UKCES Employer Skills Survey 2015
Source: data.gov.uk (2018-05-08)

The 2015 Employer Skills Survey (ESS15) is the third in the series of UK-wide skills surveys run by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). 

The survey gives us a unique insight into the skills issues employers face and the actions they are taking to address them, providing a unique skills perspective alongside other labour market information. There is no other business survey on this scale: our researchers conducted over 91,000 interviews across the UK economy.

Topics covered in the survey include training and staff development, vacancies and skills shortages, employee skill gaps, retention of workforce and underutilisation of skills.

The ESS15 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. 

Data are available for the UK, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) and Local Education Authority (LEA) areas in England.

Employer Skills Survey
2015: Technical Report

Evidence Report 98
May 2016

1
The UK Commission’s Employer
Skills Survey 2015

Technical Report

Mark Winterbotham, Jan Shury, David Vivian, Andrew Skone James,
Jessica Huntley Hewitt, Mark Tweddle and Christabel Downing
IFF Research

Alex Thornton, Rosie Sutton and Thomas Glynn
UK Commission for Employment and Skills

May 2016

2
Table of Contents
1
Introduction .................................................................................................. 3
2
The Core Survey .......................................................................................... 4
2.1
Sampling ................................................................................................................... 4
2.2
Questionnaire design ............................................................................................ 12
2.3
Fieldwork ................................................................................................................ 24
2.4
Response rate ........................................................................................................ 26
2.5
Data edits ................................................................................................................ 29
2.6
Coding ..................................................................................................................... 29
2.7
Weighting ................................................................................................................ 29
3
Investment in Training survey .................................................................. 34
3.1
Sampling ................................................................................................................. 34
3.2
Quotas ..................................................................................................................... 35
3.3
Data collection method ......................................................................................... 35
3.4
Questionnaire ......................................................................................................... 35
3.5
Achieved interviews and response rate calculations ........................................ 36
3.6
Data modelling ....................................................................................................... 37
3.7
Cost calculations ................................................................................................... 41
3.8
Weighting ................................................................................................................ 43
4
Using the survey for analysis ................................................................... 45
4.1
Modelled data ......................................................................................................... 50
Appendix A: Industry Coding ........................................................................... 51
Appendix B: Quota targets, Drawn Sample and Achieved Interviews .......... 55
Appendix C: Questionnaire Changes for ESS 2015 ........................................ 67
Appendix D: Supplementary Tables Regarding Impact of
Questionnaire Amends ...................................................................................... 72
Appendix E: Occupational Coding ................................................................... 75
Appendix F: Briefing Notes / Core Questionnaire ........................................... 76
Appendix G: Reassurance email .................................................................... 204
Appendix H: Response Rates by subgroup .................................................. 205
Appendix I: Edit specification ......................................................................... 206
Appendix J: Investment in Training datasheet .............................................. 209
Appendix K: Sampling Error and Statistical Confidence ............................. 212

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1
Introduction
The UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2015 (ESS 2015) marks the third occasion
that labour market intelligence (LMI) on employer skills needs has been collected on a UK-
wide basis. Prior to 2010, each nation in the UK gathered their own LMI. When the UK
Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) inherited responsibility for the National
Employer Skills Survey in England in 2009, it took the opportunity to align the data gathered
by the four nations into one UK-wide Employer Skills Survey.
The Employer Skills Survey sits alongside the Employer Perspectives Survey to produce
insights 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 measures the current skills position and skill needs of employers.
The 2015 Employer Skills Survey had two facets:

The core survey: covering business strategy, recruitment, retention, skills gaps, training
and workforce development, and high performance working;

The 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 ESS 2015 survey, a total of 91,210 interviews were undertaken. Table 2.1
provides a breakdown of completed interviews by country.
Table 2.1 Interviews achieved by country

Number of interviews
England
75,129
Northern Ireland
4,019
Scotland
6,035
Wales
6,027
2.1
Sampling
Sampling unit
The sampling unit was at an establishment level, rather than at an organisation level, in
recognition of the fact that it is at the site level that skill shortages are most acutely
experienced and strategies to combat them are pursued. This mirrored the establishment-
based approach adopted in 2013, 2011 and in the legacy skills surveys in each of the four
nations.
The individual approached was the person at the particular establishment who had most
responsibility for staff issues such as training, recruitment or resourcing. For smaller
establishments this was most often the general manager or owner and for larger
establishments this was most often the HR manager1.
Survey scope / eligibility
In line with the approach adopted in 2013, the survey population for ESS 2015 was
establishments with 2+ employment (i.e. establishments were eligible if they had two or
more people working at them, regardless of whether or not they owned the organisation).

