seen to be the major determinant of salary levels; so means
were split on this basis rather than by the size bands used for other ‘don’t know’ answers.
Where a range had been given, the appropriate mean was used as the simulated value.

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For those respondents unable to give even a salary range, a method was used which takes
account of not only their location but also evidence from other salary questions on the
datasheet in order to determine whether they pay salaries above or below the average and
to what degree. Where exact answers had been given for other salary questions, a ratio
was calculated between their actual answer and the London/non-London mean (as
appropriate) for that question. This gave, for each exact salary answer recorded, a ratio
that expressed the degree to which that employer over-paid or under-paid employees in
the roles discussed, compared with the mean. Where salary answers were missing (and
no range information was provided) the assigned value would be calculated as the London
or non-London mean multiplied by the first available of these ratios (the order of selection
being different for each question and dependent on which questions were adjudged to be
the most closely related) in order to up-weight or down-weight the estimate in keeping with
their pay for other roles.
The simulation procedure and the precise order of selection used for salary questions is
shown in the table below, along with the proportion modelled using range information and
the proportion modelled that did not provide range information.

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Table 3.3 Treatment of missing values
Question
Value given to missing data
Base
%
modelled
within
range
%
modelled
without
range
Q1
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,301
1
0.1
Q2
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,011
5
0.5
Q3
Mean calculated within London/non-London
establishments within recorded ranges where available.
Where range information not provided:
1.
if Q17 answered (and an exact answer given),
calculate proportion above or below the Q17
average for the establishment and up-lift or reduce
the appropriate Q3 mean (London or non-London)
by this proportion to generate Q3 figure for this
establishment
2.
if Q17 not answered with an exact value apply
procedure at 1. to Q21
3.
if Q21 not answered with an exact value, apply
procedure at 1. to Q24
4.
if Q24 not answered with an exact value apply
procedure at 1. to Q10
5.
if Q10 not answered with an exact value use
appropriate Q3 mean (London or non-London)
unadjusted
9,011
22
5
Q4
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,011
15
8
Q6A
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
747
34
25
Q6B
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
747
23
15
Q7A
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
2,459
0
0
Q8
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,011
0.3

0.3
Q9
Mean within 6 employment size bands (range information
not recorded for this question)
8,104
-
6
continued…

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Treatment of missing values (continued)
Question
Value given to missing data
Base
%
modelled
within
range
%
modelled
without
range
Q10
Same procedure as Q3 but different order of selection:
Q24, Q3, Q17, Q21
8,104
21
9
Q11
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,011
12
5
Q12
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,011
13
4
Q13
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,011
4
7
Q14
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,011
4
7
Q15
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,301
1
0.4
Q16
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
6,526
3
1
Q17
Same procedure as Q3 but different order of selection:
Q3, Q21, Q24, Q10
6,526
20
5
Q18
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
6,526
12
10
Q19
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
10,260
2
0.7
Q20
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,616
10
1
Q21
Same procedure as Q3 but different order of selection:
Q3, Q17, Q24, Q10
9,616
25
7
Q22
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,616
1
0.5
Q23
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,008
9
0.9
Q24
Same procedure as Q3 but different order of selection:
Q10, Q3, Q17, Q21
9,008
22
6
“Base” = Total number of respondents eligible to respond to each question
“% modelled within range” = percentage of base that had given a range value for the question
“% modelled without range” = percentage of base that had not been able to provide even a range
estimate for the question

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3.9
Cost calculations
Following data modelling – which ensured all respondents had exact answers for all
questions – individual questions were combined to calculate 12 total annual cost
components. This was necessary because, in order to make the questionnaire easier for
respondents to complete, some costs were collected in monthly rather than yearly terms,
per trainee terms rather than total, and so on. Factors were also included in these
calculations to account for differences between employee salaries (more easily reported
by respondents) and total labour costs (including tax and other costs) and the amount of
time employees spend at work. The factors used are detailed in the table below, along with
a note regarding changes to the labour cost up-weight that have affected historical time-
series data.
Table 3.4 Factors included in cost calculations

Factor
Value
Explanation
Labour cost up-
weight*
16.4%
It was found during the pilot stage of LTW 2000 that employers
were far better placed to report the salaries of their employees
than the total cost of employing them. Respondents were,
therefore, asked for the average basic salaries of those
receiving and providing training. An up-weight of 16.4 per cent
was then applied to these answers to take account of National
Insurance, employer pension contributions, overtime and other
additional elements.
The source of the 16.4 per cent figure was Eurostat. In the UK,
direct remuneration (wages and salaries including bonuses)
made up 85.9 per cent of labour costs. Hence an uplift of
100/85.9 (i.e. 1.164 or 16.4%) is required to convert direct
remuneration to total labour costs.
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1
&language=en&pcode=tps00113&plugin=1
Days worked
per year
216
Used to calculate the per-working-day salary of an employee in
order to calculate the cost, for example, of training an employee
for one working day per year on the basis of their annual salary.
Working age employees in England (from Labour Force Survey
Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2012):
 Worked an average of 4.8 days per week
 Received an average of 24.6 paid days holiday, plus 9
bank / public holidays [Note: this includes an extra day
for the Diamond Jubilee in June 2012]
This gives: 52 x 4.8 (=249.6) possible working days a year,
less 24.6 days annual leave and 9 days bank/public holiday =
216 days worked per year.

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Factor
Value
Explanation
Hours worked a
day
6.7
Used to convert number of working hours of training to working
days.
Derived from average hours worked a week at 32
(http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-
tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-269229#tab-Hours-of-Work-
tables) divided by average days worked a week = 6.7)
Source: Labour Force Survey Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2012.
Working
months in a
year
11
Used to convert monthly training figures given in the on-the-job
section of the datasheet into annual figures.
Full/part-time
adjustment to
training centre
labour costs
0.79
Training centre labour costs are collected in terms of ‘total basic
annual salaries’ and as such the datasheet does not distinguish
those working part-time from those working full-time. In order
not to overestimate costs, therefore, this factor is applied to
down-weight costs.
In the UK there are approximately the following numbers whose
main job is adult or other education (SIC07 85.5): 168,000
working full-time and 109,000 part-time. The full-time workers
work on average 33.7 hours, whilst the part-time workers work
on average 16.0 hours. Converting the part-time workers into
full-time equivalence (FTE) gives a FTE of 0.79 of the total
Source: Labour Force Survey 2012.
*A note regarding the figures used for the Labour Cost up-weight in 2013:
The figure for the proportion of total labour costs represented by wages and salaries is
taken from Labour Cost Index (LCI) data appearing on the Eurostat website. As part of the
production of the Labour Cost Index data are broken down by cost items (Total cost, Wages
and salaries, Other labour costs), and from this figures for the ‘total wages and salaries as
a percentage of total labour costs’ are derived:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tps
00113&plugin=1
EU Member States produce the data for Eurostat by using surveys, other appropriate
sources such as administrative data and statistical estimation procedures. The UK data is
supplied by ONS, where the LCI is also referred to as The Index of Labour Costs per Hour
(ILCH).

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Eurostat notes1, since annual or even 4-yearly benchmark surveys as well as estimation
methods play an important role for the production of quarterly Labour Cost Index in most
Member States, revisions are frequent and can go back several years. Such revisions have
been made to the UK data, as highlighted in ONS’s ‘Quality and Methodology Information
Report for Index Labour Costs’ (released 23rd August 2012, a link to which can be found
in the Background notes of http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_327016.pdf): “For
instance, there were relatively large revisions to the National Insurance Contributions
component of ILCH when the 2010 Q2 figures were produced; due to switching to the much
more up-to-date ASHE data.” These changes mean the UK figure for the total wages
and salaries as a percentage of total labour costs that were the most up to date in
2011 are different to the figures now appearing for the same time period.

The formulae used to convert raw data to the comparable annual cost components were
as follows. All calculations were performed using modelled data.
Table 3.5 Formulae for the annual cost components

Annual cost component
Formula
A
Trainee labour costs (Q1–3)
Q1 * Q2 * 116.4% * Q3 / 216
B
Fees to external providers (Q4)
Q4
C
On-site training centre (Q6a/b)
(116.4% * 0.79 * Q6a ) + Q6b
D
Off-site training centre (in the same company) (Q7a) Q7
E
Training management (Q8–Q10)
Q8 * Q9/100 * 116.4% * Q10
F
Non-training centre equipment and materials (Q11)
Q11
G
Travel and subsistence (Q12)
Q12
H
Levies minus grants (Q13–Q14)
Q13-Q14

Sub-total (course related)
A + B + C + D + E + F + G + H
I
Labour costs (Q15–Q17)
Q15 * Q16 * 116.4% * Q17 / 216
J
Fees to external providers (Q18)
Q18

Sub-total (other off-the-job training)
I + J

OFF-THE-JOB TOTAL
A + B + C + D + E + F+ G + H + I + J
K
Trainee's labour costs (Q19–Q21)
Q19 * Q20 * 116.4% * Q21 * 11 / ( 216 * 6.7)
L
Trainers' labour costs (Q22–Q24)
Q22 * Q23 * 116.4% * Q24 * 11 / (216* 6.7)

ON-THE-JOB TOTAL
K + L

TOTAL TRAINING SPEND
A + B + C + D + E + F+ G + H + I + J +K + L
Note: Where derived employment-based training spend figures are shown in this report
(expenditure per trainee, or per capita, for example) and there is a choice between taking the
measure given in the main UKCESS13 data and that in the data for the training expenditure
survey, the data from the main survey are used. This is because base sizes are larger in the main
survey and a separate employment weight is available to ensure a closer match to the actual
workforce profile.

1 (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Labour_cost_index_-_recent_trends)

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These components were used to derive figures for indirect costs (the trainee labour costs
of paying workers while they are not producing) and direct costs (all other costs). Direct
costs were further broken down into:
i) “direct tradable” or “external direct costs”, elements that could in theory be
outsourced to another organisation to provide. These have been defined as fees to
external providers and off-site training centre costs.
ii) “non-tradable” or “internal direct costs”, which could not be transferred or outsourced
to another organisation. Internal direct costs include on-site training centre costs,
equipment and materials, travel and subsistence and levies minus grants.
The costs of managers and supervisors being involved in organising and providing
training has been treated as internally provided (not able to be outsourced) except where
this involvement represented a reasonable amount of managers’/supervisors' time,
since then this provision could potentially be externally outsourced by buying in a
dedicated training organiser. It was classified as an ‘external’ direct cost where the
training work of the managers/supervisors represented the work of one full person (i.e.
where multiplying the average proportion of time spent on training matters by the
number of people involved in organising/providing training within the establishment was
at least one).
Component
Formula
Indirect costs
trcostA+trcostK+trcostI
External direct costs
trcostC + trcostF + trcostG + trcostH + (if q8*q9>=1) trcostE + (if q22*q23>=1) trcostL
Internal direct costs
trcostB + trcostD + trcostJ + (if q8*q9<1) trcostE + (if q22*q23<1) trcostL

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4
Using the survey for analysis
The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013 is designed to be flexible enough to
allow analysis of data for a large number of different purposes, and split by a large number
of different subgroups of data. The survey serves multiple audiences and purposes, and
as such a wide range of core outputs are available to inform and assist analysis.

The UK report (http://www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/employer-skills-survey) provides an
overview of the survey findings, focusing on country comparisons and where
relevant/interesting other variables, primarily size and sector. The report has an
appendix showing supplementary data for those who want to look into the issues
discussed in more depth, without running their own analyses.

The accompanying UK Excel Tables show the survey data question by question, plus
some summary tables, crossed by a number of key analysis and survey variables.
These
are
available
on
the
UKCES
website
(http://www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/employer-skills-survey)

There are four SPSS datafiles that supplement this analysis, each looking at a different
population or subject matter. One of the challenges in providing accurate data for a
number of different populations and analyses groupings is that each different purpose
will have its own population and its own optimum weighting strategy. As a result, there
are multiple data files associated with the analysis of the survey. Figure 4.1 below
provides a flow chart to identify which dataset to use for any given analysis query.

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Figure 4.1 Selecting a datafile

As with previous Employer Skills Surveys the data will be lodged in the ONS Virtual
Microdata Laboratory.
Each data file has its own weight or set of weights, as follows:
1. Core dataset – UK-wide – Establishment, Employment and Modular weights
2. Investment in Training dataset – UK-wide, trainers only – Establishment weight
3. England local data (LEA and LEP) – England only – Establishment and Employment
weights
4. Occupational file – UK-wide – vacancy, hard-to-fill vacancy and skill-shortage
vacancy employment weights.
Table 4.1 gives details of each of these weights and when each one has been and should
be used.

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Table 4.1 Application of weights during analysis
Weight name
Coverage
Establishment/
employment
Notes
Reporting thresholds
Core survey

Core dataset:

UNITWEIGHT
UK
Establishment
Used for establishment based measures. Use when comparing UK
nations.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
EMPWTNEW
UK
Employment
Used for employment based measures. Use when comparing UK
nations.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
MODWEIGHT
UK
Establishment
Should only be used for establishment based measures on modular
questions (prefixed “M_” in datafile). Use when comparing UK
nations.
Under 50 not reported;
50-99 “indicative”
MODEMPWEIGHT
UK
Employment
Should only be used for “M_D15” – the only modular employment
measure.
Under 50 not reported;
50-99 “indicative”
England local data:

LEAUNIT
England
Establishment
For use when analysing LEA and LEP data.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”

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Weight name
Coverage
Establishment/
employment
Notes
Reporting thresholds
LEAEMP
England
Employment
For use when analysing LEA and LEP data.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
Occupational data:

EMPVOLWEIGHT
UK
Employment
For use when summing vacancies, hard-to-fill vacancies and skill-
shortage vacancies
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
VACVOLWEIGHT
UK
Employment
For use when running frequencies of vacancy-related measures
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
HTFVOLWEIGHT
UK
Employment
For use when running frequencies of hard-to-fill vacancy-related
measures
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
SSVVOLWEIGHT
UK
Employment
For use when running frequencies of skill-shortage vacancy-related
measures
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
Investment in Training Survey

WEIGHT
Investment in
Training data
Establishment
Applies to all 2013 analysis of Investment in Training data. For use
when analysing 2013 training spend.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”

The table above gives indicative thresholds for reporting data produced using each weight. However those seeking to conduct more stringent statistical
testing are referred to Appendix E of this report, which shows the standard confidence intervals for different subgroup sample size

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4.1 Modelled data
The National Employer Skills Survey 2009 in England contained seven employer
engagement indicators for analysis. These can be replicated using variables in the UK
Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2011 and 2013 surveys as follows:
NESS09
indicator
Description
UKCESS 2011
and 2013
variable name
empeng1
Percentage of establishments with a business plan
H3
empeng2
Percentage of establishments with a training plan
F1A
empeng3
Percentage of establishments with a training budget
F1B
empeng4
TOTAL days training
F11_MODELLED
empeng5
TOTAL number of employees trained
F8I_MODELLED
empeng6
Percentage of establishments that formally assess
whether individual employees have gaps in their
skills
n/a
empeng7
Percentage of establishments formally assess the
performance of employees who have received
training and development
F15
Training days and number of employees trained variables were calculated using modelled
data. Where a “don’t know” answer was given at F8 or F11 the modelled variable assigned
the establishment with the mean score for their size and sector. This ensured that the
proportion of staff and total number of days training was not under-counted.
Further information on analysing specific datasets and data variables can be found in the
data dictionaries that accompany each SPSS data file.

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Appendix A: Industry coding
Each establishment was allocated to one of 14 sectors, based on their Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC). SIC 2007 was used to classify establishments using the following
method. Using the four-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) supplied for each
record from the Experian database, a description of business activity was read out to each
respondent. If they agreed that this description matched the main activity undertaken at the
establishment, then the SIC on Experian’s database was assumed to be correct. If however
the respondent felt the description did not correspond to their main business activity at the
site (which about a quarter did), a verbatim response was collected to find out what they
do (see question A7 on the survey; questionnaire shown in Appendix G). At the analysis
stage this was coded to a four-digit SIC which was then used as the basis for allocation
into sector.
The table below shows the 14 sectors and their corresponding SIC 2007 definitions.
Sector
SIC 2007
1. Agriculture
A - Agriculture, forestry and fishing (01-03)
Including farming, hunting and other related service
activities,
forestry
and
logging,
fishing
and
aquaculture
2. Mining & Quarrying
B - Mining and quarrying (05-09)
Including mining of coal, metals, sand/stone/clay,
and extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas
3. Manufacturing
C - Manufacturing (10-33)
Including manufacture of food and beverage,
textiles, chemicals and chemical products, basic
pharmaceutical products, other mineral products,
manufacture of metals and metal products,
machinery, computer and electronic products and
equipment, motor vehicles and other transport
equipment, furniture, and repair and installation of
machinery and equipment
4. Electricity, Gas and Water
D - Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning
supply (35)

E - Water supply, sewerage, waste management
and remediation activities (36-39)

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Sector
SIC 2007
Including electric power generation, transmission
and distribution, manufacture of gas and distribution
of gaseous fuels, steam and air conditioning supply,
water collection, treatment and supply, sewerage
and waste collection, treatment and disposal
activities and materials recovery
5. Construction
F - Construction (41-43)
Including the construction of buildings, civil
engineering (constructing roads, railways and other
utility projects), demolition, and specialised activities
such as electrical installation, roofing and scaffold
erection
6. Wholesale and Retail
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor
vehicles and motor cycles (45-47)
Including sale, maintenance and repair of motor
vehicles,
parts
and
accessories,
non-vehicle
wholesale (for example agriculture, food, household
goods), and the retail trade of all products whether
in stores, stalls, markets, mail order or online
7. Hotels and Restaurants
I - Accommodation and food service activities (55-
56)
Including hotels, campsites, youth hostels, holiday
centres,
villages
and
other
short
stay
accommodation, restaurants and takeaways, event
catering and licensed clubs, pubs and bars
8. Transport and Communications
H - Transport and storage (49-53)

J - Information and communication (58-63)
Including land, water and air transport (passenger
and freight), warehousing and support activities for
transportation,
postal
and
courier
activities,
publishing (books, journals, newspapers etc and
software/computer games), television, film and
music
production,
broadcasting,
telecommunications, computer programming and
consultancy, information service activities (e.g. data
processing and hosting)
9. Financial Services
K - Financial and insurance activities (64-66)
Including banks and building societies, activities of
holding companies, trusts, funds and similar
financial
entities,
credit
granting,
pensions,
insurance and reinsurance

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Sector
SIC 2007

10. Business services
L - Real estate activities (68)
M - Professional, scientific and technical activities
(69-75)
N - Administrative and support service activities (77-
82)
Including the buying, selling and renting of real
estate, legal activities, accounting, bookkeeping and
auditing, management consultancy, architectural
and engineering activities, scientific research and
development, advertising and market research,
specialist design, photographic activities, translation
and interpretation, veterinary activities, renting and
leasing of tangible goods (motors, household,
machinery), employment agencies, travel agencies
and tour operations, security and investigation
activities, office administration and business support
11. Public Administration
O - Public administration and defence; compulsory
social security (84)
Including administration of the State and economic
and social policy of the community, provision of
services to the community as a whole such as
defence activities, foreign affairs, justice and judicial
activities, fire service and compulsory social security
activities
12. Education
P - Education (85)
Including pre-primary, primary, secondary and
higher education, other education (such as sports,
driving schools, cultural education), educational
support activities
13. Health and Social work
Q - Human health and social work activities (86-88)
Including Hospitals, medical and dental practices,
residential care, social work activities
14. Other Community, Social and
Personal Services
R - Arts, entertainment and recreation (90-93)
S - Other service activities (94-96)