1 Note that the terms ‘establishment’, ‘employer’ and ‘business’ are used interchangeably throughout the report.

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The 2011 survey was the first year of transitioning to a UK-wide Employer Skills Survey
and so it had 1+ employment coverage in order to allow comparisons with the preceding
national skills surveys. Note that in the 2015 and 2013 ESS reports, where comparisons
are made with 2011, this is based on 2011 data that has been re-weighted on a
2+ employment population. This means that results from the 2011 survey that are
presented in the 2015 report will not necessarily match those published in the 2011 report.
The rationale for the change in survey population and the 2011 re-weighting process is
detailed in the ESS 2013 technical report2.
Setting quota targets
Quota targets were set using three variables: geography, sector and size. Population
statistics used to size and stratify the business population were established through the
2014 Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), which was the latest available at the
time. The IDBR is administered by the Office for National Statistics (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 business population data available, and was used
for sampling and weighting in all previous editions of the Employer Skills Surveys and in
the legacy skills surveys in each of the four nations.
Information on how the geographic, sector and size quotas were set is detailed, in turn,
below.
Geographic quotas
The overall allocation by country was 75,000 interviews for England, 6,000 for Scotland,
6,000 for Wales and 4,000 for Northern Ireland. The allocations were set by agreement
between UKCES and their partners in the survey: the Department for Business Innovation
and Skills (BIS), the Department for Employment and Learning Norther Ireland (DELNI),
the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and
Pensions (DWP).

2 UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013: Technical Report (January 2014), UK Commission for Employment and
Skills
(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/428292/UKCESS_2013_Technical_Report_
CONTROLLED_v04.00.pdf)

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The approach taken for setting geographic quotas within country followed the same method
used in the previous iterations of the survey. Within England, half the interviews were
divided evenly across the nine Government Office Regions (GOR), and the remaining half
in proportion to the number of business units that each region accounted for. This ensured
a minimum number of interviews were achieved in each English region, whilst still
apportioning more interviews to the regions with larger business populations. To ensure
coverage at a local level, quota targets were also set for each Local Authority (LA) grouped
according to the Local Education Authority (LEA) definitions3 in proportion to the population
that each LEA accounted for in each GOR.
Regional quotas were also set within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in line with the
business population according to the IDBR. In Scotland this was by the eight Regional
Selective Assistance (RSA) regions, representing a change to 2013 when the Enterprise
regions (Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise) were used4. For Wales
this this was by 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 (Belfast, Northern, North West, Southern,
South West and South East).
Sector quotas
Quotas by sector used 15 sector categories. These sectors, defined using Standard
Industrial Classifications (SIC) were:
 Agriculture (SIC 01-03)
 Mining and Quarrying (SIC 05-09)
 Manufacturing (SIC 10-33)
 Electricity, Gas and Water (SIC 35-39)
 Construction (SIC 41-43)
 Wholesale and Retail (SIC 45-47)
 Hotels and Restaurants (SIC 55-56)
 Transport and Storage (SIC 49-53)

3 Targets were set LA grouped to 151 LEAs (the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEAs were combined due to the limited
business population in Isles of Scilly).
4 It should be noted that during the autumn of 2015 the RSA groupings were reviewed by Skills Development Scotland and
their partners and subsequently replaced by 13 Regional Output Areas (ROA). The 13 ROA groupings were used for
weighting and reporting of local data in Scotland.

7
 Information and Communications (SIC 58-63)
 Financial Services (SIC 64-66)
 Business Services (68-82)
 Public Administration (SIC 84)
 Education (SIC 85)
 Health and Social Work (SIC 86-88)
 Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities5 (SIC 90-96)
Further information on the SIC definitions for these sectors can be found in Appendix A.
Fourteen sector categories were used in 2011 and 2013. The only difference in 2015 was
splitting the Transport, storage and communications sector (SIC 49-53 and 58-63) into two
separate categories: ‘Transport and storage’ and ‘Information and communications’. This
change in 2015 was made to reflect that the Information and communications sector used
to be dominated by ‘physical’ communications methods (such as postal and landline
telephones), but has evolved to be quite different due to the increase in the number of
information technology and mobile telecommunications companies. It should be noted that
the two sectors were combined for reporting purposes to allow for time-series comparisons
in the Transport, storage and communications sector (against 2011 and 2013 data), but
the change in sampling approach will allow for time-series against 2015 for the two
separate sectors in future iterations of the survey.
Another change since ESS 2013 was how the Mining and Quarrying sector was treated.
Whilst it remained a standalone sector for sampling and weighting purposes, due to the
low number of employers in this sector (1,635 according to the 2014 IDBR), this sector was
combined with Manufacturing for analysis and reporting purposes. Therefore, when data
for the Manufacturing sector is reported in the main report, this includes Mining and
Quarrying establishments).

5This was referred to as Community, social and personal services in ESS 2011 and 2013. It has been updated in ESS 2015
to reflect the current ONS definition of this sector.

8
For setting sector quota targets, half the interviews allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland
and Wales and to each English region were divided equally across the 15 sectors, with the
remaining half in proportion to the number of establishments each sector accounted for.
This method served to increase the number of interviews achieved in the smaller sectors
compared to what their allocation would be through a purely representative approach and,
therefore, enhanced the confidence with which data within smaller sectors could be
reported.
Adopting such an approach ensured that, as far as possible, the Maximum Standard Error
associated with findings by sector would be no greater than an average of ±2% UK-wide
(at the 95 per cent confidence level). Critically, this also helped to ensure that within each
broad sector, key cuts of the data (such as the nature of skills gaps relating to individual
occupations or the causes and implications of specific types of skill-shortage vacancies),
were associated with sufficiently robust base sizes.
It should be noted that in the case of some of the small sectors (such as Mining and
Quarrying and Electricity, Gas and Water), using this approach produced a target that was
greater than the number of interviews realistically achievable given the population in that
sector. Where these occurred, targets were revised down to the maximum possible using
an 8:1 sample to target ratio, with the difference redistributed as evenly as possible across
the remaining sectors.
Sizeband quotas
Quota targets based on establishment size were set for each sector within each region by
distributing interviews in each sector into seven sizebands (this distribution can be found
in Appendix B). This approach was taken in order to distribute interviews across sizebands
in proportion to the overall employment accounted for by employers of that size, with
sample to interview target ratios set at 4:1 for the 250+ sizeband, 6:1 for the 100+ and 50-
99 sizebands, and 8:1 for the smaller sizebands. Larger establishments were oversampled
in order to maximise the proportion of the workforce covered by the survey and because
interviews in the largest sizebands have historically proven more difficult to complete
interviews with. This oversampling of larger establishments was corrected when weighting
the survey results (as detailed later in this technical report).
Sample sources
In line with the previous Employer Skills Surveys, the main sample source was Experian’s
Business Database. This was regarded as the most comprehensive and up-to-date source
of establishment-based data with telephone numbers that is commercially available.

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However, reflecting the Experian database’s origin as a business database, there have
historically been certain pockets in which the database consistently under-represents the
business population (most notably in the Public Administration and Agriculture sectors).
In 2011 and 2013 this under-representation was addressed by submitting an application to
the ONS’ Micro Data Release Panel to obtain details of all the records they held in the
Public Administration and Agriculture sectors in the IDBR. Furthermore, the Mining and
Quarrying and Electricity, Gas and Water sectors were included in the IDBR top-up sample
in 2011 and 2013 due to the absolute number of businesses in these sectors being
relatively low; thus requiring as much sample as possible to maximise the interviews that
could be achieved in these sectors.
Under the ethos of ensuring continual development and improvement in the reliability and
robustness of the Employer Skills Survey series, a systematic review of Experian’s sector
coverage (including at the 4-digit SIC 2007 level) was carried out to assess whether the
IDBR top-up should be extended for ESS 2015 to include other sectors (or sub-sectors) to
improve the overall sample coverage.
This review was undertaken in the context of a declining use of business directories by
businesses owing to the increased accessibility of the internet over the past decade, both
in terms of businesses being able to advertise directly on the internet and clients/customers
using the internet as a source for identifying businesses offering particular goods/services.
This decline in business directory use will have affected some sectors more than others.
Overall, the review revealed that Experian’s coverage was still high at 77 per cent (as a
proportion of the total population of establishments with 2+ employment according to the
IDBR) but this represented a decrease from 10 years ago when coverage was at 85 per
cent in 2005.
The review confirmed that Experian’s coverage of establishments was still low6 in the Public
Administration and Agriculture sectors (at 28 and 29 per cent, respectively) but also
revealed other sectors where Experian’s coverage was low: in particular, the Construction
and Health and Social Work sectors (52 and 62 per cent, respectively). In summary, the
systematic review led to extra IDBR sample being ordered in the following 2-digit and 4-
digit SIC codes (* indicates that the SIC grouping was also included in the IDBR order for
the 2013 survey):

6 Generally, a coverage of less than two-thirds (66 per cent) was taken as the cut-off point at which consideration was
given to ordering top-up sample from the IDBR.