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43
Sector
SIC 2007
Including performing arts, libraries and museums,
gambling and betting, sports facilities, amusement
and recreation activities, activities of membership
organisations (religious, political, trade union,
professional),
personal
services
(hairdressing,
beauty, textile cleaning, well-being activities, funeral
activities)
NOT COVERED IN SURVEY
T - Activities of households as employers;
undifferentiated goods and services producing
activities of households for own use (97-98)
U - Activities of extraterritorial organisations and
bodies (99)
Including households as employers of domestic
personnel, private households producing goods for
own use

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Appendix B: Occupational coding
The occupational data collected in the survey were collected both pre-coded and verbatim.
The former included the occupational breakdown of employment (question D5 to D8) where
respondents were asked how many of their workforce fell into each of the nine major (one-
digit) Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) 2010 categories (Managers, Directors and
Senior Officials through to Elementary Occupations). However, on vacancy measures (for
example the occupations in which vacancies exist – question C2) this information was
collected verbatim. This was then coded at the analysis stage, where possible to a four-
digit level SOC, if not three, two- or one-digit level.
Examples of what might fall into each occupational band are as follows:
Occupational
group
Primary sectors
(Agriculture,
manufacturing,
construction etc)
Service sectors (retail,
business, finance,
transport etc)
Public sector (Public
Admin, Health,
Education etc)
Managers,
Directors and
Senior Officials
Site managers,
Department Heads, Shift
Managers (not
supervisors)
Directors, Managers /
Branch/site managers,
shift managers (not
supervisors
Police inspectors and
above, department heads,
Head teachers, Senior
Officials
Professionals
Professional engineers,
software and IT
professionals,
accountants, chemists,
scientific researchers
Solicitors, lawyers,
accountants, IT
professionals,
economists, architects,
actuaries
Doctors, nurses,
midwives, teachers, social
workers, librarians
Associate
Professionals
Science and engineering
technicians, lab
technicians, IT
technicians, accounting
technicians
Insurance underwriters,
finance/investment
analysts and advisers,
writers/journalists, buyers,
estate agents
Junior police/fire/prison
officers, therapists,
paramedics, community
workers, H&S officers,
housing officers
Administrative
staff
Secretaries, receptionists,
PAs, telephonists,
bookkeepers
Secretaries, receptionists,
PAs, communication
operators, market
research interviewers,
clerks
Secretaries, receptionists,
PAs, local government
officers and assistants,
office assistants, library
and database assistants
Skilled Trades
Farmers, electricians,
machine setters / tool
makers, carpenters,
plasterers
Motor mechanics,
printers, TV engineers,
butchers
Chefs
Caring, Leisure
and Other Service
Occupations
Care assistants, nursery
nurses
Travel agents, travel
assistants, hairdressers,
housekeepers
Care assistants, home
carers, nursery nurses,
ambulance staff, pest
control, dental nurses,
caretakers
Sales and
customer service
occupations
Customer facing roles:
sales staff and call centre
agents
Sales assistants and retail
cashiers, telesales, call
centre agents
Customer care operations
Process, plant
and machine
operatives
Routine operatives,
drivers, machine
operators, sorters and
assemblers
HGV, van, fork-lift, bus
and taxi drivers
Drivers, vehicle
inspectors
Elementary
occupations
Labourers, packers,
goods handling and
storage staff
Bar staff, shelf fillers,
catering assistants,
waiters/waitresses,
cleaners
Labourers, cleaners, road
sweepers, traffic wardens,
security guards

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Appendix C: Quota targets, drawn sample and
achieved interviews
The table below shows for each region the ratio of sample drawn for each key quota group,
and the achievement of interviews against the original target. Note that “sample drawn”
figures are based on the sample information about size and sector, whereas the “interviews
achieved” figures are based on the size and sector information confirmed by the
respondent.

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
East of England
8,456
66,402
7.9
8,476
100%

2-4
1,547
13,171
8.5
1,469
95%
5-9
2,277
18,515
8.1
2,316
102%
10-24
2,629
21,176
8.1
2,738
104%
25-49
940
7,554
8.0
1,004
107%
50-99
563
3,392
6.0
581
103%
100-249
291
1,755
6.0
268
92%
250+
209
839
4.0
100
48%

Agriculture
295
3,364
11.4
228
77%
Mining and quarrying
12
123
10.3
10
83%
Manufacturing
664
5,087
7.7
801
121%
Electricity, gas and water
124
1,113
9.0
105
85%
Construction
911
7,214
7.9
750
82%
Wholesale and retail
1,391
10,501
7.5
1,519
109%
Hotels and restaurants
737
5,754
7.8
773
105%
Transport, storage and communication
734
5,696
7.8
680
93%
Financial services
282
2,258
8.0
223
79%
Business activities
1,343
10,372
7.7
1,368
102%
Public administration
78
667
8.6
61
78%
Education
512
3,689
7.2
556
109%
Health and social work
676
5,142
7.6
732
108%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
697
5,422
7.8
670
96%
East Midlands
7,268
57,192
7.9
7,269
100%

2-4
1,628
13,732
8.4
1,509
93%
5-9
2,087
16,935
8.1
2,173
104%
10-24
1,981
15,948
8.1
2,104
106%
25-49
724
5,810
8.0
759
105%
50-99
442
2,670
6.0
406
92%
100-249
234
1,415
6.0
233
100%
250+
172
682
4.0
85
49%

Agriculture
301
3,296
11.0
307
102%

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Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
Mining and quarrying
10
92
9.2
8
80%
Manufacturing
648
4,945
7.6
741
114%
Electricity, gas and water
93
847
9.1
103
111%
Construction
740
5,854
7.9
629
85%
Wholesale and retail
1,263
9,620
7.6
1,375
109%
Hotels and restaurants
647
5,068
7.8
666
103%
Transport, storage and communication
571
4,437
7.8
527
92%
Financial services
202
1,614
8.0
134
66%
Business activities
1,040
8,070
7.8
1,029
99%
Public administration
80
594
7.4
61
76%
Education
449
3,305
7.4
465
104%
Health and social work
631
4,838
7.7
653
103%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
593
4,612
7.8
571
96%

London
10,276
83,040
8.1
10,371
101%

2-4
1,369
14,247
10.4
1,794
131%
5-9
2,276
19,909
8.7
2,419
106%
10-24
3,640
29,165
8.0
3,507
96%
25-49
1,250
10,021
8.0
1,397
112%
50-99
866
5,222
6.0
725
84%
100-249
483
2,904
6.0
377
78%
250+
392
1,572
4.0
152
39%

Agriculture
10
117
11.7
3
30%
Mining and quarrying
3
35
11.7
12
400%
Manufacturing
636
5,479
8.6
553
87%
Electricity, gas and water
116
1,005
8.7
95
82%
Construction
842
7,112
8.4
695
83%
Wholesale and retail
1,596
12,091
7.6
1,855
116%
Hotels and restaurants
979
7,673
7.8
1,026
105%
Transport, storage and communication
976
8,396
8.6
915
94%
Financial services
536
4,289
8.0
426
79%
Business activities
2,125
17,596
8.3
2,207
104%
Public administration
96
877
9.1
92
96%
Education
602
4,472
7.4
648
108%
Health and social work
838
6,771
8.1
969
116%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
921
7,127
7.7
875
95%
North East
5,606
44,943
8.0
5,614
100%

2-4
2,429
20,542
8.5
2,257
93%
5-9
1,319
10,596
8.0
1,445
110%
10-24
1,036
8,323
8.0
1,089
105%
25-49
380
3,031
8.0
442
116%
50-99
237
1,412
6.0
230
97%
100-249
117
694
5.9
99
85%

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47

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
250+
88
345
3.9
52
59%

Agriculture
117
1,197
10.2
105
90%
Mining and quarrying
5
35
7.0
3
60%
Manufacturing
412
3,314
8.0
403
98%
Electricity, gas and water
39
358
9.2
39
100%
Construction
380
3,034
8.0
295
78%
Wholesale and retail
1,217
9,579
7.9
1,334
110%
Hotels and restaurants
678
5,344
7.9
665
98%
Transport, storage and communication
418
3,344
8.0
389
93%
Financial services
113
912
8.1
81
72%
Business activities
889
7,106
8.0
859
97%
Public administration
42
371
8.8
43
102%
Education
283
2,157
7.6
299
106%
Health and social work
417
3,333
8.0
511
123%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
596
4,859
8.2
588
99%

North West
8,734
68,097
7.8
8,763
100%

2-4
1,452
12,558
8.6
1,537
106%
5-9
1,942
15,726
8.1
2,127
110%
10-24
2,910
23,405
8.0
2,819
97%
25-49
1,133
9,134
8.1
1,377
122%
50-99
682
4,111
6.0
520
76%
100-249
349
2,100
6.0
280
80%
250+
266
1,063
4.0
103
39%

Agriculture
334
3,648
10.9
290
87%
Mining and quarrying
9
89
9.9
6
67%
Manufacturing
681
5,164
7.6
703
103%
Electricity, gas and water
133
1,217
9.2
129
97%
Construction
813
6,414
7.9
708
87%
Wholesale and retail
1,527
11,471
7.5
1,696
111%
Hotels and restaurants
799
6,173
7.7
836
105%
Transport, storage and communication
656
5,048
7.7
626
95%
Financial services
358
2,863
8.0
239
67%
Business activities
1,291
9,863
7.6
1,303
101%
Public administration
96
806
8.4
93
97%
Education
529
3,819
7.2
562
106%
Health and social work
771
5,818
7.5
881
114%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
737
5,704
7.7
691
94%
South East
10,688
81,798
7.7
10,730
100%

2-4
1,577
13,328
8.5
1,653
105%
5-9
2,351
18,131
7.7
2,360
100%
10-24
3,730
29,956
8.0
3,768
101%

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48

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
25-49
1,375
11,049
8.0
1,496
109%
50-99
878
5,283
6.0
834
95%
100-249
462
2,783
6.0
453
98%
250+
315
1,268
4.0
166
53%

Agriculture
223
2,564
11.5
226
101%
Mining and quarrying
15
145
9.7
12
80%
Manufacturing
765
5,823
7.6
863
113%
Electricity, gas and water
184
1,613
8.8
167
91%
Construction
1,083
7,628
7.0
868
80%
Wholesale and retail
1,695
12,643
7.5
1,895
112%
Hotels and restaurants
950
7,372
7.8
1,006
106%
Transport, storage and communication
952
7,301
7.7
899
94%
Financial services
443
3,543
8.0
299
67%
Business activities
1,819
14,000
7.7
1,834
101%
Public administration
123
1,003
8.2
121
98%
Education
646
4,558
7.1
689
107%
Health and social work
876
6,557
7.5
964
110%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
914
7,048
7.7
887
97%

South West
8,476
67,136
7.9
8,511
100%

2-4
1,882
16,399
8.7
1,758
93%
5-9
2,110
17,171
8.1
2,285
108%
10-24
2,595
20,867
8.0
2,674
103%
25-49
879
7,051
8.0
943
107%
50-99
543
3,259
6.0
483
89%
100-249
260
1,562
6.0
260
100%
250+
207
827
4.0
108
52%

Agriculture
579
6,155
10.6
527
91%
Mining and quarrying
19
169
8.9
17
89%
Manufacturing
623
4,787
7.7
688
110%
Electricity, gas and water
111
981
8.8
109
98%
Construction
851
6,749
7.9
803
94%
Wholesale and retail
1,362
10,305
7.6
1,512
111%
Hotels and restaurants
811
6,310
7.8
848
105%
Transport, storage and communication
650
5,072
7.8
630
97%
Financial services
285
2,282
8.0
179
63%
Business activities
1,224
9,450
7.7
1,233
101%
Public administration
91
729
8.0
79
87%
Education
496
3,621
7.3
512
103%
Health and social work
698
5,282
7.6
735
105%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
676
5,244
7.8
639
95%
West Midlands
7,892
62,086
7.9
7,914
100%

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49

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
2-4
1,431
12,397
8.7
1,401
98%
5-9
2,091
16,992
8.1
2,064
99%
10-24
2,431
19,572
8.1
2,605
107%
25-49
896
7,203
8.0
994
111%
50-99
574
3,462
6.0
472
82%
100-249
279
1,686
6.0
262
94%
250+
190
774
4.1
116
61%

Agriculture
328
3,724
11.4
275
84%
Mining and quarrying
8
81
10.1
11
138%
Manufacturing
705
5,360
7.6
834
118%
Electricity, gas and water
124
1,099
8.9
105
85%
Construction
754
5,982
7.9
619
82%
Wholesale and retail
1,383
10,491
7.6
1,608
116%
Hotels and restaurants
683
5,316
7.8
721
106%
Transport, storage and communication
609
4,701
7.7
530
87%
Financial services
277
2,216
8.0
172
62%
Business activities
1,155
8,893
7.7
1,134
98%
Public administration
77
659
8.6
76
99%
Education
487
3,548
7.3
527
108%
Health and social work
664
5,065
7.6
737
111%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
638
4,951
7.8
565
89%

Yorkshire and Humber
7,604
59,801
7.9
7,607
100%

2-4
1,507
12,972
8.6
1,497
99%
5-9
2,104
17,016
8.1
2,153
102%
10-24
2,240
18,010
8.0
2,323
104%
25-49
796
6,406
8.0
847
106%
50-99
523
3,151
6.0
448
86%
100-249
247
1,492
6.0
231
94%
250+
187
754
4.0
108
58%

Agriculture
337
3,684
10.9
302
90%
Mining and quarrying
9
93
10.3
8
89%
Manufacturing
645
4,883
7.6
716
111%
Electricity, gas and water
93
861
9.3
83
89%
Construction
753
5,968
7.9
613
81%
Wholesale and retail
1,362
10,353
7.6
1,527
112%
Hotels and restaurants
710
5,548
7.8
773
109%
Transport, storage and communication
576
4,461
7.7
547
95%
Financial services
243
1,946
8.0
133
55%
Business activities
1,063
8,199
7.7
1,033
97%
Public administration
68
565
8.3
70
103%
Education
463
3,379
7.3
498
108%
Health and social work
656
4,985
7.6
700
107%

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Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
Other community, social and personal
service activities
626
4,876
7.8
604
96%
Northern Ireland
4,000
32,215
8.1
4,014
100%

2-4
1,215
10,626
8.7
1,227
101%
5-9
1,088
8,759
8.1
1,182
109%
10-24
1,107
8,864
8.0
1,007
91%
25-49
275
2,198
8.0
307
112%
50-99
170
1,021
6.0
167
98%
100-249
80
482
6.0
83
104%
250+
65
265
4.1
41
63%

Agriculture
205
1,796
8.8
133
65%
Mining and quarrying
13
121
9.3
17
131%
Manufacturing
350
2,797
8.0
310
89%
Electricity, gas and water
28
250
8.9
43
154%
Construction
268
2,142
8.0
259
97%
Wholesale and retail
790
6,365
8.1
866
110%
Hotels and restaurants
389
3,169
8.1
385
99%
Transport, storage and communication
297
2,372
8.0
282
95%
Financial services
114
908
8.0
112
98%
Business activities
489
3,833
7.8
491
100%
Public administration
51
447
8.8
55
108%
Education
262
2,024
7.7
292
111%
Health and social work
356
2,850
8.0
408
115%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
388
3,141
8.1
361
93%

Scotland
6,000
46,897
7.8
6,014
100%

2-4
1,087
9,482
8.7
1,109
102%
5-9
1,030
8,502
8.3
1,079
105%
10-24
2,046
16,517
8.1
2,099
103%
25-49
836
6,744
8.1
869
104%
50-99
513
3,117
6.1
482
94%
100-249
285
1,724
6.0
264
93%
250+
203
811
4.0
112
55%

Agriculture
508
5,017
9.9
519
102%
Mining and quarrying
17
176
10.4
21
124%
Manufacturing
394
2,926
7.4
409
104%
Electricity, gas and water
78
721
9.2
86
110%
Construction
531
4,173
7.9
496
93%
Wholesale and retail
938
6,914
7.4
991
106%
Hotels and restaurants
570
4,379
7.7
571
100%
Transport, storage and communication
421
3,235
7.7
446
106%
Financial services
294
2,352
8.0
205
70%
Business activities
792
5,987
7.6
784
99%

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Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
Public administration
114
987
8.7
124
109%
Education
352
2,553
7.3
354
101%
Health and social work
494
3,632
7.4
568
115%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
497
3,845
7.7
440
89%

Wales
6,000
48,712
8.1
5,996
100%

2-4
2,004
17,781
8.9
1,847
92%
5-9
1,714
13,838
8.1
1,753
102%
10-24
1,335
10,708
8.0
1,476
111%
25-49
455
3,646
8.0
512
113%
50-99
268
1,597
6.0
236
88%
100-249
121
734
6.1
128
106%
250+
103
408
4.0
44
43%

Agriculture
510
4,689
9.2
492
96%
Mining and quarrying
9
83
9.2
13
144%
Manufacturing
444
3,562
8.0
401
90%
Electricity, gas and water
59
525
8.9
84
142%
Construction
553
4,423
8.0
467
84%
Wholesale and retail
1,003
7,910
7.9
1,109
111%
Hotels and restaurants
602
4,901
8.1
618
103%
Transport, storage and communication
440
3,576
8.1
419
95%
Financial services
169
1,350
8.0
127
75%
Business activities
746
5,959
8.0
736
99%
Public administration
57
504
8.8
67
118%
Education
378
2,942
7.8
394
104%
Health and social work
543
4,377
8.1
602
111%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
487
3,911
8.0
467
96%

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Appendix D: Response rates by subgroup

Interviews
achieved
Response
Rate
England
75,255
43%
Northern Ireland
4,014
47%
Scotland
6,014
51%
Wales
5,996
45%

2-4
19,058
44%
5-9
23,356
44%
10-24
28,209
44%
25-49
10,947
45%
50-99
5,584
43%
100-249
2,938
41%
250+
1,187
36%

Agriculture
3,407
35%
Mining and quarrying
138
40%
Manufacturing
7,422
40%
Electricity, gas and water
1,148
37%
Construction
7,202
38%
Wholesale and retail
17,287
44%
Hotels and restaurants
8,888
52%
Transport, storage and communication
6,890
36%
Financial services
2,330
34%
Business activities
14,011
42%
Public administration
942
48%
Education
5,796
56%
Health and social work
8,460
60%
Other community, social and personal
service activities
7,358
49%

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Appendix E: Sampling error and statistical
confidence
Sampling errors for the survey results overall and for key sub-groups are presented in the
table below. Figures have been based on a survey result of 50 per cent (the ‘worst’ case
in terms of statistical reliability), and have used a 95 per cent confidence level. Where the
table indicates that a survey result based on all respondents has a sampling error of +/-
0.32 per cent, this should be interpreted as follows: ‘for a question asked of all respondents
where the survey result is 50 per cent, we are 95 per cent confident that the true figure lies
within the range 49.68 per cent to 50.32 per cent’.
As a note, the calculation of sampling error has taken into account the finite population
correction factor to account for cases where we are measuring a significant portion of the
population universe (i.e. even if two sample sizes are the same, the sampling error will be
lower if in one case a far higher proportion of the population was covered).
These confidence intervals are based on the assumption of a normal distribution of
responses.
Sampling error (at the confidence 95 per cent level) associated with findings of 50 per cent

Population
Number of
interviews
(Maximum)
Sampling
Error
Overall
1,743,847
91,279
+/-0.32
By country

England
1,465,963
75,255
+/-0.36
Northern Ireland
55,603
4,014
+/-1.55
Scotland
140,948
6,014
+/-1.26
Wales
81,333
5,996
+/-1.27
By size of establishment

2-4
907,729
19,058
+/-0.71
5-24
651,910
51,565
+/-0.43
25-99
146,623
16,531
+/-0.76
100-249
26,105
2,938
+/-1.81
250+
11,480
1,187
+/-2.84

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By sector

Agriculture
94,386
3,407
+/-1.68
Mining & Quarrying
1,712
138
+/-8.34
Manufacturing
99,955
7,422
+/-1.14
Electricity, Gas and Water
9,339
1,148
+/-2.89
Construction
162,801
7,202
+/-1.15
Wholesale and Retail
372,433
17,287
+/-0.75
Hotels & Restaurants
155,283
8,888
+/-1.04
Transport and
Communications
121,484
6,890
+/-1.18
Financial Services
40,030
2,330
+/-2.03
Business Services
348,735
14,011
+/-0.83
Public Administration
21,408
942
+/-3.19
Education
57,523
5,796
+/-1.29
Health and Social Work
130,010
8,460
+/-1.07
Community, Social and
Personal Services
128,748
7,358
+/-1.14

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Appendix F: Questionnaire changes for 2013
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
General
Modularisation
In 2013 modularisation has been
used for all countries to reduce
questionnaire length (in 2011
Scotland omitted the section on
retention instead and asked all
modular questions)
Increase consistency
between nations
A1
Number of staff on
payroll
Clarification added for the
respondent to include themselves.
Wording simplified to ‘all others’ on
payroll.
Change required as part of
move to a “2+ employment”
definition of the survey
population.
A1X
Confirmation of one
working proprietor
New question added to confirm with
respondents that give answer of ‘1’
employee at A1 that this includes
themself (if yes then screen out)
Change required as part of
move to a “2+ employment”
definition of the survey
population.
A1A
Change in number
of staff
Moved from position B1.
In 2011 it lead in to questions
about retention. In 2013
these questions were not
asked so it improved
questionnaire flow to move it.
A2A
Whether own all or
part of organisation
Removed for UKCESS13
The move to a “2+
employment” definition of the
survey population meant it
was no longer necessary to
know if the respondent was a
working proprietor.
A4
Whether, if
multisite, the site is
a branch, HQ etc.
Replaced by A4new which confirms
whether the site is the head office of
the organisation.
The benefit of splitting
branch, division, and
subsidiary was more detail
than was required (or indeed
area / regional office) –
though do still need to know
whether head office. Time
savings could be achieved by
only asking whether head
office.