10
 Agriculture (SIC 01 to 03)*
 Mining and Quarrying (SIC 05 to 09)*
 Electricity, Gas and Water (SIC 35 to 39)*
 Construction (SIC 41 to 43)
 Public Administration and defence (SIC 84)*
 Telecommunications (SIC 61)
 Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance activities (SIC 66)
 Scientific research and development (SIC 72)
 Employment activities (SIC 78)
 Gambling and betting activities (SIC 92)
 Agents involved in the sale of textiles, clothing, fur, footwear and leather goods (SIC
4616)
 Wholesale of perfume and cosmetics (SIC 4645)
 Retail sale of beverages in specialised stores (SIC 4725)
 Retail sale of automotive fuel in specialised stores (SIC 4730)
 Computer programming activities (SIC 6201)
 Computer consultancy activities (SIC 6202)
 Management of real estate on a fee or contract basis (SIC 6832)
 Activities of head offices (SIC 7010)
 Private security activities (SIC 8010)
 Combined facilities support activities (SIC 8110)
 Other human health activities (SIC 8690)
 Residential nursing care activities (SIC 8710)

11
 Residential care activities for mental retardation, mental health and substance abuse
(SIC 8720)
 Other residential care activities (SIC 8790)
 Social work activities without accommodation for the elderly and disabled (SIC 8810)
 Child day-care activities (SIC 8891).
Sample was ordered at an average ratio of approaching 8:1 against target interviews
required. Due to the availability of sample this varied between quota cells from 5:1 (Public
Administration in the East Midlands) to 13:1 (Agriculture in the South East). The 8:1
average ratio was chosen to balance maintaining high response rates with fieldwork
efficiency.
A total of 692,305 records ordered from Experian were loaded for fieldwork.
A total of 520,218 records were drawn from the IDBR (compared to 145,895 records in
2013). These records were checked against the Experian sample for duplicate records
using a combination of company name and postcode. This left 217,235 of the IDBR records
eligible for inclusion. Since the majority of the IDBR records received did not include
telephone numbers, these were sourced using a combination of automated and manual
directory look-ups (67,394 records were successfully telematched). A second round of
checks for duplicates against the Experian sample was carried out, this time factoring in
telephone numbers into the duplication checks, which left 52,778 IDBR records that were
loaded for fieldwork (compared with 11,849 records in 2013).
All sample records were postcode-validated to ensure that geographical regions had been
correctly assigned.
Checks were also undertaken in instances where duplicate telephone numbers existed
within the sample. In certain sectors, such as retail and finance, it is common for different
establishments to appear under the same centralised telephone number. Such
establishments were marked up on the sample ‒ with the address of the sampled
establishment displayed on-screen ‒ so that interviewers would be aware that the
telephone number they were calling was a centralised switchboard and thus they would
need to request to be transferred to a particular site.

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There were a small number of known sectors for which SIC code misclassifications have
commonly arisen within Experian sample (based on previous experience of the ESS and
EPS surveys). For example, ‘Nursing Homes’ tend to be allocated to SIC 2007 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 should be allocated to
SIC 2007 code 87.1. The systematic sampling review of Experian’s sector coverage
highlighted two additional misclassifications:
 Any mentions of ‘printers’ in the company name were classified as SIC 2007 code
4651 (‘Wholesale of computers’) when some should have been allocated to SIC 2007
code 1812 (‘Other printing’); and
 Employers involved in employment activities were commonly coded as SIC 2007
code 7022 (‘Business and other management consultancy’) but companies with the
words ‘recruitment’, ’personnel’ and ’employment’ should in fact be SIC 2007 codes
7810 (‘Activities of employment placement agencies’) and 7820 (‘Temporary
employment agency activities’).
Checks were performed on the sample to correct such systematic misclassifications before
fieldwork was undertaken in order to minimise the proportion of employers that disagreed
with the classification of their business at question A7 in the survey.
2.2
Questionnaire design
Following a review of the 2011 and 2013 ESS questionnaires by UKCES and their partners,
and given the need for time series comparisons, the questionnaire used for ESS 2015 did
not require substantial redevelopment. Nevertheless, an extensive questionnaire review
took place at the outset of the research process with a particular emphasis on:
1. Developing the list of skills used in the survey to better understand the skills lacking in
the workforce and among applicants;
2. Considering the introduction of an online resource to assist employers in accurately
categorising their workforce into the nine occupational classifications used in the
survey;
3. Reviewing the core under-utilisation measure, and inclusion of a set of questions to
understand the causes and implications of skills under-utilisation;
4. Developing new training questions to capture provision of online, e-learning and other
self-learning training, and how use of these training methods has changed over time.

13
These four main areas of questionnaire development are detailed in turn below. A full list
of the changes between the questionnaires used in the 2013 and 2015 Employer Skills
Surveys, along with the reasons for these alterations, can be found in Appendix C.
Another key change from the 2013 survey was the inclusion of retention questions, in place
of those relating to upskilling. The 2011 survey included a question relating to retention,
and this module of questions was originally intended to rotate in alternate surveys with the
upskilling questions which appeared in the 2013 survey.
Skills descriptors
During the Autumn of 2014 UKCES commissioned the National Institute of Economic and
Social Research (NIESR) to undertake a review of the skill descriptors used in the 2011
and 2013 Employer Skills Surveys. The skill descriptors used in 2011 and 2013 concerning
the skills lacking among applicants (question C13) and among the workforce (question
D11) comprised 13 items7:
 Basic computer literacy / using IT
 Advanced IT or software skills
 Oral communication skills
 Written communication skills
 Customer handling skills
 Team working skills
 Foreign language skills
 Problem solving skills
 Planning and Organisation skills
 Strategic Management skills
 Numeracy skills
 Literacy skills
 Technical, practical or job specific skills

7 There were 15 pre-coded options for workplaces located in Wales, as two items were added on Welsh language skills.

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The NIESR review was undertaken amid concern that the existing information collected
has not been sufficiently detailed to allow for the formulation of specific, actionable
responses to address the skill issues identified in the survey. For example, in the 2011 and
2013 surveys a large number of employers reported that skill-shortage vacancies and
internal skills gaps were due to deficiencies in ‘technical, practical or job-specific skills’,
without any further information provided as to the nature of the skills that were lacking.
Another reason was that the survey could improve its coverage of the higher-level skills
that underpin innovative business practices. In addition, the review sought to assess
whether there were opportunities to harmonise the skill descriptors used with those of other
international studies.
As part of the NIESR review, other surveys were taken into consideration to provide useful
pointers as to how the list of descriptors in ESS might usefully be expanded. For example,
the Skills and Employment Surveys (SES) and the OECD’s Programme for the
International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) were seen to be considerably
more comprehensive in their coverage of specific tasks or domains than ESS, while the
CEDEFOP Employer Survey on Skill Needs included domains that were missing from 2011
and 2013 ESS questionnaires. Furthermore, these international surveys were seen to focus
on different levels of complexity in skills, as opposed to straight-forward descriptors as in
ESS (information technology [IT] was the only domain for which levels of skills are
distinguished). Taking the strengths of these surveys into consideration (and the perceived
weaknesses of the ESS skills 2011 and 2013 skill descriptors), the NIESR review
recommended transitioning to an expanded list of 21 skill descriptors split across two broad
themes:
 skills relating to using information, equipment and materials; and
 skills relating to dealing with people.
Following cognitive testing and piloting8 to develop the wording and phrasing of the skills
so that they would be understood by employers, a list of 24 items9 was used for the main
survey (see Table 2.2).

8 Twenty cognitive interviews and 100 pilot interviews were undertaken. Further details of the cognitive testing and piloting
of the survey are provided later in the report.
9 There were 26 pre-coded options for workplaces located in Wales, as two items were added on Welsh language skills
under the ‘using information, equipment and materials’ list.

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Table 2.2 Final list of 24 ‘new’ skill descriptors used in ESS 2015
Using information, equipment and
materials

Dealing with people
 Computer literacy / basic IT skills

 Instructing, teaching or training
people
 Advanced or specialist IT skills

 Sales skills
 Solving complex problems requiring a
solution specific to the situation

 Customer handling skills
 Reading and understanding
instructions, guidelines, manuals or
reports

 Persuading or influencing others
 Writing instructions, guidelines, manuals
or reports

 Team working
 Basic numerical skills and
understanding

 Managing or motivating other staff
 More complex numerical or statistical
skills and understanding

 Ability to manage own time and
prioritise own tasks
 Communicating in a foreign language

 Setting objectives for others and
planning human, financial and
other resources
 Manual dexterity – for example, to
mend, repair, assemble, construct or
adjust things

 Managing their own feelings, or
handling the feelings of others
 Adapting to new equipment or materials
 Making speeches or presentations
 Knowledge of products and services
offered by your organisation and
organisations like yours

 Knowledge of how your organisation
works

 Specialist skills or knowledge needed to
perform the role

It was agreed to treat ESS 2015 as a transitional year for the implementation of this
expanded list of skill descriptors. That is to say that once an employer’s answers identified
them as having at least one skill-shortage vacancy and/or at least one internal skills gap
they would be randomly assigned to be asked either the ‘old’ list of skill descriptors used in
2013 or the ‘new’ list of skill descriptors. This approach was taken in order to allow for time
series analyses against 2013, whilst allowing for a full transition to the new list of skill
descriptors in the next iteration of the survey. Table D.1.1 in Appendix D details the overall
profile of employers that were randomly assigned to each list of skill descriptors.