A4a
Country of HQ
Question updated to only ask
whether HQ of organisation is based
in or outside of the UK.
Full level of A4a detail was
felt to be unnecessary to ask
every year, so to save survey
time it was cut down to just
the key piece of information -

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56
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
whether HQ is inside or
outside of UK.
(This has been flagged as
one to rotate full detail back
in 2015)
A5
(If multi- site)
Number of
employees across
the UK
Question wording updated and
banding for answers simplified to
Micro (<10); small (10-49); medium
(50-249); large (250-999); very large
(1,000+).
Full level of detail not
required for reporting. Time
savings can be achieved
through simplifying bands.
A7
SIC coding
SIC coding prompts updated
To improve clarity of SIC
data.
A8
Classification of
business
Add if necessary text for local-
government financed body updated
for clarification
To improve clarity of coding.
A9
(If multi-site and not
HQ): where
decisions made
about training and
recruitment
Removed for UKCESS13
Not used extensively in
analysis so decision was
made that those
questionnaire seconds could
be better utilised elsewhere.
A9A
Proportion of
workforce with
ownership of
organisation
Removed for UKCESS13
The move to a “2+
employment” definition of the
survey population meant it
was no longer necessary to
know how many people
owned organisation.
A10
Whether they
primarily serve
local, regional,
national, UK or
international
markets
Modularised
Modularised to save time on
the survey.
Section B
Retention /
Retention
Difficulties
Section removed for UKCESS13 –
question B1 moved to position A1A
Rotated out for UKCESS13
to save time.
C1A
Recruitment in past
2-3 years
Question added for UKCESS13 to
establish whether they have recruited
anyone in the past 2-3 years
Question required as part of
young people recruitment
questions – for routing and
questionnaire flow. A section
on the recruitment of young
people has been added in
2013 as a key area of policy
interest. The area was

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57
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
covered in Employer
Perspectives Survey 2012
but its emphasis is more in
line with the UKCESS survey
and it is also possible to
obtain information from a
larger base size with this
survey than UKCEPS.
C1
Education leavers
recruitment
Only those who have recruited
anyone in the past 2-3 years are now
asked this question.
Routing added to save time
on the survey and improve
questionnaire flow.
C2
Education leavers
recruitment- HEI
level
Clarification included to C2_iv that
education leavers from HEIs should
be included regardless of their age.
Question required as part of
young people recruitment
questions.
C2a (and
C3c for
Scotland)
In addition to C1
and C2 asking
about recruitment
of young people in
the last 2-3 years,
this asked about
the last 12 months
(for the 4
categories of young
people)
C2A and C3C removed for
UKCESS13
Reporting only requires one
of the timeframes 2-3 years
or 12 months. In order to
maintain suitable base sizes
for nations, 2-3 years was
retained and 12 month
removed.

C5A-
C3BX
Whether recruited
young people
(under age of 25)
New questions added to UKCESS13
to confirm whether or not recruited
young people in the last 2-3 years
Question required as part of
young people recruitment
questions.
C5CNEW
Whether young
people applied
New question added to UKCESS13
to establish whether any young
people actually applied for jobs in the
last 2-3 years.

Question required as part of
young people recruitment
questions.
C5CA
and C5D
Skills lacking in
young people
New questions added to UKCESS13
to understand why young applicants
had not been taken on, and the skills
they were lacking.
Question required as part of
young people recruitment
questions.
C9
Whether hard to fill
vacancies
Wording updated for clarification

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58
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
C13
Have you found
any of the following
skills difficult to
obtain from
applicants?
The code for ‘Office admin skills’ was
removed for UKCESS13 and ‘Job
specific skills’ was merged with
‘Technical or practical skills’
Skills list re-evaluated to
make time savings on
questionnaire and improve
flow. Cognitive interviewing
demonstrated that “office
admin” and “basic computer
skills” were often
interchangeable so this code
was deleted, and that
“technical or practical skills”
were commonly also “job
specific” so these codes
were merged.
D1 / D1a
/ D2
How many staff
qualified to degree
level;
HNC/HND/Foundati
on degree; level 3
D1A and D2 were removed for
UKCESS13. D1 was changed to ask
about number of staff that are
qualified to level 4 or above. Where
the exact number is not known,
respondents are asked which band
for the proportion of their workforce
that it would fall into.
Questions combined /
deleted to save time. Key
interest is in identifying those
with highly skilled workforce.

D4
(Module 1, &
Scotland) Whether
have various pay
and incentive
schemes
D4 moved to section G and only
asked of those in module 1. This
question is now G1A.
HPW measure, so moved to
sit with other HPW questions.
D5
Occupational
breakdown
New introductory text added to
explain the format of the occupational
breakdown to the respondent.
This was to clarify how the
questions should be
answered in order to save
time / improve accuracy.

D7
Occupational
breakdown
Question text updated for
clarification. Refinements were also
made to occupational details.
Changes made to improve
accuracy of coding.
D8A
Occupations of
those who own all
or part of the
organisation
Question removed for UKCESS13
The move to a “2+
employment” definition of the
survey population meant it
was no longer necessary to
know about working
proprietors.
D9
Number of
employees
proficient at their
job
Scotland/NI text sub no longer
required
The move to a “2+
employment” definition of the
survey population meant it
was no longer necessary to

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59
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
know about working
proprietors.
D9
Number of
employees
proficient at their
job
Question text updated for clarification

D9A
Whether those who
are not fully
proficient are
owners / part
owners of the
business
Question removed for UKCESS13
The move to a “2+
employment” definition of the
survey population meant it
was no longer necessary to
know about working
proprietors.

D9B
Number of owners /
part owners of the
business who are
not fully proficient
Question removed for UKCESS13
The move to a “2+
employment” definition of the
survey population meant it
was no longer necessary to
know about working
proprietors.
D10
What are the main
causes of staff not
being fully proficient
at their job?
Now asked of only 2 occupations
across all countries (previously asked
of all occupations not proficient in
NI).

Increase consistency
between countries.
D11
Have you found
any of the following
skills difficult to
obtain from
applicants?
The code for ‘Office admin skills’ was
removed for UKCESS13 and ‘Job
specific skills’ was merged with
‘Technical or practical skills’
See C13

D13
Impact of having
non proficient staff
Code for ‘Increase operating costs’
changed to ‘Have higher operating
costs’
Improve understanding of
question
D13A
Whether steps
taken to improve
proficiency of staff
with skill gaps
Text for ‘or do you have plans to do
so’ was removed.
Remove ambiguity over “yes”
answer at this question
D14
Steps taken to
overcome having
Codes are now rotated in the order
read out.
Improve data reliability /
reduce interviewing effects
on response

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Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
staff not fully
proficient
D15
Under-utilisation
(over-qualified) staff
Question now only asked of those in
module 2
Moved to Module 2 to save
time on survey.

E1
Predicted need for
new skills as a
result of various
factors.
New question included in UKCESS13
Rotated in for 2013 (was not
included in 2011, and not
intended for inclusion in
2015).
E2
Single occupation
most affected by
need to acquire
skills or knowledge
New question included in UKCESS13
Rotated in for 2013 (was not
included in 2011, and not
intended for inclusion in
2015).
E3
Skills needed
improving or
updating over next
12 months
New question included in UKCESS13
Rotated in for 2013 (was not
included in 2011, and not
intended for inclusion in
2015).
F5
Reasons for not
providing training
Question text re-worded for
clarification and improved
questionnaire flow.
“funded or arranged” focuses
people on the word “funded”
which implies external –
“arranged or funded”
improves the flow.
F6
Types of training
provided
Question text re-worded for
clarification.
As above
F7a
(If provide Health
and safety or
induction training)
What % of their
training has been
for induction and
H&S?
Question text re-worded for
clarification. The range of the %
bands were expanded for
UKCESS13
As above; also the bandings
were brought in line with how
it is reported.
F7
Other staff
development
provided
Code 1 reworded for clarification.

F8
Number of staff
trained
Prompt added to display the total
number of staff at the site.
Improve questionnaire flow
F8chk
Number of staff
trained
Check question added to confirm if
all current staff had been trained
(only asked if number of staff trained
= number of total staff at site). If all
This check question leads to
time savings and reduced
burden on respondent by
allowing F9/F10 to be coded

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Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
staff had been trained then F9/F10
can be skipped.
automatically based on D5-8
where appropriate.
F9/F10
Staff occupations
trained
Question text re-worded for
clarification.
See F5.
F10
Number of staff in
each occupation
trained
Prompt added to display the number
of staff in each occupation as
recorded in the section D
occupational breakdown.
To help the interviewer and
respondent reference what
had already been recorded –
improves questionnaire flow.
F10A/
F10B
Whether owners of
organisation had
received training
Questions removed for UKCESS13
The move to a “2+
employment” definition of the
survey population meant it
was no longer necessary to
know about working
proprietors.
F11
Days training
provided per
member of staff
Question text re-worded for
clarification.
See F5
F12
Number of staff
trained to nationally
recognised
qualification
New codes added for ‘Don’t know
how many, but there were some’ and
‘Don’t know if any’
Improve clarity of response
and allow F13 to be asked
even if respondent does not
know exact number.
F13
Level of
qualification staff
were trained to
Question text re-worded for
clarification.
See F5.

F14
Number of staff
trained to each
level
Question removed for UKCESS13
This level of detail was not
deemed critical, so was
removed to save time on the
survey
F15A
Whether more
training would have
been provided if
able to
New question for UKCESS13
Brought in from 2011’s
follow-up “Skills equilibrium”
survey
F15B
Barriers to
providing more
training over the
last 12 months
New question for UKCESS13
Brought in from 2011’s
follow-up “Skills equilibrium”
survey
G1
Skills
Utilisation/High
Performance
Working
G1_1 and G1_3 removed for
UKCESS13. New codes added for
whether establishment consults with
trade unions or conducts training
needs assessments.
Improvements to the
information gathered
regarding High Performance
Working

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Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
G3/G4
Whether formal
disciplinary
procedures for non-
managerial staff /
Methods used for
staff
communications
Questions removed for UKCESS13
Improvements to the
information gathered
regarding High Performance
Working
H1A
Product Market
Strategy-
customisation of
products
This question was changed to a
scale of 1 (No customisation) to 5
(substantial customisation)
Align with other PMS
questions.

H1C
Product Market
Strategy- extent to
which
establishment leads
the way in new
products
Public sector organisations are no
longer excluded from this question.
It was felt that public sector
establishments could often
give a meaningful answer
here.
H1
H1E/F. Product
Market Strategy- IT
systems, and
extent to which
services are
automated
Questions removed for UKCESS13
Removed to save time on
questionnaire, as they were
not extensively reported in
2011.
I3
Re-contact
question
Question text updated for
UKCESS13
Reviewed in line with MRS
code
I2
Re-contact
question
Question text updated for
UKCESS13 and moved to after I3C
Reviewed in line with MRS
code

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Appendix G: Briefing notes and core questionnaire

Interviewer Briefing Notes
Background to the survey
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) was established in 2008; its aim is to
is to work with and through our partners to secure a greater commitment to invest in the skills of
people to drive enterprise, jobs and growth. The Employer Skills Survey 2013 (UKCESS2013) will
play an important role in achieving this, by measuring the skills employers need, the skills they are
short of, actions they are taking to increase skills in their workforces and the impact of any skills
gaps they experience.
UKCESS2013 is the second time the skills surveys of the four nations of the UK have been brought
together into one survey. It builds upon the findings of the same survey conducted two years ago
UKCESS2011, this was also conducted by IFF (job number 4932). UKCES are partnering with the
department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in England, the Scottish Government, the
Welsh Government and the Department for Education and Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI) to
get a UK-wide measure of the skills landscape.
UKCESS2013 is part of a wider research series into skills for the workplace, and is a sister survey
to the Employer Perspectives Survey, which was last run by IFF in 2012. UKCESS2013 is designed
to be “inward looking”, that is, it asks about areas relating to the respondent’s own establishment
and internal procedures; the sister UKCEPS survey is “outward looking”, examining their experience
of government initiatives and external assistance. Together, the survey results are used to help
inform learning provision in the UK so that it meets the skill needs of employers.
The survey design is largely unchanged compared to the 2011 study, with a few amendments to the
questions. The main difference is the global move across all four nations to exclude establishments
with only one employee (including the working proprietor/owner) and thus the 2013 study will based
on establishments with 2 or more employees
The questionnaire covers such areas as recruitment difficulties, current and future skill requirements
training and recruitment of young people.
This is one of the largest surveys of employers ever conducted in the UK.
Scope of the survey
For the mainstage this year, c.91,000 interviews are being conducted overall. This is being divided
between 4 fieldwork providers: IFF Research, MORI, GfK and BMG. Each contractor is covering
different regions as follows.

IFF Research
Wales, Northern Ireland, London, North West + c.1,800 multi sites
MORI
East, North East, Scotland
BMG
South West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber, East Midlands
GfK
South East

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An establishment-based survey
The survey is establishment-based. Hence we are likely to be interviewing a number of different
sites of organisations with a large number of sites. It is crucial that we emphasise to the respondent
that all the questions refer to that particular site, not the business as a whole.
We are not taking referrals to other sites. This is because the other sites may themselves have been
sampled, and also in large chains headquarters staff may receive a very large number of these
referrals, and it is important that employers are not burdened.
Many of the questions asked need to be answered at site level – for example its unlikely head offices
will know whether each individual member of staff is fully proficient at their job.
The sample
The sample of establishments has been drawn from the Experian Business Database. Sample has
been drawn from all sectors (public and private).

Identifying the correct respondent
Most of the sample is not named. Where it is named this is where the respondent has taken part in
the last study (in 2011). There is no guarantee that the person is still the right person to talk to (and
in many cases they will now work at a different establishment or will have left the organisation
altogether). The name will help as a way in, but you do need to check that they are the correct
person still.
Whether a name is supplied or not, it is one of your tasks to identify the most appropriate person at
that site to interview. We want to speak to the most senior person at the site with responsibility
for human resource and personnel issues.
At smaller establishments this is likely to be the owner or general manager, whilst at larger business
sites there is likely to be someone with a designated personnel function. There will be someone at
every site able to take part – a number of people at the same site have the same level of
seniority/responsibility then we can select any of them as an eligible respondent.

Persuading people to take part (and outcome codes)
As well as the usual stressing of confidentiality etc., the following should be noted, which may help
persuade some to take part:

 It is the chance for them to input into research which will help planners develop policies
to address employer skill needs
 If they want to check the survey is legitimate they can go to the UKCES website
www.ukces.org.uk/employersurveys – Additionally, if they type in ‘skills survey' in
the ‘search’ function they can see copies of the report from the last time's survey. We do
have a contact at the UKCES (shown in the survey reassurances) but this should be
given out sparingly as we do not want them flooded with calls.
 We can send a reassurance fax/email (a copy of this is attached for your reference)
 A report of the survey results will appear on the UKCES website in early 2014

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 Respondents may say that they took part in the 2009 (England only) or 2011
(Nationwide) studies, if this is that case we still want to interview them to update our
information

If people are very busy currently then please arrange a date to call back when they should be quieter
(the fieldwork goes on until mid-July 2013, so we are expecting very few ‘too busy during fieldwork’
outcomes).
If the respondent refuses, then we are interested to record if they say this is because this is company
policy or because they have recently taken part in a survey (we are not asking this specifically, we
are only recording this if they offer this reason spontaneously). If this reason is not spontaneously
given then just record it as a straight refusal.
Screenshot of information on website:

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The questionnaire
After screening questions, there are 8 sections to the questionnaire (A-I – although there is no
section B).

The interview will last around 22 minutes on average, though there will be quite a lot of variation
between respondents, depending on responses at particular questions. For smaller organisations
the interview may only take around 15 minutes.

Section
Description
S
Screening questions
A
Establishment details (“Firmographics”)
B
(There is no section B)
C
Recruitment & Recruitment Difficulties
D
Demand for skills / Skills gaps
E
Upskilling
F
Workforce Development
G
Skills utilisation / High performance working
H
Business strategy and structure
I
Closing questions

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Draft Questionnaire
J5191

19/5/15
Employer Skills Survey 2013 – MAINSTAGE Telephone
Screener
SAMPLE VARIABLES USED IN SURVEY:

Country (country)
England
1

Northern Ireland
2

Scotland
3

Wales
4
SIC Description (sicdesc)
Text field

Company name (company)
Text field

Sector for quotas (sector)
Agriculture
1

Mining & Quarrying
2

Manufacturing
3

Electricity, Gas and Water
4

Construction
5

Wholesale and Retail
6

Hotels and Restaurants
7

Trade, Accommodation and
Transport
8

Financial Services
9

Business Services
10

Public Admin
11

Education
12

Health and Social Work
13

Community, Social and Personal
services
14

SCREENING OUTCOMES

Hard appointment
Soft appointment
Refusal
Refusal (company policy)
Refusal (taken part in recent survey)
Nobody at site to answer questions
Not available in deadline
Residential number
Dead line
Company closed
Company too small
Out of quota
Unobtainable (no reply)

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Region for quotas (region)
East of England
1

East Midlands
2

London
3

North East
4

North West
5

South East
6

South West
7

West Midlands
8

Yorkshire and Humber
9

Northern Ireland
10

Scotland
11

Wales
12

ASK TELEPHONIST
S1
Good morning / afternoon. Can I just check, is this [COMPANY NAME FROM
SAMPLE]?
Yes – correct
1
CONTINUE
No – company name wrong
2
TAKE CORRECT
COMPANY NAME AND
CONTINUE
Hard appointment
3
MAKE APPOINTMENT
Soft appointment
4
Refusal
5
CLOSE

Refusal – company policy
6
Refusal – taken part in recent survey
7
Residential Number
8
Company closed
9

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S1

This is an establishment-based survey for which local and regional analysis will be paramount.