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In addition to the expanded list of skill descriptors, the NIESR review recommended the
inclusion of a question asking employers that gave multiple responses to identify the single
skill lacking that they felt was most important. Accordingly, a follow-up question to both the
‘old’ and ‘new’ skill lists was included in ESS 2015 that asked employers who gave multiple
responses: “which one of these skills which are lacking has the biggest impact on your
establishment?”
Online occupational prompts
In order to allow assessment of skill needs at an occupational level, a key element of the
Employers Skill Survey series is a set of questions that asks employers to assign their
employees at their establishment into nine different occupational categories ranging from
Managers, Directors and Senior Officials through to Elementary Occupations. It was known
from previous iterations of the survey that this section of the questionnaire can often be
demanding and potentially onerous for employers - particularly larger employers with large
numbers of employees across multiple occupational categories.
With a view to assisting employers through this section of the questionnaire, a set of
occupational prompts, providing detailed examples of the types of job roles to be included
in each occupational grouping, was created and hosted online by IFF Research under the
domain name www.skillsurvey.co.uk/jobs. The occupational prompts were tailored to give
pertinent examples specific to each broad sector classification (the full list of prompts used
can be viewed at the end of the questionnaire in Appendix E).
Following piloting of the questionnaire (discussed in more detail later in this chapter) it was
decided to only offer the online prompt card to establishments with 10 or more employees.
For employers that opted against accessing the online occupational prompts, the
occupational descriptions and example job roles read out ‘as necessary’ by interviewers
were updated to match those used with the online prompts.
As shown in Table D.1.2 in Appendix D, the likelihood of accessing the online prompt card
increased by establishment size, and those within the Information and communications
sector were more likely than others to have accessed it.

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Those who accessed the online prompt card were more likely to assign their staff to a
greater range of occupations (see Table D.1.3 in Appendix D), though this should be
interpreted with the different size and sector profiles of those accessing the online prompt
card in mind.
Skills under-utilisation
‘Under-utilisation’ is defined in the survey to mean employees who have both skills and
qualifications above those required to carry out their current job role. In both the 2011 and
2013 surveys a single question was asked to determine whether such under-utilisation was
present among staff. However, cognitive testing on this question suggested that there were
likely to be incidences of over-reporting in cases where staff had either skills or
qualifications but not both.
As such, ESS 2015 created a two-stage measure of under-utilisation, first asking how many
staff had qualifications more advanced than those needed for their job role, then how many
of these individuals also had skills more advanced than required for their role. It was
thought that this two-stage measure would improve clarity of the question for respondents,
and better adhere to best practice by removing multiple elements within one question.
Under-utilisation has been of interest to UKCES and its partners (with a thematic report
written on the issue in 2013), but the findings were limited in the extent to which they
supported further analyses. As such, follow-up questions were developed for ESS 2015 to
explore the nature, causes and effects of skills under-utilisation.
Three new questions were also added to the questionnaire to explore the nature, causes
and effects of under-utilisation:

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Question D16
IF SINGLE MEMBER OF STAFF SATISFIES CRITERIA OF
UNDERUTILISATION: What is the specific role or occupation of
this member of staff who has BOTH qualifications and skills
beyond those needed for their job role?
IF
>1
MEMBER
OF
STAFF
SATISFIES
CRITERIA
OF
UNDERUTILISATION: In which specific occupation do you have
most staff that have BOTH qualifications and skills beyond those
needed for their job role?
Question D17
And thinking of the [member of] staff in that specific occupation,
what are the main reasons why they are working in a role for
which they have BOTH qualifications and skills beyond those
needed for their job role?
Question D19
And overall would you say it is an advantage or disadvantage for
your organisation to have [this member of/these] staff with both
qualifications and skills beyond those needed for their current
role?
It should be noted that once survey responses to question D16 were coded to 4-digit SOC
2010, the occupation of the staff member(s) with qualifications and skills beyond those
needed for their job role did not always map back to the 1-digit SOC occupational groups
that the respondent had assigned all of their employees to earlier in the survey (this was
the case for 17 per cent of all employers with under-utilised staff). An example from the
survey is a respondent who assigned a member of staff to the 1-digit SOC classification of
Managers, directors and senior officials (SOC 2010 group 1) but, after identifying this
member of staff as being over-qualified and over-skilled for their job role, the verbatim
description of the employee’s job role was coded to the 4-digit SOC 2010 code 2319
(nursery manager) which would fall under 1-digit SOC classification of Professionals (SOC
2010 group 2).