(i) If the company name has changed (compared to the one on screen) collect the new name and
continue.
(ii) do not take referrals to other sites or locations, we must talk to a person at the
establishment specified on the sample

The only exception to this is when the phone number on the sample is a central call centre (i.e in the
case of banks). You will not need to identify these; they have already been marked on the sample and
if the number you are calling is a central call centre number the company address will appear with the
company name. In these cases you must ask to be put through to the branch or site named. We do not
want to interview somebody at the call centre location.

This is the only time you can be put through to a different site; if the company address does not appear
with the company name you need to speak to someone at the site called.

Please take time to get familiar with the range of outcome codes. These appear at a number of places on
the questionnaire.

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IF S1=1 OR 2
S2
My name is NAME, calling from [COMPANY NAME], an independent market research
company. We’re conducting a government survey about recruitment, human
resources and workplace skills. Can I speak to the most senior person at this
establishment with responsibility for these sorts of issues?
INTERVIEWER NOTE: IF RESPONDENT ATTEMPTS TO TRANSFER TO SOMEONE AT
ANOTHER SITE: We need to speak to someone at this site rather than someone at
another branch or office of your organisation. Could I speak to the person at this site
who would have the best overview of the skills that your establishment needs its
workers to have?
Person on phone is correct respondent
1
CONTINUE
Referred to someone else at establishment

NAME_____________________________

JOB TITLE_________________________

2
TRANSFER AND ASK S3
Hard appointment
3
MAKE APPOINTMENT
Soft appointment
4
Refusal
5
THANK AND CLOSE
Refusal – company policy
6
Refusal – taken part in recent survey
7
No one at site to answer questions
10
Not available in deadline (July 2013)
8
WANTS REASSURANCES
9
SHOW REASSURANCES

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S2
In some cases respondents may state that there is no-one with single, overall responsibility for
human resource and personnel issues, possibly because separate departments or areas of the
business each have their own HR/Personnel function. In such cases, interviewers should ask to
speak to the person with responsibility for the largest number of employees AND seek to obtain
best estimate responses relating to the entire establishment.

Equally, it may be the case that respondents state that responsibility for issues lies with someone
at another location, such as the company HQ. This is particularly likely to be the case with chains
of establishments (e.g. retail chains, high street banks, etc.). As above, we cannot take referrals to
other locations, so you will need to ask to speak to the person at the site with the best overview
– this is likely to be job functions such as branch manager, general manager, site manager, office
manager, etc.

In some cases we have named sample. These are people who completed the survey in 2011 and
are happy to be re-contacted. Please ask for this person in the first instance, and try to make an
appointment if they are not available. If they no longer work at the establishment, or the name is
not recognised please ask for the person at the establishment that has the greatest involvement
in recruitment, human resources and workplace skills.

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ASK ALL
S3
IF TRANSFERRED AT S2: Good morning/afternoon, my name is NAME and I am
calling from [COMPANY NAME], an independent research organisation.
ALL: We are conducting a survey on behalf of the UK Commission for Employment and
Skills and [ENGLAND: the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) WALES:
the Welsh Government SCOTLAND: the Scottish Government NI: the Department for
Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI)].
The survey aims to help Government and other organisations to help employers like
you, by better understanding your needs in terms of skills, training and employment.
Your co-operation will ensure that the views expressed are representative of all
employers in your industry.
The interview will take on average 20 minutes depending on the answers given.
Would it be convenient to conduct the interview now?

Yes – continue
1
CONTINUE
Definite Appointment
2
MAKE DEFINITE
APPOINTMENT
Soft appointment
3
MAKE SOFT CALL BACK
Refusal
4
THANK AND CLOSE
Refusal – company policy
5
Refusal – taken part in recent survey
6
Not available in deadline
7
WANTS REASSURANCES
8
SHOW REASSURANCES

REASSURANCES TO USE IF NECESSARY
The interview will take around 20 minutes to complete.
Please note that all data will be reported in aggregate form and your answers will not be reported to our
client in any way that would allow you to be identified.
If respondent wishes to confirm validity of survey or get more information about aims and objectives, they
can visit the UKCES website or call:
MRS: Market Research Society on xx-xxxx-xxxx
[COMPANY CONTACTS IFF: Jolyon Fairburn-Beech or Mark Tweddle on xx-xxxx-xxxx]
UKCES: Simon Fathers on xx-xxxx-xxxx

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S3
If the respondent needs reassurance about the survey a list of reassurances can be brought up on
screen by selecting the ‘wants reassurances’ option.

If the respondent requires proof that the survey is legitimate there is a reassurance email/fax
available, or you can direct them to the UKCES website which will have an area set up regarding
this survey and also shows results for the UKCESS 2011 survey (type in 'skills survey' to the
search option on the website).

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ASK ALL BASED IN WALES (COUNTRY=4)
S4)
Would you prefer the interview to be carried out in Welsh or English?

Welsh
1
AGREE CONVENIENT TIME FOR WELSH CALL BACK
English
2
CONTINUE

DUMMOD:

DUMMY QUESTION TO SET MODULE

MODULE 1 (50% OF SAMPLE ASSIGNED RANDOMLY)
1
MODULE 2 (50% OF SAMPLE ASSIGNED RANDOMLY)
2

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S4
Welsh respondents will get the option here to complete the survey in Welsh; if this is required
then record an appropriate date/time for a welsh interviewer to call back. (IFF Fieldwork only)

DUMMOD
This dummy variable is randomly assigned to each respondent. As the survey is too long to ask
all of the questions to everybody some sections are only asked to half of the sample. This will
determine which sections respondents will be asked but the variable is hidden in the script.

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A Firmographics
ASK ALL
A1
First, some questions about your organisation and the site at which you work.
How many people work at this establishment? Please include yourself and others on
your payroll and any working proprietors or owners, but exclude the self-employed and
outside contractor or agency staff.
INTERVIEWER NOTE: NON-EMPLOYEE TRAINERS AND EMPLOYEES UNDER 16
SHOULD BE EXCLUDED.
PROBE FOR BEST ESTIMATE AND RECORD NUMBER
CLOSE IF DON’T KNOW / REFUSED

A1DUM) CATI TO CODE RANGE AUTOMATICALLY AND CHECK QUOTA

1
1
GO TO A1X
2-4
2
GO TO A3
5-9
3
10-24
4
25-49
5
50-99
6
100-249
7
250 or more
8

IF A1DUM=1
A1X Can I just check, are you including yourself in that answer?

Yes
1
THANK AND
CLOSE
No
2
RESET
A1DUM TO
CODE 2 AND
RESET A1 TO
'2'

IF A1X=2 READ OUT: For the purpose of this interview we will be classifying your
organisation as having two employees.

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A1

A1 is required to establish sizeband and quota. If the respondent says “don’t know” or “refuse” here
then the survey will close, so please encourage them to give a best estimate even if they are unsure of
the exact figure.
Both full and part-time staff should be included.

We are including all those on the payroll and any owners or part-owners, but excluding self-employed
and those working for contractors / an agency.

Partners in a partnership (e.g. in a law firm) should be included.

Please remember that this survey is establishment based; respondents should only be thinking about
the number of staff at that particular site. Please be very careful to enter the number accurately as it
will drive logic checks later in the questionnaire and will slow the interview down considerably if you
need to skip back to this question to correct an error.

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ASK MODULE 2 (DUMMOD=2)
A1A Compared to 12 months ago, has the number of people employed at this
establishment… ? READ OUT AND CODE ONE ONLY.

Remained about the same,
1
Increased
2
Decreased
3
DO NOT READ OUT: Was not in business 12 months ago
4
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X
ASK ALL
A3
Is this establishment..? READ OUT. SINGLE CODE.
The only establishment in the organisation, or
1
GO TO A6
One of a number of establishments within a larger
organisation
2
ASK A4NEW

A4
THERE IS NO A4

ASK IF MULTI-SITE ORGANISATION (A3=2)
A4NEW Is this site the Head Office of the organisation?

Yes – Head Office
1
No
2
Don’t know
3

ASK IF MULTISITE BUT NOT HEAD OFFICE (A3=2 AND A4NEW=2 or 3)
A4A Are the headquarters of your organisation based in the UK or outside of the UK?

PROMPT AS NECESSARY. CODE ONE ONLY.

Within the UK
1
Outside the UK
2
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

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A1A

Here we ask about the change in employment levels at the establishment over the last 12 months.

A4-A5

These questions are to get some context about how this establishment fits into the organisation as a
whole. The most important distinction to capture at A4 is whether they are the head office or not and
at A4A whether their HQ is inside or outside the UK

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ASK IF MULTI-SITE ORGANISATION (A3=2)
A5
And how many people work in your organisation across the UK as a whole?
ADD IF NECESSARY: By that I mean both full-time and part-time employees on your
payroll, as well as any working proprietors or owners.
PROBE FOR BEST ESTIMATE AND RECORD NUMBER – ONLY ALLOW NUMBERS
LARGER THAN GIVEN AT ESTABLISHMENT SIZE QUESTION (A1) UNLESS A4A=2 IN
WHICH CASE ALLOW A5>=A1.

IF DK, PROMPT WITH RANGES (DO NOT ALLOW RANGES SMALLER THAN THE
RANGE GIVEN AT A1DUM)

(IF ANSWER GIVEN, CATI CODE RANGES AUTOMATICALLY)

A5RAN
Under 10 (micro)
1
10-49 (small)
2
50-249 (medium)
3
250-999 (large)
4
1,000+ (very large)
5
Don’t know
X
IF MULTI-SITE ORGANISATION (A3=2):
From now on, when I use the word ‘establishment’, I mean the site at which you work.

ASK ALL
A6
I have [SIC DESCRIPTION ON SAMPLE] as a general classification for your
establishment. Does this sound about right?

Yes
1
No
2

IF NO (A6=2):

A7
How would you describe the main business activity of this establishment?
PROBE FULLY:
What would you type into a search engine to find an organisation like yours
online?

What is the main product or service of this establishment?

What exactly is made or done at this establishment?

Who does it sell its product/services to?

S
WRITE IN. TO BE CODED TO 4-DIGIT SIC07.

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A5 Asks about how many people their organisation employs in total IN THE UK – so not including
any employees based overseas. A best estimate will do if they are unsure of the exact figure

A6-A7

These Qs check the main business activity of the establishment (as opposed to their whole
organisation). A broad classification will appear (taken from information supplied by the Experian
Database) and we check that this broad classification is correct. Please note that this is a general
classification and we check at A6 if this ‘sounds about right’.

If not, please write in the main activity of the site at A7 so it can be coded later. This information needs
to be detailed so that we can code to 4 digit SIC (i.e. ‘Manufacturing’ or ‘retail’ will not be sufficient. We
need to know what they manufacture or what they sell, who they supply to etc. We will discuss this in
more detail at the briefing.) The prompts are to be used as appropriate – i.e. if the first prompt does not
give you enough detail, move on to the second, then the 3rd etc.

We will be conducting checks on input here throughout the fieldwork and will provide any feedback on
where information can be entered clearer

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ASK ALL
A8
Would you classify your organisation as one ...? READ OUT. CODE ONE ONLY

MAINLY seeking to make a profit
1
A charity or voluntary sector organisation or a social enterprise
2
A local-government financed body
ADD IF NECESSARY: such as a service provided or funded by the
council such as leisure centres, social care, waste or environmental
health services
3
A central government financed body
ADD IF NECESSARY: such as the Civil Service, any part of the NHS, a
college or university, the Armed Services, an Executive Agency or other
non-departmental public bodies
4
DO NOT READ OUT: None of the above, other (SPECIFY)
5

A9
THERE IS NO A9

ASK MODULE 1
A10 IF PRIVATE SECTOR (A8=1): Are your products or services primarily sold…?
IF PUBLIC/THIRD SECTOR (A8=2-5): Does your establishment primarily serve the
population…?
READ OUT. CODE ONE ONLY.

Locally – within an individual town or local area
1
Regionally – within a specific area of
[England/Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland]
2
Nationally – within [England/Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland]
3
Within the UK
4
Internationally – outside the UK
5
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X
DO NOT READ OUT: Not applicable
Y

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A8

This question classifies the activities of the establishment. There are very few establishments which
should legitimately answer ‘none of the above/other’ at A8. ‘Seeking a profit’ covers almost all private
sector establishments; it doesn’t matter whether they are actually making a profit or not!

When categorising an organisation involved in local services please code with caution. Some services
operate at 'council level' but are financed by central government.

A private sector company whose clients are all government bodies/departments does NOT count as
government funded

If the respondent does answer ‘none of the above/other’ at A8 they will be asked to classify the activities
of the organisation. Answers such as ‘plumber/hairdresser/hospital’ are not acceptable here, please
probe to find a classification regarding how they are funded and their organisational aims (if not to
make a profit, then what?).

The majority of schools in the UK can be classified as local-government financed. There are a small
number that receive their funding centrally, notably Academies and City Technology schools. These
should be coded at code 4.

A10
A10 establishes what markets they operate in. The text sub will come up with the relevant country –
please make sure you read out the whole of each code to make sure respondents answer consistently.

B
THERE IS NO SECTION B

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C Recruitment & Recruitment Difficulties
ASK ALL
C1A Have you recruited anyone in the past two to three years? IF NECESSARY: whether or
not they are still working for you

Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

ASK ALL WHO HAVE RECRUITED (C1A=1)
C1
And in the last 2-3 years, has this site taken on anyone to their first job on leaving
school, college or university?
Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

IF RECRUITED EDUCATION-LEAVERS AND ENGLAND, NI OR WALES (C1=1 AND
COUNTRY=1, 2 OR 4)
C2
Have any of these been…

Yes
No
Don’t
know
i) 16 year olds recruited to their first job on leaving
school
[IF NECESSARY ADD: Who have undertaken compulsory
education but no more]
1
2
3
ii) 17 or 18 year olds recruited to their first job from
school
1
2
3
iii) 17 or 18 year olds recruited to their first job from FE
College
1
2
3
iv) Recruited to their first job from University or another
Higher Education institution, regardless of their age
1
2
3

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Section C is the section that has seen the most adjustments since the last wave.

C1A
The first question in this section simply asks whether the respondent has recruited anyone in the past
2-3 years. We still want them to consider anybody who has been recruited in that time but has since left
the company

C1
C1 asks about people being taken on to their FIRST job after leaving education. This means that we are
interested in any people who have not had any other job between leaving school/college/university; it
is okay if they have had a gap year or student job, or were unemployed for a period of time.

C2-3A are asked of England, Wales and NI. Scotland have a slightly different version of this question.
Note: FE College = Further Education College – a college for those 16+ that is not a school sixth form.
Note: at iteration IV- University leavers can be of any age

What we want to find out here is whether education has prepared people for work – so if university
leavers were mature students who have already had a career/long periods of work or similar we
shouldn’t count them, but someone who went straight from school/college to uni with no more than a
“gap year” style break in the middle they would count as a yes here.

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IF RECRUITED DIRECTLY FROM EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENTS LISTED AT C2
(C2(ANY)=1)
C3
Thinking of those recruited in the last 2-3 years, how well prepared for work have
the…
 (C2i=1) 16 year old school leavers been?
 (C2ii=1) 17-18 year olds you recruited to their first job from school been?
 (C2iii=1) 17-18 year olds you recruited to their first job from FE Colleges been?
 (C2iv=1) university or higher education leavers been?
READ OUT FOR EACH

Very well prepared
1
Well prepared
2
Poorly prepared
3
Or very poorly prepared
4
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X
DO NOT READ OUT: Varies too much to say
X

ASK IF POORLY OR VERY POORLY PREPARED FOR EACH ITERATION OF C3 (C3=3-
4).
C3A In what ways have they been poorly prepared?
DO NOT READ OUT. PROBE FULLY. CODE ALL THAT APPLY.
Lack required skills or competencies (e.g. technical or job specific skills, IT skills,
problem solving skills, team working skills)
1
Literacy/numeracy skills
2
Poor education
3
Lack of common sense
4
Poor attitude / personality or lack of motivation (e.g. poor work ethic, punctuality,
appearance, manners)
5
Lack of working world / life experience or maturity (including general knowledge)
6
Other (WRITE IN)
7
Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

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C3 / C3A follows up all “yes” answers at C2, asking how well prepared they have been for work with a
follow up question for those considered poorly prepared.

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IF RECRUITED EDUCATION-LEAVERS AND SCOTLAND (C1=1 AND COUNTRY=3)
ASK C3B TO C4A IN A LOOP
C3B Have any of these been recruited to their first job from…

Yes
No
Don’t
know
i) A Scottish secondary school
1
2
3
ii) A Scottish FE College
1
2
3
iii) A Scottish University
1
2
3

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C3B to C4A replicate the previous questions but for Scotland and are based on only those recruited
from SCOTTISH educational institutions.

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IF RECRUITED DIRECTLY FROM EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENTS LISTED AT C3B
(C3B(ANY)=1)
C3D Thinking of those recruited in the last 2-3 years to their first job on leaving
 (C3Bi=1) a Scottish secondary school,
 (C3Bii=1) a Scottish FE college,
 (C3Biii=1) a Scottish University,
...in relation to their preparedness for work would you say that they were…?
READ OUT FOR EACH

Very well prepared
1
Well prepared
2
Poorly prepared
3
Or very poorly prepared
4
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X
DO NOT READ OUT: Varies too much to say
5
ASK IF POORLY OR VERY POORLY PREPARED FOR EACH ITERATION OF C3D
(C3D=3-4).
C4A In what ways have they been poorly prepared?
DO NOT READ OUT. PROBE FULLY. CODE ALL THAT APPLY.

Lack required skills or competencies (e.g. technical or job specific skills, IT skills,
problem solving skills, team working skills)
1
Literacy/numeracy skills
2
Poor education
3
Lack of common sense
4
Poor attitude / personality or lack of motivation (e.g. poor work ethic, punctuality,
appearance, manners)
5
Lack of working world / life experience or maturity (including general knowledge)
6
Other (WRITE IN)
7
Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

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C5
THERE IS NO QUESTION C5

IF RECRUITED ANY EDUCATION LEAVERS C1=1 & MODULE 2
C5A Have you recruited anyone else in the past two to three years under the age of 25
who were not recruited to their first job on leaving school, college or university?

Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

IF NOT RECRUITED EDUCATION LEAVERS BUT HAVE RECRUITED IN LAST 2-3
YEARS (C1A=1) & MODULE 2
C5B And was anyone you recruited in the last two to three years under the age of 25?
Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

IF RECRUITED EDUCATION UNIVERSITY / HE LEAVERS (C2iv=1) & MODULE 2
C2X Can I just check, were any of the University or other Higher Education leavers you
recruited in the last two to three years under the age of 25 when recruited?
Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

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C5A-C3BX establish whether taken on anyone under age of 25 if we haven't already done so from the
educational leavers questions

C5A asks the respondent to consider whether they have recruited anyone else (under the age of 25)
that wasn’t recruited into their first job on leaving school, college or university. This is only asked of
half of the sample (Module 2). The timescale is the same as before – 2/3 years

C5B asks if the establishment has recruited ANYONE under the age of 25 in the last 2-3 years – i.e. not
straight out of education

C2X Is a check question to all respondents who have recruited HE leavers to check that any of their
recruits in the last 2-3 years were under the age of 25.

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IF RECRUITED ANY SCOTTISH COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY LEAVERS (C3B ii OR iii =1)
& MODULE 2
C3BX Can I just check, were any of the Scottish FE College or Scottish University leavers
you recruited in the last two to three years under the age of 25?
Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

DUMMY VARIABLE- EDUCATION LEAVERS / YOUNG PEOPLE (MULTICODE)

RECRUITED EDUCATION LEAVERS- (C1=1)
NOT RECRUITED EDUCATION LEAVERS- (C1=2 OR C1A=2)
RECRUITED YOUNG PEOPLE- (C5A=1 OR C5B=1 OR C2i / ii / iii=1 OR C2X=1)
OR IF SCOTLAND- (C3Bi=1 or C3BX=1 or C5a1 or C5B=1)
NOT RECRUITED YOUNG PEOPLE-
(C5A=2 AND C2i/ii/iii/iv ALL=2) OR (C5B=2) OR (C2X=2 AND C2i,ii,iii ALL=2 AND C5A=2)
OR IF SCOTLAND- (C3Bi/ii/iii ALL=2 AND C5A=2) OR (C5A=2 AND C3Bi=2 AND C3Bx=2)
OR (C5B=2) OR (C1A=2)

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C3BX – This question is a replica of the previous one but for respondents in Scotland, who get a
different loop in this section.