19
The primary reason for this apparent inconsistency was the different mechanisms for
categorising employees used in the survey. When categorising their employees in the
Employer Skills Survey, due to issues of survey length, it is impractical for employers to
describe the job role of each of their employees in order for them to be individually assigned
to a 4-digit SOC 2010 code which could then be amalgamated to occupational groupings
at the 1-digit SOC level. Naturally, employers will be (more) familiar with the job roles / job
titles of their employees (as collected at question D16) than the 1-digit SOC groupings (as
collected at the start of section D in the survey), thus creating the potential for
inconsistencies to occur across the data file. These inconsistencies do not, however,
impact on the ability to analyse the data; question D16 asked employers to describe the
job role in which they had ‘most’ staff that were under-utilised, so the data does not allow
for the reporting of the number of under-utilised staff in a given occupation as a proportion
staff employed in that occupation.
Additional training questions
In light of the decrease in training spend reported in ESS 2013 (compared to ESS 2011),
additional questions were introduced in ESS 2015 to explore the nature of the training that
employers had arranged or funded for their employees. In particular, it was hypothesised
that the decrease in training spend over time may have been a result of an increased use
of online / e-learning training and other self-learning (where the employee does the training
at a time of their own choosing). Accordingly, the following questions were introduced for
ESS 2015:
Question F7b
Have you arranged or funded any training for staff in the last 12
months which has involved: i) online training or e-learning ii)
other self-learning where the employee does the learning at a
time of their choosing?
Question F7c /
F7d
IF HAD ARRANGED ONLINE/E-LEARNING OR OTHER SELF-
LEARNING TRAINING IN LAST 12 MONTHS: Thinking about the
amount of [online training or e-learning] [other self-learning]
arranged or funded for staff at this site over the last 12 months,
was this: significantly higher than in the 12 months before that;
slightly higher; about the same; slightly lower; or significantly
lower in the last 12 months than in the 12 months before that?

20
Question F7b /
F7f
[IF NOT ARRANGED ONLINE/E-LEARNING OR OTHER SELF-
LEARNING TRAINING IN LAST 12 MONTHS:
Has your
establishment arranged or funded [online training or e-learning]
[other self-learning], at all over the last two years?
Interview length
The average overall interview length was 23 minutes (an increase of one minute from the
ESS 2013 interview length). This varied between different employers depending on their
recruitment activities, experience of skill-shortage vacancies, internal skills gaps and
training activities.
As might be expected, interviews with larger establishments with 100 or more employees
took longer on average given that they were more likely to have trained their staff and more
likely to have experienced skill-shortage vacancies and/or skills gaps given their greater
number of employees.
Cognitive testing and piloting
As part of the questionnaire development stage, cognitive testing and full piloting of the
questionnaire was undertaken. These exercises were employed to check comprehension
of new questions introduced to the survey and to ensure that the survey was of an
acceptable length.
Cognitive testing
A total of 20 cognitive interviews were undertaken between 12 and 23 December 2014 with
the main areas of focus being the testing of:
 The new skills lists used to understand the skills lacking among employers with skill-
shortage vacancies and skills gaps;
 The new section expanding the questions on skill under-utilisation; and
 New questions concerning whether employers had arranged or funded online
training, e-learning or other self-learning over the past 12 months and whether the
amount of this type of training that had been arranged or funded differed from the
preceding 12 months.

21
The sample comprised employers that had participated in the 2013 ESS survey and agreed
to be contacted for future research. This source was chosen as it allowed for interviews to
be targeted at employers that were likely to be experiencing a range of skill issues and
training behaviours (based on their 2013 survey responses). Interviews were conducted
with employers in each UK nation in a range of size bands and sectors. Interviews took
between 30 and 55 minutes to complete by telephone and an incentive of a £50 donation
to a charity of the respondent’s choosing was offered to help elicit a high response rate.
The main amendments following cognitive testing included:
 Refining the wording of the new skill descriptors to ensure that they were easy to
understand for respondents whilst being as succinct as possible; and
 Developing a list of potential answers for respondents to choose from at the new
under-utilisation question concerning the main reasons why employers have staff that
are over-qualified and over-skilled for their current job role (D17).
Pilot
A pilot of the questionnaire was conducted between 21 and 28 January 2015, to test the
suitability of changes made following cognitive testing, and to ensure the questionnaire as
a whole flowed well and was of an appropriate length and nature for CATI-based
interviewing. A total of 100 interviews were completed among employers covering each UK
nation and across a range of size bands and sectors. The sample was drawn from
Experian’s Business Database.
The pilot provided the first opportunity to test the online occupational prompts. Its use in
the pilot was generally well received by respondents and the interviewers administering the
survey. Thirteen of the pilot interviews were conducted with employers that had participated
in the 2013 survey. The occupational profiles provided by these employers when accessing
the online prompts during the pilot were broadly in line with the occupational profiles they
provided in 2013, providing reassurances in the change to the methodological approach.
The results of the pilot suggested that smaller establishments were less likely to access
the online occupational prompts and that the potential gains from accessing the website
for smaller employers were limited as they tended to answer this section with relative ease
(i.e. the time taken to complete the occupational profiling section was longer for these small
establishments when accessing the online prompts, compared to when not accessing it).
It was therefore decided that for the mainstage interviewing the online occupational
prompts would only be made available to establishments with 10 or more employees.