C5DUM – This dummy variable codes establishments into one or more of four categories based on
their answers from the previous section. It is hidden in the script so you will not know where they
have been placed. This is used to route the next set of questions.

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IF NOT RECRUITED YOUNG PEOPLE & MODULE 2
C5CNEW We want to understand why young people sometimes find it difficult to find
employment. You’ve said that you have not recruited anyone under the age of 25 but
can I just check, did any young people apply for jobs in your establishment in the last
2-3 years?

Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

IF ANY YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE APPLIED (C5CNEW=1)
C5CA Were they unsuccessful in getting the job because they did not meet the
requirements you had in mind for the role, or was it simply that there were other
applicants who were better?

CODE ALL THAT APPLY

They did not meet the requirements
1
Other applicants were just better
2
DO NOT READ OUT: Other [SPECIFY]
3
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t Know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

IF THEY DID NOT MEET REQUIREMENTS (C5CA=1)
C5D What was it that the young candidates were lacking? Was it…?

READ OUT; CODE ALL THAT APPLY

The skills you look for
1
The qualifications you look for
2
The work experience that you require
3
The attitudes, motivation and/or personality you look for
4
The quality of the application (including the CV, cover letter, application form and/or
interview)
5
Or was there some other reason? [SPECIFY]
6
DO NOT READ OUT: No particular reason (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
7
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t Know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

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C5CNEW – This set of questions is asked of those that have NOT recruited young people (and in
module 2).
Here we check what the reasons for this are. C5CNEW asks if anybody under 25 actually applied for
these vacancies.

C5CA – At this question we ask respondents about the reasons for why candidates under the age of 25
who applied for a job role did not go on to get the job. There are two main options for respondents to
choose here. One is that the candidate(s) did not meet the basic requirements of the candidate
specification in the job description (I.e. they weren't considered good enough – they lacked the
skills/experience/personality etc needed) The other is that they did meet all the requirements but
another applicant was considered to be 'better' – i.e. they would still have been able to do the job

C5D – here we follow up with anyone who stated that the candidate(s) who did not meet the
requirements by asking in what places did the prospective candidates 'fall short'. You can code more
than one here.

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ASK ALL
C6
How many vacancies, if any, do you CURRENTLY have at this establishment?
PROBE FOR BEST ESTIMATE

WRITE IN NUMBER _________________
ALLOW DON’T KNOW

IF C6 > 100 ASK:
C6chk I’ve recorded that as , is this correct?

Yes
1
CONTINUE
No
2
RE-ASK C6

ASK ALL WITH ANY VACANCIES AT C6. (OTHERS GO TO D1.)
C7
In which specific occupations do you currently have [C6>1: vacancies C6=1 a
vacancy] at this establishment?

PROMPT FOR FULL DETAILS (E.G. IF ‘MANAGER’ PROBE: WHAT TYPE OF
MANAGER?) RECORD DETAILS FOR UP TO 6 OCCUPATIONS.
CODE TO SOC2010 4 DIGITS

DUMVAC CATI DUMMY VARIABLE – LIST OF UP TO 6 OCCUPATIONS WITH
VACANCIES

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C6
This question refers to current vacancies only. C7 onwards allows you to record up to 6 types of
vacancies. Make sure you enter this number correctly as later they will be asked how many vacancies
for each occupation and if it does not add up you will need to repeat the question.

Please note: if you are talking to a Jobcentre or recruitment agency, we are looking for the number of
vacancies for Jobcentre staff not vacancies it has posted for unemployed people more generally.

If the figure given at C6 (total number of vacancies) is very high (>100) we check this at C6chk.

C7
Please type in details of the occupation(s) with vacancies. We need this to be detailed – ‘managers’ will
not be enough, we would need to know the type of manager; purchasing, sales etc. It needs to be
possible to code this to SOC 4 digits – that is the level of “Cab driver” versus “Bus driver” versus “Lorry
driver” versus “Hearse driver” – quite detailed. This will be covered in more detail at the briefing.

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IF >1 OCCUPATION WITH VACANCIES AT C7, ASK C8. OTHERS GO TO C9.
C8
How many vacancies do you have for ?
PROBE FOR BEST ESTIMATE

INTERVIEWER: [ANSWER FROM C6 MINUS TOTAL AT C8 SO FAR] VACANCIES
REMAINING

DP – DO NOT ALLOW DON’T KNOW. ANSWER MUST BE AT LEAST 1

C7
C8 – number
Occupation 1 -
(1-9999)
Occupation 2 -
(1-9999)
Occupation 3 -
(1-9999)
Occupation 4 -
(1-9999)
Occupation 5 -
(1-9999)
Occupation 6 -
(1-9999)

CATI CHECK: TOTAL OF ALL VACANCIES AT C8 MUST SUM TO C6 (UNLESS GIVE 6
OCCUPATIONS IN WHICH CASE TOTAL CANNOT BE GREATER THAN C6).

IF FAIL CATI CHECK: PROMPT RESPONDENT WITH … This sums to but you just told me that you had vacancies in total…
THEN RE-ASK C6, C7 AND 8

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C8
This needs to sum to the number of vacancies at C6 – if it does not you will be taken back to C6 to answer
the questions again. (if 6 vacancy occupations are given at C7 then it can be less than the answer given
at C6 because there may be vacancies in other occupations we have not asked about).

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ASK ALL WITH VACANCIES AT C6 (C6>0)
C9
[IF C6>1: Are any of your vacancies IF C6=1: Is this vacancy] proving hard to fill?

Yes
1
ASK C10
No
2
GO TO D1
Don’t know
3
GO TO D1
ASK IF HAVE MORE THAN ONE VACANCY AND HAVE HARD TO FILL VACANCIES
(C9=1 AND C6>1); IF ONLY HAVE ONE VACANCY AND HAVE HARD TO FILL VACANCY
CATI AUTOMATICALLY CODE C10=OCCUPATION FROM C7.
C10 How many of your vacancies for are
proving hard-to-fill?
CATI – SHOW ON SCREEN NUMBER OF VACANCIES FOR EACH OCCUPATION AT
C7. ANSWER GIVEN MUST BE BETWEEN 0 AND C8 RESPONSE

C10 Number of hard-to-fill
vacancies
Occupation 1 -
(0 – RESPONSE AT C8_1)
Occupation 2 -
(0 – RESPONSE AT C8_2)
Occupation 3 -
(0 – RESPONSE AT C8_3)
Occupation 4 -
(0 – RESPONSE AT C8_4)
Occupation 5 -
(0 – RESPONSE AT C8_5)
Occupation 6 -
(0 – RESPONSE AT C8_6)

CATI CHECK: NUMBER OF HARD TO FILL VACANCIES MUST SUM TO > 0 AT C10.

IF FAIL CATI CHECK: PROMPT RESPONDENT WITH: You told me earlier that you had
vacancies that were hard-to-fill but I have not recorded any of them here…
THEN RE-ASK C9

C10DUM CATI DUMMY VARIABLE – LIST OF UP TO 6 OCCUPATIONS WITH HARD-TO-
FILL VACANCIES

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C10 – if the answer to all of C10 is 0 yet they have said they have vacancies that are hard to fill, then
you are taken back to C9 to change either C9 or C10 as applicable.

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ASK C11A – C13 IN SEQUENCE FOR UP TO 6 OCCUPATIONS > 0 AT C10 (I.E.
OCCUPATIONS WITH HARD-TO-FILL VACANCIES)
NB IF C6=1 AND C9=YES, ASK ABOUT OCCUPATION FROM C7
C11A What are the main causes of having a hard to fill vacancy for [TEXT SUBSTITUTION:
OCCUPATION WITH HARD TO FILL VACANCY AT C10]?
DO NOT READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY

Occupations with hard-to-fill vacancies

Occ 1
Occ 2
Occ 3
Occ 4
Occ 5
Occ 6
Too much competition from other employers
1
1
1
1
1
1
Not enough people interested in doing this type of job
2
2
2
2
2
2
Poor terms and conditions (e.g. pay) offered for post
3
3
3
3
3
3
Low number of applicants with the required skills
4
4
4
4
4
4
Low number of applicants with the required attitude,
motivation or personality
5
5
5
5
5
5
Low number of applicants generally
6
6
6
6
6
6
Lack of work experience the company demands
7
7
7
7
7
7
Lack of qualifications the company demands
8
8
8
8
8
8
Poor career progression / lack of prospects
9
9
9
9
9
9
Job entails shift work/unsociable hours
10
10
10
10
10
10
Seasonal work
11
11
11
11
11
11
Remote location/poor public transport
12
12
12
12
12
12
Other (WRITE IN)
13
13
13
13
13
13
No particular reason (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
14
14
14
14
14
14
Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X
X
X
X
X
X

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C11A
Here we ask respondents reasons for having hard to fill vacancies. This is asked in a loop for
each occupation
Please note this list is “do not read out”. Please do not write “same as before” in the other specify –
please write out the reason again even if it is the same as for the previous occupation.

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ASK C11B FOR EACH OCCUPATION WHERE VACANCIES ARE HARD-TO-FILL BUT
WHERE ONE OF CODE 4 OR 7 OR 8 AT C11A NOT MENTIONED (IF ALL HARD-TO-FILL
OCCUPATIONS CODED 4, 7 OR 8 AT C11a, GO TO C13)

C11B Can I just check, are you finding [IF (SUM OF C10)=1: this vacancy IF SUM OF C10>1:
any of these vacancies] for hard to fill because…

READ OUT; CODE ONE ONLY

Occ 1 Occ 2 Occ 3 Occ 4 Occ 5 Occ 6
Applicants have not been of sufficient quality
1
1
1
1
1
1
Because there have been few or no applicants
2
2
2
2
2
2
Or for both of these reasons
3
3
3
3
3
3
DO NOT READ OUT: Neither of these reasons
4
4
4
4
4
4
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
5
5
5
5
5
5

ASK FOR ALL HARD-TO-FILL VACANCIES CAUSED BY LACK OF QUALITY (C11B=1 OR
3)
C12 You said that you have had problems with the quality of the candidates for
[OCCUPATION]. Would you say that they have been lacking…

READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY.

Occ 1 Occ 2 Occ 3 Occ 4 Occ 5 Occ 6
The skills you look for
1
1
1
1
1
1
The qualifications you look for
2
2
2
2
2
2
The work experience that you require
3
3
3
3
3
3
Or do applicants tend to have poor attitudes,
motivation and/or personality
4
4
4
4
4
4
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE
CODE ONLY)
X
X
X
X
X
X

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ASK FOR EACH OCCUPATION WITH HARD-TO-FILL VACANCIES CAUSED BY LACK OF
SKILLS (C12=1, 2 OR 3 OR C11A=4, 7 OR 8)
C13 Have you found any of the following skills difficult to obtain from applicants for
?

READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY
DP – ROTATE ORDER OF SKILLS (APART FROM IT SKILLS WHICH MUST ALWAYS
APPEAR TOGETHER WITH BASIC IT USER SKILLS FIRST, FOLLOWED BY ADVANCED
IT SKILLS. TECHNICAL & PRACTICAL SKILLS, JOB SPECIFIC SKILLS, ANY OTHER
SKILLS, NONE & DON’T KNOW MUST ALWAYS APPEAR LAST).

Occupations with hard to fill vacancies

Occ 1
Occ 2
Occ 3
Occ 4
Occ 5
Occ 6
Basic computer literacy / using IT
1
1
1
1
1
1
Advanced IT or software skills
2
2
2
2
2
2
Oral communication skills
3
3
3
3
3
3
Written communication skills
4
4
4
4
4
4
Customer handling skills
5
5
5
5
5
5
Team working skills
6
6
6
6
6
6
WALES: Written Welsh language skills
7
7
7
7
7
7
WALES: Oral Welsh language skills
8
8
8
8
8
8
Foreign language skills
9
9
9
9
9
9
Problem solving skills
10
10
10
10
10
10
Planning and Organisation skills
11
11
11
11
11
11
Strategic Management skills
12
12
12
12
12
12
Numeracy skills
13
13
13
13
13
13
Literacy skills
14
14
14
14
14
14
Technical, practical or job specific skills
16
16
16
16
16
16
Any other skills (WRITE IN)
18
18
18
18
18
18
DO NOT READ OUT: No particular skills
difficulties (ALLOW SINGLE CODE
ONLY)
19
19
19
19
19
19
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
(ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X
X
X
X
X
X

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C13- This question asks about which skills establishments have struggled to obtain from recent job
applicants. The list is a read out and will rotate so appear in a different order.

If a respondent mentions 'Gaelic' as a language skill, please code this under the Other (specify)
option and type 'Gaelic language skills'. Do not put this under foreign language skills- (this is
specifically relevant in Scotland)

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ASK ALL WITH HARD-TO-FILL VACANCIES (C9=1)
C14 Are hard-to-fill vacancies causing this establishment to… READ OUT. CODE ALL
THAT APPLY
DP – RANDOMISE ORDER APART FROM “OTHER”/“NONE”/DON’T KNOW.
Lose business or orders to competitors
1
Delay developing new products or services
2
Have difficulties meeting quality standards
3
Experience increased operating costs
4
Have difficulties introducing new working practices
5
Increase workload for other staff
6
Outsource work
7
Withdraw from offering certain products or services altogether
8
Have difficulties meeting customer services objectives
9
Have difficulties introducing technological change
10
DO NOT READ OUT: None (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
11
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

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ASK ALL WITH HARD-TO-FILL VACANCIES (C9=1)
C15 What, if anything, is this establishment doing to overcome the difficulties that you are
having finding candidates to fill these hard-to-fill vacancies? DO NOT READ OUT.
PROBE FULLY. CODE ALL THAT APPLY.
INTERVIEWER NOTE: If the respondent mentions advertising or recruitment please probe
to fully understand whether they are using a new method of recruitment (code 6), spending
more money on recruitment (code 4), or both.
Increasing salaries
1
Increasing the training given to your existing workforce
2
Redefining existing jobs
3
Increasing advertising / recruitment spend
4
Increasing / expanding trainee programmes
5
Using NEW recruitment methods or channels
6
Recruiting workers who are non-UK nationals
7
Bringing in contractors to do the work, or contracting it out
8
Being prepared to offer training to less well qualified recruits
9
Other (WRITE IN)
10
Nothing (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
11
Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

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D Demand for Skills / Skills Gaps
I’d now like to turn to the skills within your existing workforce.
ASK ALL
D1
Thinking now about your current staff,
roughly how many of them are qualified to [EN/NI/WL: Level 4 / SC: SCQF Level 7] or
above - by Level [EN/NI/WL 4 / SC: 7] I mean a degree level qualification or higher, or
[EN/NI/WL: an HND, HNC or Foundation degree / SC: HNCs, Advanced Highers or SVQ
level 3]?

ENTER NUMBER _____________________ ALLOW 0 TO A1

Don’t know X

IF DON’T KNOW (D1=DK)
D1RAN Can you give an estimate from the following bands? READ OUT

Fewer than 20%
1
20 to 49%
2
50 to 80%
3
More than 80%
4
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

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Section D – This is the most extensive section and is the section that requires optimum cooperation
between interviewer and respondent. There is the potential for respondent fatigue.

The information given by the respondent in this section is very important so it must be recorded
accurately. As a result we have built in a number of CATI checks to ensure that valid information is
collected.

Going through each occupation type can be a bit laborious and there is scope for interviewers to lose
track of numbers coded at previous sections. We strongly recommend that you use the accompanying
crib sheet for this section – it is designed to help you and the respondent and using it should enable
efficient progress through this section, a shorter interview length, a more engaged respondent and
more accurate information.

D1- D1 asks for the number of staff currently qualified to level 4 or above. (In Scotland the equivalent
is Level 7). If the respondent is not sure, you can prompt them with a range.

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D2
THERE IS NO QUESTION D2
D3
THERE IS NO QUESTION D3

D4
THERE IS NO D4

D5
For this next section we are going to categorise the [A1] staff you have at this
establishment into a number of different job roles. Please note that staff should be
classified according to their PRIMARY role - that is the one that takes up the greatest
proportion of their time - and that each member of staff should only be allocated to one
job role.
Firstly, how many of your staff are employed as managers, directors or senior officials?
ADD AS NECESSARY: This categorisation covers occupations where main tasks
consist of direction and co-ordination of organisations and businesses. This can
include the management of internal departments / sections.

ADD AS NECESSARY: Staff should be categorised according to their primary role, i.e.
the one that takes up the greatest proportion of their time.

(Note: this excludes supervisors)
(Note: if police force this covers inspectors and above)

WRITE IN NUMBER _____ [RESPONSE MUST NOT EXCEED A1]

CATI CHECK AFTER D5: IF NUMBER OF STAFF EMPLOYED AT A1 IS GREATER THAN
50 AND RESPONDENTS SAYS NO MANAGERS EMPLOYED AT D5

D5chka Can I just check, I’ve recorded that there are no managers employed at this site – is
this correct?

Yes
1
CONTINUE
No
2
GO BACK TO D5 AND RECODE
(INTERVIEWER NOTE: TO CHANGE
NUMBER OF STAFF USE ‘ D5, OTHERS GO TO D9

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D5-D8
These questions seek to establish the occupational breakdown of the establishment’s workforce into 9
categories. This can be quite a complicated section of the questionnaire and it will make it much easier
if you take some time to familiarise yourself with the 9 categories and the types of job roles that belong
in each.

The names of the 9 occupational categories will probably not be familiar to the respondent, so it is
important to read out the text which appears on screen which will help the respondent relate the
category to their own workforce. The first bit of text gives an explanation of the category, the second
bit of text gives examples of job titles that will fall into this category (these are just a guide, not all job
titles are covered). Please read all of this out.

We ask first about managers and administrative staff, as these are the categories most easily understood
by respondents. We then ask about elementary staff and work ‘up’ to professionals.

The intention is that an individual employee appears in one category only. If an employer has e.g.
professionals or skilled trades people operating as managers or as sales people etc. then employees
should be categorised according to the function which occupies the largest part of their time.

Logic checks at the end of D8 will make sure the number sums to that at A1 – if it does not, you will be
taken back to D5 to ask the set of questions again.
The CATI script will tell you how many staff you have 'left to allocate' as you go through the occupation
types, please communicate this with the respondent to help them divide up their workforce accurately.

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D6
And how many – if any – of your remaining staff are
employed in administrative or secretarial occupations?
NOTE: STAFF SHOULD BE CATEGORISED ACCORDING TO THEIR PRIMARY ROLE,
I.E. THE ONE THAT TAKES UP THE GREATEST PROPORTION OF THEIR TIME

[IF ‘MANUFACTURING’ (SIC ON SAMPLE – 01 to 45) ADD AS NECESSARY: including
secretaries, receptionists & PAs, telephonists, book-keepers, credit controllers/wage
clerks, assistants/clerks]
[IF ‘SERVICES’ (SIC ON SAMPLE: 50-74 & 93) ADD AS NECESSARY: including
secretaries, receptionists & PAs, telephonists and communication operators, market
research interviewers, book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks, pension and
insurance clerks, office assistants, database assistants]
[IF ‘PUBLIC SECTOR’ SIC ON SAMPLE 75-99 excl 93) ADD AS NECESSARY: including
secretaries, receptionists & PAs, local government officers and assistants, civil
service executive officers, book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks, office
assistants, library and database assistants]

ADD IF NECESSARY: Administrative and secretarial occupations undertake general
admin, clerical, secretarial work and perform a variety of specialist client orientated
clerical duties. Generally speaking, all those with ‘clerk’, ‘secretary’ in the job title will
fall into this group, including financial clerks and book-keepers.

WRITE IN NUMBER _______ [RESPONSE MUST NOT EXCEED A1 – D5]

ASK IF A1 > D5+D6,
D7
You’ve told me that a total of [D5+D6] of your [A1] staff are employed as managers or
in administrative roles. I’d now like you to tell me what roles the remaining [A1-
(D5+D6] staff fill. I’m going to read you seven different occupational roles, and I’d like
you to tell me if any of your remaining [A1-(D5+D6)] staff are employed in each. If staff
carry out more than one role, please only include them in their main function.
First, do you employ any staff at this establishment as <…OCCUPATION…>?

CATI CHECK: NUMBER OF CATEGORIES TO BE NO GREATER THAN NUMBER OF
STAFF EMPLOYED NOT IN MANAGEMENT / ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES (i.e. A1 – (D5 +
D6))

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FOR EACH OCCUPATION EMPLOYED (YES AT D7)
D8
How many of your staff at this establishment are employed as …? READ OUT. DP
SHOW FULL DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH OCCUPATION ON SCREEN.

D7
D8

Yes No
Elementary occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY Elementary occupations involve mostly routine
tasks usually involving use of simple hand held tools and in some
cases physical effort. Most do not require formal educational
qualifications.

[IF ‘MANUFACTURING’ (SIC ON SAMPLE – 01 to 45) ADD AS
NECESSARY: including labourers, packers, goods handling and
storage staff, security guards, cleaners]
[IF ‘SERVICES’ (SIC ON SAMPLE: 50-74 & 93) ADD AS NECESSARY:
including bar staff, shelf fillers, kitchen/catering assistants,
waitresses, postal workers, cleaners, dry cleaners, goods handling
and storage staff, security guards]
[IF ‘PUBLIC SECTOR’ SIC ON SAMPLE 75-99 excl 93) ADD AS
NECESSARY: including labourers, cleaners, road sweepers, traffic
wardens, security guards, caretakers]

1
2
(1-99999)
Process, plant and machine operatives
ADD IF NECESSARY: Process, plant and machine operative
occupations operate vehicles and other mobile and stationary
machinery, and monitor industrial and plant equipment, or to
assemble products. Most will not have a particular standard of
education but will usually have formal experience related training.

ADD IF NECESSARY: All transport and mobile machine drivers
belong in this group.

ADD AS NECESSARY: including plant and machine operators plus
routine operatives (sorters, assemblers) and HGV, van, fork lift, bus,
taxi drivers
1
2
(1-99999)

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Sales and customer service occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Sales and customer services occupations sell
goods and services, accept payment and replenish stocks, provide
information to potential clients and additional services to customers
after the point of sale.

ADD AS NECESSARY: including sales assistants and retail cashiers,
telesales, call centre agents, customer care occupations

ADD AS NECESSARY: DO NOT INCLUDE Buying and purchasing
officers, sales representatives, estate agents or auctioneers. These
should be categorised as ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL AND
TECHNICAL OCCUPATIONS.

1
2
(1-99999)
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations ADD IF NECESSARY:
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations involve the provision
of service to customers whether in a public protective or personal
care capacity. Main tasks usually involve the care of the sick, elderly
and children and the provision of travel care and hygiene services.
These job-roles generally require a good standard of general
education.
[IF ‘MANUFACTURING’ (SIC ON SAMPLE – 01 to 45) ADD AS
NECESSARY: including such occupations as care assistants, nursery
nurses.]
[IF ‘SERVICES’ (SIC ON SAMPLE: 50-74 & 93) ADD AS NECESSARY:
including travel agents, travel assistants, sport and leisure
assistants, hairdressers and beauticians, nursery
nurses/childminders, housekeepers]
[IF ‘PUBLIC SECTOR’ SIC ON SAMPLE 75-99 excl 93) ADD AS
NECESSARY: including care assistants and home carers, nursery
nurses/childminders, ambulance staff, teaching assistants, pest
control officers, dental/ veterinary nurses, caretakers, sport and
leisure assistants]

IF ‘HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE (SIC ON SAMPLE: 85)’ ADD AS
NECESSARY: DO NOT INCLUDE Occupations with high level
vocational qualifications such as professional medical nurses,
midwives, physiotherapists, and social workers. They are
categorised as PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS.
Occupations such as paramedics, youth workers and welfare officers are
categorised as ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL
OCCUPATIONS.

1
2
(1-99999)

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Skilled trades occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Skilled trades occupations require a
substantial period of training. Main tasks involve the performance of
complex physical duties that normally involve initiative, manual
dexterity and other practical skills.

ADD AS NECESSARY: including electricians, motor mechanics,
machine setters/tool makers, TV engineers, plumbers, carpenters,
printers, chefs, butchers, furniture makers, farmers

ADD AS NECESSARY: DO NOT INCLUDE Science and engineering
technicians. They are categorised as ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL
AND TECHNICAL OCCUPATIONS.

1
2
(1-99999)
Associate professional and technical occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations in this group will usually require a
relevant high level vocational qualification, often involving
substantial period of full time training or further study. Main tasks
require experience and knowledge to assist in supporting
professionals or managers.

[IF ‘MANUFACTURING’ (SIC ON SAMPLE – 01 to 45) ADD AS
NECESSARY: including science and engineering technicians, lab
technicians, IT technicians, accounting technicians.]
[IF ‘SERVICES’ (SIC ON SAMPLE: 50-74 & 93) ADD AS NECESSARY:
including insurance underwriters, finance and investment analysts
and advisers, writers/journalists, buyers, sales reps, estate agents,
pilots, graphic designers, fitness instructors.]
[IF ‘PUBLIC SECTOR’ OR ‘HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE’ SIC ON SAMPLE
75-99 excl 93) ADD AS NECESSARY: including junior police/fire/prison
officers,
therapists,
paramedics,
community
workers,
careers
advisors,
health
and
safety
officers,
housing
officers,
writers/journalists, fitness instructors]

ADD IF NECESSARY: Most professionals in the arts, design, media or
sports fields will be in this group

ADD IF NECESSARY: DO NOT INCLUDE Architects, surveyors,
engineers, chartered accountants and management consultants.
They should be categorised as PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS.

1
2
(1-99999)

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Professional occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Professional occupations will almost always
require a degree or equivalent formal qualification. Some
occupations will require postgraduate qualifications and/or a formal
period of experience-related training.
This categorisation includes high-level occupations in the natural
sciences, engineering, life sciences, social sciences, humanities and
related fields where job-holders will either be
practically applying extensive theoretical knowledge;
increasing the stock of knowledge through research;
communicating knowledge by teaching

[IF ‘MANUFACTURING’ (SIC ON SAMPLE – 01 to 45) ADD AS
NECESSARY: including professional engineers, software and IT
professionals, accountants, chemists and scientific researchers]
[IF ‘SERVICES’ (SIC ON SAMPLE: 50-74 & 93) ADD AS NECESSARY:
including solicitors and lawyers, accountants, IT professionals,
economists, architects, actuaries, doctors, engineers]
[IF ‘PUBLIC SECTOR’ OR ‘HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE’ SIC ON
SAMPLE 75-99 excl 93) ADD AS NECESSARY: including doctors,
nurses, midwifes, psychologists, teachers, social workers, librarians,
accountants, economists, IT professionals, engineers]

1
2
(1-99999)

CHECK SUM OF D5+D6+D8 = A1. IF NOT RE-ASK D8.

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Two common problematic occupations to code are nurses and paramedics.

Nurses that are involved only in the care of long term ill/elderly/disabled should be coded under
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Organisations. Nursery nurses should also be coded under this
category. These occupations have a primary characteristic of delivering care to ill or vulnerable
people.

However a nurse that works in a hospital or general practice should be coded under Professional
occupations. These nurses are considered to have a wider job remit and are required to have a higher
qualification.

Ambulance staff (which are coded under Caring, Leisure and Other Service Organisations) includes
occupations such as ambulance drivers but NOT paramedics who should be coded under Associate
Professional and Technical. Paramedics are considered to have a higher level of medical training to
justify being placed under this category.

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D9
Respondents are asked how many of each category of staff are fully proficient in their current job.
They need to give their answers in numbers. The CATI will show the total number of staff in each
category to help respondents answer this.

This question determines whether an establishment has any skills gaps – a key UKCESS measure – so it
essential that this question is read out in its entirety to each respondent.

Please make sure that all of the text before and in D9 is read out in full. If respondents are confused as
to what is meant by staff who are not fully proficient, just repeat “A proficient employee is someone
who is able to do the job to the required level” Do not give them any other definition. If they are still
confused ask them to answer their question with their own definition of proficiency.

It may help you to have your occupational crib sheet in front of you to help you help them to
remember what staff they should put in each category

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SAY TO ALL:
Thinking about the broad categories of employees, for each, I’d like to know how
many you think are fully proficient at their job. A proficient employee is someone who
is able to do the job to the required level.

ASK ALL, ASKING FOR EACH OCCUPATION WITH STAFF AT D5 / D6 / D7

D9
How many of your [INSERT NUMBER FROM D5 / D6 / D8] existing staff working in
[OCCUPATION] would you regard as fully proficient at their job?
CATI – SHOW NUMERIC BREAKDOWN FROM D8 TO HELP RESPONDENTS ANSWER
D9.

CATI – ANSWER AT D9 MUST BE BETWEEN 0 AND D5, D6 or D8 RESPONSE FOR
SAME OCCUPATION.

D9
Managers, Directors and senior officials
(0 – RESPONSE AT D5)
Professional occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_7)
Associate professional and technical occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_6)
Administrative and secretarial occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D6)
Skilled trades occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_5)
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_4)
Sales and customer service occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_3)
Process, plant and machine operatives
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_2)
Elementary occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_1)

D9DUM CATI DUMMY VARIABLE – LIST OF ALL OCCUPATIONS NOT FULLY
PROFICIENT AT THEIR JOB
D9DUM2 CATI DUMMY VARIABLE – LIST OF 2 RANDOMLY CHOSEN OCCUPATIONS
FROM D7DUM
D9DUM3 CATI DUMMY VARIABLE – YES IF HAVE ANY SKILLS GAPS (A1>SUM OF D9)
/ NO IF NO SKILLS GAPS (A1=SUM OF D9)

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ASK ALL WITH SKILLS GAPS (D9DUM3=1), OTHERS GO TO D15
ALL: ASK D10 AND D11 OF UP TO 2 OCCUPATIONS WITH SKILLS GAPS (CHOSEN AT
RANDOM AT D9DUM2)

D10 [TEXT SUBSTITUTION IF >2 OCCUPATION AT D9 NOT PROFICIENT: I want to ask
about two of the categories where you say not all staff are proficient.]

What are the main causes of some of your not being fully proficient
in their jobs…?

READ OUT. RANDOMISE ORDER OF 1-10. CODE ALL THAT APPLY.

The development of new products and services
1
The introduction of new working practices
2
The introduction of new technology
3
They are new to the role – IF NECESSARY ADD either because they have recently
started the job or have recently been promoted to a higher level role
4
They have not received the appropriate training
5
Their training is currently only partially completed
6
They have been on training but their performance has not improved
sufficiently
7
Unable to recruit staff with the required skills
8
Problems retaining staff
9
Staff lack motivation
10
Are there any other reasons? (SPECIFY)
11
DO NOT READ OUT: No particular cause (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
12
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

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D10-D11

These Qs are asked of up to two categories of staff mentioned at D9 as not being fully proficient. The
CATI will randomly select two occupations mentioned at D9.

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D11

Read out list.

Code 16-17, Technical or practical / job-specific skills, will vary according to the respondent’s
industry but will be any skills that is specific to a particular role.

If a respondent says that numeracy skills, code 13, are not a problem but state that staff can’t count,
or are bad with numbers. Code this here. Likewise if a respondent talks about staff not being able to
read / write, code this into literacy skills at code 14.

Similar to C13, please code 'Gaelic language skills' as an 'Other' code, not under foreign language skills
–(this is especially relevant to Scotland)

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ASK OF THE SAME OCCUPATIONS AS D10
D11 Thinking about your who are not fully proficient which, if any, of the
following skills do you feel need improving… ? READ OUT; CODE ALL THAT APPLY
CATI – ROTATE ORDER OF SKILLS (APART FROM IT SKILLS WHICH MUST ALWAYS
APPEAR TOGETHER WITH “GENERAL IT USER SKILLS” FIRST, FOLLOWED BY “IT
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS”. “TECHNICAL & PRACTICAL SKILLS”, “ANY OTHER SKILLS”,
“NONE” & “DON’T KNOW” MUST ALWAYS APPEAR LAST).

Occ 1
Occ 2
Basic computer literacy / using IT
1
1
Advanced IT or software skills
2
2
Oral communication skills
3
3
Written communication skills
4
4
Customer handling skills
5
5
Team working skills
6
6
WALES: Written Welsh language skills
7
7
WALES: Oral Welsh language skills
8
8
Foreign language skills
9
9
Problem solving skills
10
10
Planning and organising skills
11
11
Strategic management skills
12
12
Numeracy skills
13
13
Literacy skills
14
14
Technical, practical or job specific skills
16
16
Any other skills (WRITE IN)
18
18
DO NOT READ OUT: No particular skills difficulties (ALLOW SINGLE CODE
ONLY)
19
19
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)

X
X

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ASK ALL WITH SKILL GAPS
D12 Thinking about your establishment as a whole, does the fact that some of your staff
are not fully proficient have an impact on how your establishment performs? READ
OUT
Yes – major impact
1
ASK D13
Yes – minor impact
2
No
3
TO D15

ASK IF HAD IMPACT (D12=1 OR 2)
D13 Is the fact that some of your staff are not fully proficient causing this establishment
to…?
READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY. ROTATE ANSWER LIST.
Lose business or orders to competitors
1
Delay developing new products or services
2
Have difficulties meeting quality standards
3
Have higher operating costs
4
Have difficulties introducing new working practices
5
Increase workload for other staff
6
Outsource work
7
DO NOT READ OUT: No particular problems / None of the above (ALLOW
SINGLE CODE ONLY)
8
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

ASK ALL WITH SKILL GAPS
D13A Have you taken any steps to improve the proficiency or skills of these staff? READ
OUT
Yes
1
ASK D14
No – but have plans to
2
GO TO D15
No
3
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
4

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D13 – Here we ask for the impacts of having staff at the establishment who are not fully proficient.

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ASK IF HAVE TAKEN ACTION (D13A=1)
D14 Which if any of the following steps is this establishment taking to overcome the fact
that some of its staff are not fully proficient in their job?
READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY. ROTATE ANSWER LIST.

Increase training activity / spend or increase/expand trainee
programmes
1
Reallocating work
2
Increase recruitment activity / spend
3
More staff appraisals / performance reviews
4
Implementation of mentoring / buddying scheme
5
More supervision of staff
6
Recruiting workers who are non-UK nationals
7
Changing working practices
8
Any other action? (WRITE IN)
9
DO NOT READ OUT: Nothing (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
10
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

ASK IF MODULE 2 AND ANY STAFF FULLY PROFICIENT (DUMMOD=2 AND SUM(D9)>0)
D15 You said that you have [SUM(D9)] staff who are FULLY proficient at their job. Of these,
how many would you say have BOTH qualifications AND skills that are more advanced
than required for their current job role?

ENTER NUMBER

VALID RANGE = 0 TO (SUM(D9))

ALLOW DON’T KNOW

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D15
This question measures whether they have any staff who have more skills than are necessary for the
job. This should be based on whether they have BOTH skills AND qualifications relevant to their
current job which are more than are required for their current job.

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E Upskilling

ASK MODULE 2 (DUMMOD=2)
E1
Over the next 12 months do you expect that any of your employees will need to acquire
new skills or knowledge as a result of the following?

READ OUT; CODE ALL THAT APPLY ROTATE LIST
The development of new products and services
1
The introduction of new working practices
2
The introduction of new technologies or equipment
3
New legislative or regulatory requirements
4
Increased competitive pressure
5
Any other reasons (please specify)
6
DO NOT READ OUT: None of the above
7
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

IF YES TO ANY OPTION AT E1 AND MORE THAN ONE OCCUPATION TYPE AT D5/D6/D7
(IF ONLY ONE OCCUPATION EMPLOYED AT SITE CODE E2 AUTOMATICALLY TO BE
THAT OCCUPATION)
E2
Which single occupation will be most affected by this need to acquire new skills or
knowledge?
PROMPT IF NECESSARY; CODE ONE ONLY.
CATI – SHOW ONLY THOSE OCCUPATIONS PRESENT FROM D5/6/7

Managers, Directors and senior officials
1
Professional occupations
2
Associate professional and technical occupations
3
Administrative and secretarial occupations
4
Skilled trades occupations
5
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations
6
Sales and customer service occupations
7
Process, plant and machine operatives
8
Elementary occupations
9
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

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Section E asks about upskilling and is only asked to those in module 2. Upskilling
involves addressing skills gaps by providing additional training and skills to existing
staff.

At E2 we want to know which single occupation type will be affected by the need to acquire
new skills or knowledge. Only those occupations relevant to the organisation (based on
answers at D5/6/7 will appear)

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E3 - Read out list.

Code 16-17, Technical or practical / job-specific skills, will vary according to the respondent’s
industry but will be any skills that is specific to a particular role.

As at C13/D11 please use the other option to code 'Gaelic language skills', not the Foreign language
skills code.

If a respondent says that numeracy skills, code 13, are not a problem but state that staff can’t count,
or are bad with numbers. Code this here. Likewise if a respondent talks about staff not being able to
read / write, code this into literacy skills at code 14.

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ASK FOR OCCUPATION SELECTED AT E2.
E3
Which, if any, of the following skills do you feel will need improving or updating
amongst your [OCCUPATION FROM E2] over the next 12 months?
READ OUT – CODE ALL MENTIONED
CATI – ROTATE ORDER OF SKILLS (APART FROM IT SKILLS WHICH MUST ALWAYS
APPEAR TOGETHER WITH “GENERAL IT USER SKILLS” FIRST, FOLLOWED BY “IT
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS”. “TECHNICAL & PRACTICAL SKILLS”, “ANY OTHER SKILLS”,
“NONE” & “DON’T KNOW” MUST ALWAYS APPEAR LAST).

Basic computer literacy / using IT
1
Advanced IT or software skills
2
Oral communication skills
3
Written communication skills
4
Customer handling skills
5
Team working skills
6
WALES: Written Welsh language skills
7
WALES: Oral Welsh language skills
8
Foreign language skills
9
Problem solving skills
10
Planning and organising skills
11
Strategic management skills
12
Numeracy skills
13
Literacy skills
14
Technical, practical or job specific skills
16
Any other skills (WRITE IN)
18
DO NOT READ OUT: No particular skills (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
19
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

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F
Workforce development
ASK ALL
F1
Does your establishment have any of the following…?
INTERVIEWER NOTES:
A
IF RESPONDENT INDICATES THAT ESTABLISHMENT IS COVERED BY A COMPANY
WIDE [SHOW CODE RELEVANT FOR EACH ITERATION: TRAINING PLAN / TRAINING
BUDGET] CODE AS ‘YES’
B
CODE AS ‘NO’ IF IN PROCESS OF DRAWING UP FIRST [SHOW CODE RELEVANT
FOR EACH ITERATION: TRAINING PLAN / TRAINING BUDGET]
C
CODE AS ‘YES’ IF CURRENTLY HAVE [SHOW CODE RELEVANT FOR EACH
ITERATION: TRAINING PLAN / TRAINING BUDGET] BUT IN PROCESS OF DRAWING
UP NEW ONE.

Yes
No
Don’t
know
A training plan that specifies in advance the level and type
of training your employees will need in the coming year?
1
2
3
A budget for training expenditure?
[IF MULTI-SITE AND NOT HQ (A3=2 AND A4NEW≠1): which
specifically covers training spend for this site]
1
2
3

ASK MODULE 1 (DUMMOD=1)
F2
Approximately what proportion of your staff have a formal written job description?
PROMPT AS NECESSARY
None
1
Some but fewer than half
2
Around half
3
More than half but not all
4
All
5
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

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F1 asks if the establishment has a training plan or a budget for training expenditure. Some notes on
what to allow as a response are listed below:

If the establishment is covered by a company-wide plan / budget code as a yes.

If updating an existing plan / budget count as a yes

If drawing up their first plan / budget and not yet in place count as a no

F2 and F3
Prompt as necessary at these questions. Check you are choosing the correct code if they are vague.
F3 - This refers to an annual/yearly performance review and not simply performance reviews over
different time periods/or other regular review meetings.

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ASK MODULE 1 (DUMMOD=1)
F3
And approximately what proportion of your staff have an annual performance review?
PROMPT AS NECESSARY
None
1
Some but fewer than half
2
Around half
3
More than half but not all
4
All
5
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

ASK ALL
F4
Over the past 12 months have you arranged or funded any off-the-job training or
development for employees at this site - by off-the-job training we mean training away
from the individual’s immediate work position, whether on your premises or
elsewhere.
Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
3

ASK ALL
F4A And have you arranged or funded any on-the-job or informal training and
development over the last 12 months - by this I mean activities that would be
recognised as training by the staff, and not the sort of learning by experience which
could take place all the time.
Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
3

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F4DUM CATI VARIABLE: TYPES OF TRAINING

Provide both off-the-job and on-the-job training
1
F4=1 AND F4a=1
Provide off-the-job training only
2
F4=1 AND (F4a=2 OR 3)
Provide on-the-job training only
3
(F4=2 OR 3) AND F4a=1
Provide neither off-the-job nor on-the-job training
4
(F4=2 OR 3) AND (F4a=2
OR 3)

F4 AND F4A
These questions determine the training status of an establishment and it is very important to read out
all of the text as it appears on screen (so each respondent receives a consistent definition of on and off-
the-job training).

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IF NO TRAINING ARRANGED IN PAST 12 MONTHS (F4=2 AND F4A=2)
F5
You mentioned that you have not arranged or funded training for any of this
establishment’s employees over the past 12 months. What are the reasons for this?
PROBE: What other reasons have there been?
DO NOT READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY
No training available in relevant subject area
1
The courses interested in are not available locally
2
The quality of the courses or providers locally is not satisfactory
3
Difficult to get information about the courses available locally
4
I don’t know what provision is available locally
5
The start dates or times of the courses are inconvenient
6
No money available for training
7
External courses are too expensive
8
Managers have lacked the time to organise training
9
Employees are too busy to give training
10
Employees are too busy to undertake training and development
11
Training is not considered to be a priority for the establishment
12
All our staff are fully proficient / no need for training
13
Trained staff will be poached by other employers
14
Other (WRITE IN)
15
No particular reason (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
16

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F5
Do not read out list – familiarise yourself with this list in advance of survey as it will more than
likely be split over two screens
If the respondent mentions 'economic downturn' or 'recession' try to get them to elaborate. For
example does this mean their own funding is not there for training or that it got too expensive,
or it's not longer available to them etc

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ASK IF PROVIDE TRAINING AT ALL (F4=1 OR F4a=1).
F6
Which of the following types of training have you arranged or funded for employees
at this establishment over the past year?
READ OUT AND CODE ALL THAT APPLY. ROTATE ANSWER LIST.
Induction training
1
Health & safety/first aid training
2
Job specific training
3
Supervisory training
4
Management training
5
Training in new technology
6
Any other types? (please specify)
7
DO NOT READ OUT: None of these (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
8
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

ASK IF PROVIDE H&S / INDUCTION TRAINING (F6=1 OR 2) UNLESS THEY HAVE
ONLY CODED 1 AND/OR 2 AT F6 IN WHICH CASE SKIP QUESTION AND
AUTOMATICALLY CODE TO 100%
F7a And how much of the training that you have arranged or funded has been for [IF F6=2
health & safety] [IF F6=1 AND 2 or] [IF F6=1 induction training]? PROMPT WITH
BANDS

Less than 20%
1
20-49%
2
50-80%
3
More than 80% but not all
4
All of it (100%)
5
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

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F7A
The respondent should give an answer that is a percentage of total training.

Please probe for a best estimate if they cannot give an exact figure.

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ASK ALL
F7
And has your establishment done any of the following to aid the development of your
employees in the last 12 months?

READ OUT; CODE ALL THAT APPLY

Provided supervision to ensure that employees are guided through their job
role over time
1
Provided opportunities for staff to spend time learning through watching others
perform their job roles
2
Allowed staff to perform tasks that go beyond their strict job role and providing
them with feedback as to how well they have done
3
DO NOT READ OUT: None of these (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
4
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

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ASK IF PROVIDE TRAINING AT ALL (F4=1 OR F4A=1), OTHERS GO TO F16
F8
[IF BOTH ON AND OFF-THE-JOB (F4DUM=1): Thinking about both on- and off-the-job
training,] Over the last 12 months how many staff employed at this establishment
have you funded or arranged training and development for, including any who have
since left?
IF SAY “ALL STAFF”, SAY: So including any staff who have since left, how many staff
would that be?

INTERVIEWER: ESTABLISHMENT CURRENTLY HAS [ANSWER FROM A1] STAFF.

WRITE IN ____(1 – 99999)____

F8RAN PROMPT WITH RANGE IF DON’T KNOW
1-2
1
3-4
2
5-9
3
10-19
4
20-29
5
30-39
6
40-49
7
50-99
8
100-199
9
200 or more
10
(DO NOT READ OUT) Don’t know
X

IF F8 > (A1 x 2) ASK:
F8CHK You said you currently have employees but you have
trained staff in the past 12 months, is this correct?

Yes
1
GO TO F9
No
2
RE-ASK F8

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F8
It is possible that they will have trained more staff than they currently have, for example if they have
had staff who they have trained but who have since left. For this reason, if they say “all staff” you need
to prompt them with “so including any staff who have since left, how many staff would that be?”

If the number of staff trained is more than double the current number employed there is a quick
question to double check this is correct.

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IF F8=A1 ASK:
F8CHK2 Were these all your current staff?

Yes
1
AUTOMATICALLY CODE F9
AND F10 TO MATCH
CURRENT STAFF
BREAKDOWN (D5-8)
No
2
ASK F9

F10DUM CATI DUMMY VARIABLE – LIST EACH OCCUPATION EMPLOYED AT D6-D6B
FOR ALL WHO TRAIN (F4=1 OR F4A=1)

IF PROVIDE TRAINING AT ALL (F4=1 OR F4A=1)
F9
Over the last 12 months which occupations have you arranged or funded training for
[F4DUM=1: , whether on- or off-the-job]?
PROMPT AS NECESSARY

CATI – SHOW ALL OCCUAPTIONS MENTIONED AT D5-D7, PLUS (AS LONG AS NOT
ALL 9 CATEGORIES ANSWERED YES AT D5 –D7) ‘ANY OTHER OCCUPATIONS’

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F8CHK2 – If the number of staff trained is equal to the number of staff they currently have, we check
"were these all your current staff"" – if so the questions at F9 and F10 are automatically coded to
match the occupational breakdown at D5. If they are not all current staff we continue to ask F9-F10.

F9-F10
These questions ask which of the 9 occupational categories have received training in the last 12 months.

The occupational categories that the respondent has said they employ staff in section D will be shown
by the CATI. It may be that a respondent has trained staff in an occupational category that they no
longer employ any staff in. If this is that case please code ‘any other occupations’.

Once the respondent has indicated which of the 9 occupational categories they have provided training
for, they are asked to say roughly how many staff in each occupational category they have trained. The
CATI will allow them to give a higher number than the amount of staff in each category they already
employ, because some staff who had received training may have also left in the last 12 months.

If the answers they give here do not add up to the total staff they said they trained earlier then CATI will
ask you to check which answer is wrong – the total figure or the breakdown. You will need to then re-
enter the one identified as wrong.

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ASK IF MORE THAN ONE OCCUPATION MENTIONED AT F9
F10 You said you had arranged or funded training for
staff in the last 12 months, including any who have since left. How many of these
were …

SCREEN TO SHOW THE FIGURE OR RANGE FROM F8 AND COUNTDOWN AFTER
EACH F10 ANSWER.

SCREEN ALSO TO SHOW THE NUMBER OF STAFF THEY CURRENTLY HAVE IN
EACH OCCUPATION (FROM D5/6/8)

TOTAL OF F10 MUST EQUAL F8 (OR BE WITHIN BAND IF ANSWERED F8RAN) – IF
NOT CHECK IF TOTAL TRAINED FIGURE WRONG (IF SO SNAP BACK TO F8 OR
F8RAN) OR AMEND F10 ANSWERS.

F9
F10
Managers, Directors and senior officials]
1
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Professional occupations
2
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Associate professional and technical occupations
3
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Administrative and secretarial occupations
4
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Skilled trades occupations
5
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations
6
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Sales and customer service occupations
7
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Process, plant and machine operatives
8
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Elementary occupations
9
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Any other occupations (WRITE IN)
10
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Calculate sum
SUM F10

IF SUM F10 DOES NOT EQUAL F8 (OR IS GREATER THAN TOP OF F8RAN BAND OR
LESS THAN THE BOTTOM OF F8RAN BAND) ASK:
F10chk You said that in the last 12 months that you trained staff, but the sum of the
occupations that you have trained total . Do you wish to amend the
overall figure or the number within each occupation?

Total figure
1
RE-ASK F8
Occupational figure
2
RE-ASK F10

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IF PROVIDE TRAINING AT ALL (F4=1 OR F4A=1)
F11 Over the last 12 months, on average, how many days training and development
[F4DUM=1: whether on- or off-the-job,] have you arranged for EACH MEMBER OF
STAFF receiving training?

NOTE TO INTERVIEWER: If respondent says ‘a week’ or ‘two weeks’ etc check: So how
many WORKING days is that?

INTERVIEW NOTE: For “less than a day” please code “Don’t know” and record on next
screen

WRITE IN ABSOLUTE NUMBER ______(1-260)________

F11RAN: IF DON’T KNOW AT F11, PROMPT WITH RANGES
Less than a day
1
1 day
2
2 days
3
3 – 4 days
4
5 – 6 days
5
7 – 8 days
6
9 – 10 days
7
11 – 12 days
8
13 – 14 days
9
15 – 16 days
10
17 – 18 days
11
19 – 20 days
12
More than 20 days
13
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

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F11
We are looking for an average number of days here amongst all those that have received any training,
i.e. those members of staff not receiving training should not be included.

Please make sure the respondent is answering thinking about working days; if they say ‘a week’ in most
cases this will mean 5 days; please confirm this with the respondent.

Answers are average per member of staff, not total across all staff. Be prepared to help them work out
the average if needs be.

High average figures are checked at F11chk
If the answer is less than 1 day then you need to code DK at the integer question and select code 1 when
prompted with ranges.

If respondents are considering Apprentice's that they are currently have on site they may consider these
to be 'continually training'. Although strictly true, the training referred to at this question is specific
'organised' training sessions (e.g courses/internal seminars/internal training sessions) as opposed to
actually 'learning by doing' on the job. Please get the respondent to quantify how this proportion of
arranged training for apprentices would translate to actual number of days.

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IF MORE THAN 20 at F11 OR CODE 13 AT F11RAN
F11chk Can I just check that, on average, EACH MEMBER OF STAFF receiving training and
development has received [INSERT ANSWER FROM F12 IF GAVE ASBOLUTE FIGURE
OR “more than 20” IF CODE 12 ON DON’T KNOW RANGE] days training over the last
12 months?

Yes
1
GO TO F15
No
2
RE-ASK F11

ASK ALL WHO TRAIN (F4=1 OR F4A=1)
F15
Does your establishment formally assess whether the training and development
received by an employee has an impact on their performance?
Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

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F15
The question here is whether they FORMALLY assess – formally i.e. it is written policy or records are
kept.

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ASK ALL PROVIDING TRAINING (F4=1 or F4A=1)
F12
Thinking now about qualifications, how many of the people that
you have funded or arranged training for [TEXT SUBSTITUTION IF BOTH ON AND OFF THE JOB:
whether on- or off-the-job,] over the past 12 months are or were being trained towards
a nationally recognised qualification?

WRITE IN ____(0 – F8 INTEGER / TOP OF F8 BAND)____
 PROMPT WITH RANGE IF DON’T KNOW
None
1
1-2
2
3-4
3
5-9
4
10-19
5
20-29
6
30-39
7
40-49
8
50-99
9
100-199
10
200 or more
11
(DO NOT READ OUT) Don’t know how
many but there were some
X
(DO NOT READ OUT) Don’t know if any
X

CATI CHECK – ANSWER GIVEN AT F12 SHOULD NOT BE GREATER THAN ANSWER
GIVEN AT F8 (INTEGER OR TOP OF RANGE IF ANSWERED BANDED VERSION).

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F12
This asks about the number of staff that have been training towards a nationally recognised
qualification. It is asked of all who have trained either on or off the job.

Examples of nationally recognised qualifications can be found at F13

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ASK IF TRAINING TOWARDS A NATIONALLY RECOGNISED QUALIFICATION (F12>0
or bands 2-11).
F13
[IF F12=1: Is or was this member of, IF F12>1:Are or were any of these] staff being
trained towards any of the following types of qualification in the last 12 months
…READ OUT?

F13

Yes
No
Don’t
know
Level 1 qualifications [SC: (in Scotland they
may be known as Level 4 qualifications)] such
as an [EN/WL/NI: NVQ SC: SVQ] Level 1 or
BTEC Introductory Diploma[SC: or General
Standard]
1
2
3
Level 2 qualifications [SC: (in Scotland they
may be known as Level 5 qualifications)] such
as an [EN/WL/NI: NVQ SC: SVQ] Level 2, GCSEs
[SC:, Credit Standard Grade] or BTEC First
Diploma
1
2
3
Level 3 qualifications [SC: (in Scotland they
may be known as Level 6 qualifications)] such
as an [EN/WL/NI: NVQ SC: SVQ] Level 3, A-
Levels or BTEC Nationals [WL: , or the
Advanced Level Welsh Baccalaureate SC: , or
Highers or Advanced Highers]
1
2
3
Level 4 qualifications or above [SC: (in
Scotland they may be known as Level 7
qualifications)] such as degrees, HNC/HNDs,
postgraduate degrees or high level specialist
professional qualifications
1
2
3
F14
THERE IS NO F14.

ASK ALL THOSE WHO HAVE TRAINED IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (F4=1 or F4A=1)
F15A If you could have done, would you have provided MORE training for your staff than
you were able to over the last 12 months?

Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

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F13
These questions will be asked to those who have trained some staff towards to a nationally recognised
qualification. Read out the list of qualifications and code if any staff have been trained towards them or
qualifications at the same level. Not all employers will be aware of the level of a qualification without
help so please read the question out in full with the examples of qualifications given.
Note that in Scotland the examples also contain the reference in brackets that the levels can be known
as different numbers (e.g. Level 1 in UK can also be Level 4 in Scotland, depending on what framework
is used). Use the system the respondent is most comfortable with, but either way it is very important
to read the examples in full.

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ASK TO ALL WHO WOULD HAVE PROVIDED MORE TRAINING IF THEY COULD (F15A=1)
F15B What barriers, if any, have there been preventing your organisation providing more
training over the last 12 months for staff at this location? PROBE: what other barriers
have you faced? DO NOT READ OUT. CODE ALL MENTIONED. PROBE FULLY.

Lack of funds for training / training expensive
1
Can’t spare more staff time (having them away on training)
2
Staff now fully proficient / don’t need it
3
Staff not keen
4
A lack of GOOD local training providers
5
Lack of provision (e.g. courses are full up)
6
Difficulty finding training providers who can deliver training where or when we want it
7
A lack of appropriate training / qualifications in the subject areas we need
8
Hard to find the time to organise training
9
Lack of knowledge about training opportunities and/or suitable courses
10
Other (WRITE IN)
11
None
12
Don’t know
X

ASK ALL
F16
Is your establishment currently accredited with the Investors in People Standard?

Yes
1
No
2
DO NOT READ OUT - Don’t know
X

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F15B Do not read out list – familiarise yourself with this list in advance of survey as it will more
than likely be split over two screens
If the respondent mentions 'economic downturn' or 'recession' try to get them to elaborate. For
example does this mean their own funding is not there for training or that it got too expensive,
or it's not longer available to them etc
F16 – Only code 'yes' if establishment is currently accredited. Not in the process of becoming
accredited or have been accredited before.

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G Skills utilisation / High performance working
ASK SECTION G TO MODULE 1 ONLY (DUMMOD=1)
G1
Does your establishment...

YES
NO
DK
n/a
IF A1>9 Create teams of people, who don’t usually work
together, to work on a specific project
1
2
X
Y
Have an equal opportunities policy
1
2
X
Y
Have formal procedures in place for employee
consultation such as a staff association, employee forum
or trade union consultation
1
2
X
Y
Currently hold any of the ISO 9000 Standards
1
2
X
Y
Consult with trade unions for reasons other than
negotiations about pay and conditions
1
2
X
Y
Conduct training needs assessments
1
2
X
Y

ASK MODULE 1 (DUMMOD=1)
G1A And does your establishment have any of the following pay and incentive schemes
for your employees?
READ OUT; CODE ALL THAT APPLY

Bonuses that are based on the overall performance of the company
1
Individual performance related pay
2
Flexible benefits (ADD IF NECESSARY: This is the option to use some
pre-tax pay for extra benefits such as pensions, childcare vouchers, life
assurance etc)
3
IF PRIVATE SECTOR (A8=1): Share options for employees BELOW
SENIOR MANAGEMENT
4
DO NOT READ OUT: None of the above (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
5
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
X

ASK MODULE 1 (DUMMOD=1)
G2
Do you have processes in place to allow you to identify “high potential” or talented
individuals within your establishment?
Yes – formally documented
1
Yes - informal
2
No
3

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Don’t know
X

Section G - Note that measures in section G might apply to the whole organisation rather than just
the establishment – this is fine.

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THERE IS NO QUESTION G3.

THERE IS NO QUESTION G4.

ASK MODULE 1 (DUMMOD=1)
G5
To what extent would you say employees at your establishment…READ OUT FOR
EACH, CODE ONE ONLY

To a
large
extent
To
some
extent
Not
much
Not at
all
DK
Have variety in their work
1
2
3
4
X
Have discretion over how they do their work
1
2
3
4
X
Have access to flexible working
1
2
3
4
X

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H Business strategy and structure
H1
I’d now like to ask you a few questions about how the products or services that are
provided by this establishment compare to those provided by others in your industry,
including those based in other countries.
On a scale of 1 to 5, where would you place this establishment if…

ASK PRIVATE SECTOR ONLY (A8=1)
ANEW) one indicates that there is no difference in the offering provided to customers or
users of your services and five indicates that there is a substantial amount of
customisation depending on the requirements of customers or users of your services

No difference
1
2
3
4
5
DK
Substantial
customisation

ASK PRIVATE SECTOR ONLY (ASK A8=1)
B)
one indicates that, compared to others in your industry, the competitive success of
your establishment’s products or services is wholly dependent on price and five that
success does not depend at all on price

Wholly price dependent
1
2
3
4
5
DK
Not at all price-
dependent

ASK ALL
C)
one indicates that, compared to others in your industry, this establishment very
rarely leads the way in terms of developing new products, services or techniques,
and five that you often lead the way
Very rarely lead the way
1
2
3
4
5
DK
Often lead the
way

ASK PRIVATE SECTOR ONLY (ASK A8=1)
D)
one indicates that this establishment competes in a market for a standard or basic
quality product or service, and five that you compete in a market for premium quality
products or services.

Standard or basic
1
2
3
4
5
DK
Premium
quality

THERE IS NO QUESTION H2

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H1 looks at the type of market the organisation operates in.

Respondents are asked to identify the location of their organisation on a scale from 1 to 5 (H1A is
semantic, H1B to F use the 1-5 scale). It is very important to stress that these questions are asking the
respondent to consider their place on the scale in comparison with other organisations in their industry.
This comparison could easily be lost so please stress it. A brief explanation for each question is provided
below.

Examples are displayed for your understanding only so you can help respondents if they are struggling,
and are not to be read out to respondents.

H1A – Asked of the private sector. Aimed at identifying how “customised” the services / goods are. An
example of a 5 could be an organisation that produces ‘one-off’ tailor made specialist products to
customer orders, e.g. a company that makes suits to order specifically to the customer’s measurements,
whereas a 1 could be an organisation which ‘mass-produces’ products without having a single customer
in mind e.g. suppliers of suits to a major retailer.

H1B – Asked of the private sector. An example of a 1 could be an organisation that produces a product
whose selling point is solely price base e.g. unbranded product, whereas a 5 may be selling a similar
product but people buy it due to the brand image/marketing surrounding it.

H1C – Asked of every organisation. An example of a 1 could be an organisation which is not very
innovative and often follows others rather than leading the way themselves, whereas an example of a 5
could be an organisation which is seen as innovative or ‘trend-setting’.

H1D –Asked of the private sector. An example involving the sale of motor vehicles would be where 1
could be a basic, cheap 'no frills' car whereas a 5 would be where the company offers a more premium
quality or luxury car.

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ASK ALL
H3
Does your establishment have a business plan that specifies the objectives for the
coming year?
INTERVIEWER NOTES:

IF RESPONDENT INDICATES THAT ESTABLISHMENT IS COVERED BY A
COMPANY WIDE BUSINESS PLAN, CODE AS ‘YES’

CODE AS ‘NO’ IF IN PROCESS OF DRAWING UP FIRST BUSINESS PLAN

CODE AS ‘YES’ IF CURRENTLY HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN BUT IN PROCESS
OF DRAWING UP NEW ONE.

Yes
1
No
2
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
X

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H3 asks if the establishment has a business plan. Some notes on what to allow as a response are
listed below:

If the establishment is covered by a company-wide plan code as a yes.

If updating an existing plan count as a yes

If drawing up their first plan and not yet in place count as a no

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I
Closing questions

MAIN STAGE ONLY
I1
Thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us today. Occasionally it is
necessary to call people back to clarify information; may we please call you back if
required?
REASSURE IF NECESSARY: Your details will only be used by [COMPANY] to call you
back regarding this particular study.

Yes
1
No
2

ASK ALL
I2
UKCES may wish – via its appointed research agencies – to carry out some follow-up
research on related issues within the next 2 years. Would you be willing for us to
pass your contact details to UKCES to enable this to happen?
REASSURE IF NECESSARY: We would keep this separate to the responses you have
given in this survey; it will not be possible for UKCES or its contractors to identify
your survey responses from the information.
Yes – both client and/or their contractors may recontact
1
Only the client may recontact
2
No
3

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I3
There is going to be a follow up survey to ESS2013 which will investigate training spend
using a data sheet questionnaire which will be faxed or emailed to respondents. Thus we are trying to
get permission to recontact those who train.

To do this we need to collect the email address of those who agree to be recontacted. It is very
important that you take the email details down accurately. Please read the email address back
to the respondent and do not move on to the next question until you are sure you have typed in
on screen accurately with no typos and correct spelling.

All email addresses should follow the format xx@xx.xx.

I4
If the postcode we have is not correct please make sure you type the correct one in accurately. Please
confirm it with the respondent, making sure you clarify any letters that could be misheard. Regional
and local analysis is very important in UKCESS, and we determine all regional variables from the
postcode.

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IF I2=1 AND TRAIN AT ALL (F4=1 or F4a=1)
I3
UKCES are also conducting – via an appointed research agency – some follow up
research in the next few weeks with some questions specifically about training
expenditure. This may include sending you some questions on paper which would be
collected to over the telephone. Would you be willing for us to pass your contact
details to their appointed contractor to enable this to happen?

Yes
1
Go to I3B
No
2
Go to I4

ASK IF I3=1
I3B
Can you tell me your email address?

INTERVIEWER NOTE: CODE NULL FOR DON’T KNOW / DO NOT HAVE AN EMAIL
ADDRESS

WRITE IN ADDRESS ____________
GO TO I3C
NULL/REF

GO TO I3D

ASK IF NOT NULL/REF AT I3B
I3C
I have that as [text sub of email address recorded at I3B] - is that right?
INTERVIEWER NOTE: SPELL OUT EMAIL ADDRESS LETTER-BY-LETTER

Yes
1
CONTINUE TO I4
No
2
GO TO I3B AND REDO

ASK ALL
I4
I have your postcode as [INSERT FROM SAMPLE] is this correct?
Yes
1
ASK I6
No
2
RECORD CORRECT POSTCODE

THERE IS NO QUESTION I5

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173

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174
I6
And can I just confirm the best number to contact you on is [SHOW TELEPHONE
NUMBER]?
Yes
1
NEXT QUESTION
No
2
RECORD CORRECT NUMBER

ASK ALL
I7
Finally, it is sometimes possible to link the data we have collected with other
government surveys or datasets to enable further statistical analysis. Would you be
happy for this to be done?
ADD IF NECESSARY: Your confidentiality will be maintained, and linked data will be
anonymised and only used for statistical purposes.
Yes
1
No
2

CONFIRM NAME, JOB TITLE, TELEPHONE AND EMAIL
THANK AND CLOSE

I declare that this survey has been carried out under IFF instructions and within the rules of the MRS
Code of Conduct.
Interviewer signature:
Date:
Finish time:
Interview Length
mins

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175

I7
Stick to the exact wording of the question. The aim is to link survey data to other data if possible, to
make the data richer. Once linked, it will be made anonymous, and use of the linked data is very
restricted.

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176
Appendix H: Edit specification

UKCESS2013 EDIT SPECIFICATION
Notes
SIC EDITS 1, 2 and 3 MUST be done first and in order. If any SICs were not valid at
EDIT 2, then EDIT 1 and EDIT 2 must be repeated.

A full list of valid SICs, Sector and SSC definitions and valid SOCs can be found in
separate sheets in this workbook.
All variable names refer to those in the final data map.

Edit
Label
Objective of edit
Condition
Force/Action
EDIT 1
Check that all SICs
given at A7 are
valid SIC07 codes
If A6 = 2 and FINSSC is
blank
Any records where A6=2 and
FINSSC is blank will need to have
the SIC at A7 validated. Recode
where possible, recontact if
necessary. Once all SICs at A7
have been validated repeat EDIT 1
and EDIT 2 until there are no
records where A6=2 and FINSSC is
blank.
EDIT 2
Define final Sector
from SIC given at
A7
If A6 = 2
Force FINSECTOR from A7
according to the 'Sector definitions'
worksheet (note this has changed
since 2009 to use SIC07)
EDIT 3
If sample SIC was
correct, define final
sector from this
If A6=1
If A6 is 'yes', force FINSECTOR to
match Sector,
EDIT 4
To ensure that all
SOC codes are
valid at C7
(4 DIGITS)
If SOC at C7 is not in full
SOC file provided
Recode where possible, recontact if
necessary. Coding to 1 or 2 digit
SOC is acceptable if there is not
sufficient information, although this
should only be the case for a small
minority of records (i.e. less than
1%).
EDIT 5
To check that
public sector ('local
or central
government
financed body')
definition given at
A8 is consistent
with SIC code
If A8 is '3' or '4' and first two
digits of SIC are not '84', '85'
or ''86'
Each record to be judged on an
individual basis by company name
and activity.
EDIT 6
To check legitimacy
of high numbers of
employment
If A1 is greater than 1500
Each record to be judged on an
individual basis. Call-backs may be
necessary if number of employees
seems excessively high for
business activity.

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177
EDIT 7
To check legitimacy
of high numbers of
vacancies in
relation to size of
establishment
If C6 is more than 5 times
greater than A1 if A1 < 5
OR
if C6 is more than 3 times
greater than A1 if A1 IS
BETWEEN 5 AND 49
OR
if C6 is more than 1.5 times
greater than A1 if A1 ≥ 50
Call-backs usually necessary to
confirm high numbers of vacancies.
EDIT 8
To investigate
establishments
where all
employees have
been allocated to
one occupational
group
If only one of D5, D6,
D8_1-7 is greater than 0
and A1 is more than 10
Each record to be judged on an
individual basis. Call-backs may be
necessary .
EDIT 9
To check high
values of individual
occupational
groups
If D5 (managers) is greater
than 50 OR
If D8_7 (professionals) is
greater than 100 OR
If D8_6 (associate
prof/technical) is greater
than 100 OR
If D6 (admin/clerical) is
greater than 100 OR
If D8_5 (skilled trades) is
greater than 100 OR
If D8_4 (personal service) is
greater than 100 OR
If D8_3 (sales/customer
service) is greater than 100
OR
If D8_2 (machine
operatives) is greater than
100 OR
If D8_1 (elementary) is
greater than 100
Each record to be judged on an
individual basis. Call-backs may be
necessary .
EDIT
10
To check that a
repondent has
identified a
reasonable amount
of employees as
having a degree
level qualification
If D1 is greater than A1
minus Elementary and
Process, plant and machine
operative staff
Each record to be judged on an
individual basis. Call-backs may be
necessary .
EDIT
11
To check high
values of
underemployed
staff
If D15 is greater than half of
the sum of D9 (number of
proficient employees) and
A1>5
Each record to be judged on an
individual basis. Call-backs may be
necessary.

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178
EDIT
12
To ensure all
postcodes given by
respondents are
valid
If POSTCODE is '2'
Check that postcode is valid and
given in full. Invalid postcodes will
need to be investigated as each
record must have a full valid
postcode in the final data file.
LEA then needs to be forced to
match valid postcode.
REGION then needs to be forced to
match final LEA.

If you have any problems completing any of the questions, please call Anna Ponomarenko or Sameer Ali at
IFF Research on xx-xxxx-xxxx. The core client agency for the Employer Skills Survey is the UK
Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) in partnership with the Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills (BIS), the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for Employment and
Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI). Further information about UKCES is available at www.ukces.org.uk.

A. Off-the-job training or development

This section of the questionnaire covers the
costs of providing off-the-job training or
development for employees. By off-the-job,
we mean all training given away from the
individual’s immediate work position. It can be
given at your premises or elsewhere.

If you have not provided any off-the-job
training in the last 12 months, please go
straight to section B, on-the-job training, on the
next page.
Training courses
1. Over the past 12 months, how many
employees participated in an education
or
training
course,
provided
either
externally or internally?

__________ employees

If none, please skip to Q15. Otherwise,
please answer Q2 onwards.
2. How many days on average did each of
these people spend on an education or
training course over the past 12 months?

__________ days
3. What is the average basic annual salary
of an employee who has been on any of
these courses over the past 12 months?
[for any part time staff please convert their
salaries to full time equivalence when
calculating this average]

£__________
4.

4a

What was the cost of fees to external
providers of training courses for your
employees over the past 12 months?
Please include the cost of fees to any
external providers who ran courses on your
premises.
£__________

And what percentage, if any, of these fees
to external providers were paid to FE
(Further Education) colleges or to
Universities or other Higher Education
institutions?
______ %

Training centres
5.
Do you have a training centre at your
location?

 Yes please answer Q6
 No please skip to Q7

If you have a training centre:
6.
How much did your training centre cost to
run over the past 12 months? Please split
the cost into:
a) Total basic annual salaries of any full
time or part time training centre staff
£__________

b) Other costs, including all equipment
and materials used and the cost of rent
paid for the space the training centre
occupies.
£ __________

All providing off-the-job training please
answer Q7 onwards:
7.
How much did you spend on using off-site
training centres located elsewhere within
your organisation over the past 12 months?
£__________
 Did not use off-site training centre

Appendix I: Investment in training datasheet
Employer Skills Survey 2013:
Investment in Training Questionnaire
When answering the questions, please only consider employees who are normally based at your
location. If you cannot give exact answers at any question, please give your best estimate.

If you have any problems completing any of the questions, please call Anna Ponomarenko or Sameer
Ali at IFF Research on xx-xxxx-xxxx. The core client agency for the Employer Skills Survey is the
UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) in partnership with the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for
Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI). Further information about UKCES is available
at www.ukces.org.uk.

14.
What was the value of any grants or
subsidies that you received over the
past 12 months from training
organisations such as Sector Skills
Councils / Industry Training Boards,
Skills Funding Agency, regional growth
funds (relating to training) or other
government-related sources (including
Employer Ownership Pilot, AGE
incentive payments and ESF) to
support the cost of training?

£__________

Other off-the-job training
Not all off-the-job training is course-based.
The following few questions relate to off-the-
job training that you may have provided that
did not involve employees going on courses.
15.
How many employees participated in
seminars, workshops, or open or
distance learning where the main
purpose was training, over the past 12
months?

__________ employees
16.
How many days on average did each
of these spend away from their usual
work position whilst engaged in any of
these activities?

__________ days
17.
What is the average basic annual
salary of an employee who has taken
part in any of these activities over the
last 12 months? [for any part time staff
please convert their salaries to full time
equivalence when calculating this average]

£__________
18.

18a
And what was the total cost of fees to
external providers of providing this
type of off-the-job training over the
past 12 months?

£__________

And what percentage, if any, of these
fees to external providers were paid to
FE (Further Education) colleges or to
Universities or other Higher Education
institutions? __________%
Training equipment and staff who train
8.
How many people do you have at your
establishment who are directly involved
in providing, administering or making
policy decisions about training?
(Please exclude any staff directly
associated with your training centre, if
you have one)
__________ employees

If none, please skip to Q11. Otherwise,
please answer Q9 and Q10
9.
On average, what percentage of their
time do these staff spend on training
matters?
__________ %
10. And what is the average basic annual
salary of these staff?

£__________

All providing off-the-job training please
answer Q11 onwards
11. Apart from any training centre costs,
what was the cost of any equipment
and materials used for training
employees over the past 12 months?

£__________
12. How much was spent on travel &
subsistence payments and travelling
time payments made to participants and
trainers who spent time on courses over
the past 12 months?

£__________

Training organisations
13. What, if anything, have you paid in levy
payments over the past 12 months to
training organisations such as Sector
Skills Councils (SSCs) or Industry
Training Boards?

£__________

If you have any problems completing any of the questions, please call Anna Ponomarenko or Sameer
Ali at IFF Research on xx-xxxx-xxxx. The core client agency for the Employer Skills Survey is the
UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) in partnership with the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for
Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI). Further information about UKCES is available
at www.ukces.org.uk.
B. On-the-job and informal training &
development

This section covers on-the-job and informal
training and development. By this we mean
activities that would be recognised as training
by staff (not the sort of learning by experience
that could take place all the time), where this
activity takes place at the desk or place where
the person receiving the training usually works.

Please focus on a typical month, preferably
the last calendar month, but if not a recent
more typical month of your choice.

19.
How many employees do you estimate
receive on-the-job / informal training
and development during a typical
month?

__________ employees
If you do not give any such training, you
do not need to answer the rest of the
questionnaire.
20.
Roughly how many working hours on
average do you think each of these
employees spends on on-the-job
training and development during a
typical month? Please think of the
actual time spent in instruction or
practical experience, excluding any
periods of normal work.

__________ working hours
21.
What is the average basic annual
salary of your employees who receive
on-the-job training and development in
a typical month? [for any part time staff
please convert their salaries to full time
equivalence when calculating this average]

£__________

22.
How many employees do you estimate
will give on-the-job training and
development during a typical month?

__________ employees
23.
Roughly how many working hours on
average do you think each of these
people spend giving on-the-job training
and development during a typical
month?

__________ working hours
24.
What is the average basic annual
salary of your employees who give on-
the-job training and development in a
typical month? [for any part time staff
please convert their salaries to full time
equivalence when calculating this average]

£_________

Many thanks for taking the time to help
with this research. Please do NOT fax or
email your responses to us – we will be
calling you in the next few days to collect
your answers.

182
Appendix J: Reassurance email

REF: [KEY NUMBER]

Employer Skills Survey 2013

Thank you for considering participating in this important research.

The Employer Skills Survey 2013 is being conducted on behalf of the UK Commission for
Employment and Skills and its partners, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the
Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for Employment and Learning in
Northern Ireland (DELNI). The project is being conducted by IFF Research, an independent market
research organisation.

The aim of this project is to help the Government and other institutions meet the skills, employment
and business support needs of organisations like yours. Your co-operation will ensure that the views
expressed are representative of all employers in your sector.

Your organisation has been selected at random from Experian’s National Business Database and
we hope very much that you are able to take part. Participation will involve a telephone interview
with an IFF interviewer lasting around 20 minutes at a time that is convenient for you.

For further information regarding the survey, including frequently asked questions and results from
the previous survey please see the UK Commission website: www.ukces.org.uk/employersurveys.

If you have any queries concerning the format or content of the interview, please contact Jolyon
Fairburn-Beech or Mark Tweddle at IFF Research, tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx or e-mail:
xxx@xxx.xx or xxx@xxx.xx. If you would like to speak
to somebody at the UK Commission for more information on the aims and objectives of the survey,
you can contact Simon Fathers on xx-xxxx-xxxx or on xxx@xxx.xx.

Your replies will be treated in the strictest confidence under the Code of Conduct of the Market
Research Society. Responses will not be linked to individual companies or respondents without
their prior consent.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Jolyon Fairburn-Beech
Research Executive
IFF Research

183
Appendix K: Effect of the 2+ employment reweight
on 2011 data
The 2013 survey population covers all establishments with two or more people working at
them (whether or not these people are working proprietors). The 2011 survey also covered
this population, and in addition included establishments with one employee who was not a
working proprietor. Therefore in order to compare 2013 data with 2011 data, it has been
necessary to reweight the 2011 data to the 2+ employment population.
Whilst the establishments removed from the data do not differ significantly from other micro
establishments in terms of the amount they recruit or train staff, removing them from the
data has a considerable impact on survey results because of the difference it makes to the
population. In the original data reported from the 2011 survey, the smallest sizeband (one
to four staff) accounted for 64 per cent of the population. If we remove establishments with
just one employee on site this reduces to 52 per cent. It is this change in the population
weighted to that has the largest impact on the data.
The tables in this appendix show the key incidence and volume figures reported in the
UKCESS 2011 survey, and how they were affected by the reweight. A full set of reweighted
tables from the 2011 survey accompany the 2013 survey outputs in order to facilitate the
time-series comparison.

2011 reported figure
(including 1
employee group)
2011 reweighted
figure (excluding 1
employee group;
comparable to 2013)
Size profile
%
%
1-4 / 2-4
64
52
5-24
28
37
25-99
6
8
100-249
1
1
250+
1
1
Vacancy

% of estabs with a vacancy
12
14
Number of vacancies
635,900
586,500
% of estabs with a hard-to-fill vacancy
4
4
% of estabs with a skill-shortage vacancy
3
3
Number of skill-shortage vacancies
103,500
91,400
Internal Skills Mismatch

% of estabs with a skills gap
13
17
Number of skills gaps
1,489,500
1,485,500

184

2011 reported figure
(including 1
employee group)
2011 reweighted
figure (excluding 1
employee group;
comparable to 2013)
Training

% doing any training
59
65
% doing off-the-job training
42
47
Number of staff trained
14,972,000
14,733,000
Days training per trainee
7.8
7.8
Days training per employee
4.3
4.2
Vacancy figures rounded to nearest 100, skills gaps and staff trained rounded to nearest 1,000.