22
The average pilot interview length was 26 minutes. The main consideration from the pilot,
therefore, was streamlining the questionnaire to reduce interview length. Alongside a
number of refinements to questionnaire wording to improve flow of the questionnaire, the
following amends were made to reduce interview length:
 The set of questions relating to upskilling (section E of the 2013 questionnaire) were
rotated out of the survey with the intention that these would be reinstated for the next
iteration of the Employer Skills Survey10; and
 The questions using the new skill descriptors to understand the skills lacking among
candidates (questions C13A and C13NW) would be asked for up to a maximum of
two skill-shortage vacancies, whereas the questions using the old skill descriptors
would continue to be asked of up to six skill-shortage vacancies (for consistency with
the 2013 and 2011 editions of the survey). It should be noted that very few employers
had skill-shortage vacancies in more than two occupations and so this change did
not significantly affect the volume of skill-shortage vacancies covered by these follow-
up questions11.
In line with the approach taken in 2013, the ESS 2015 questionnaire was modularised to
reduce interview length whilst maintaining coverage of key question areas. Establishments
were randomly allocated to one of two modules, detailed below.
Module 1:
 A10: Are your products or services primarily sold… / Does your establishment
primarily serve the population… Locally, regionally, nationally, within the UK, or
internationally?
 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...
o Give employees information about the financial position of the
establishment

10 It was always the intention for the set of questions relating to upskilling to be rotated out for the main stage survey
(replaced by retention questions for ESS 2015), however it was felt that inclusion of them in the pilot would allow for a more
thorough test of the new skills descriptors.
11 Based on the 2013 data, limiting the number of skill-shortage vacancies that were followed-up to two occupations would
have provided 91 per cent of the coverage of the skill-shortage vacancies that were followed-up in 2013.

23
o IF ESTABLISHMENT HAS 10 OR MORE EMPLOYEES: Create teams of
people, who don’t usually work together, to work on a specific project
o IF ESTABLISHMENT HAS 10 OR MORE EMPLOYEES: 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”
o Have an equal opportunities policy
o Have formal procedures in place for employee consultation (such as a staff
association, employee forum or trade union consultation)
o Currently hold any of the ISO 9000 Standards
 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…
o Have variety in their work
o Have discretion over how they do their work
o Have access to flexible working.
Module 2:
 B1: Compared to 12 months ago, has the number of people employed at this
establishment remained about the same, increased, or decreased?
 B3: Are there particular jobs in which you have difficulties retaining staff?
 B3A: Which is the occupation in which you have the most difficulty retaining staff?
Unlike in 2013 when a similar number of questions were covered by each module, the
number of questions assigned to Module 1 in ESS 2015 exceeded the number of questions
assigned to Module 2. The modules were imbalanced because of the need to keep all of
the High Performance Working questions within one module (Module 1) and the fact that
questions that have previously been assigned to Module 2 were either rotated out of the
survey (as was the case for the upskilling and recruitment of young people questions), or
it being deemed preferable to ask such questions to all employers to ensure sufficient base
sizes and thus maximise reliability (as was the case for the under-utilisation questions).

24
The full final questionnaire with interviewer briefing notes is presented in Appendix F.
The questionnaire was translated into Welsh by a professional translation agency.
2.3
Fieldwork
A total of 91,210 interviews were conducted by telephone using computer-assisted
telephone interviewing (CATI) systems. Fieldwork was conducted by three research
agencies (IFF Research, BMG Research and Ipsos MORI). As lead contractor, a member
of the IFF team was involved in checking the CATI scripts set up by each agency to ensure
consistency across all three contractors.
Establishments were not pre-notified that they would be called for the survey, partly due to
financial considerations (the cost of writing to over 650,000 establishments being
prohibitive) and partly because it was felt that this could lead to a reduction in response
rates in the survey owing to head offices potentially opting out for all of the establishments
in their organisation. An exception was made for certain large banks, where head offices
were contacted by members of the UKCES team prior to the survey commencing in order
to obtain telephone numbers at branch level for establishments included in the sample
drawn from the Experian database. This approach was taken as the original telephone
numbers supplied in the Experian sample directed interviewers to call centres from where,
based on past experiences of the Employer Skills Surveys and Employer Perspective
Surveys, it has proved particularly challenging to reach individual branches.
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).
In line with the approach adopted in 2013, large multisite organisations (i.e. those with over
700 or more sites), along with the large banks that were being contacted by UKCES, were
managed and only contacted by the lead contractor (IFF Research). This enabled contacts
for multisite organisations to be split across a number sample batches and released
sequentially over the course of fieldwork to ensure that the various sites were not contacted
within too short a time window.
Table 2.6 details how the interviewing was split between the three research agencies based
on region.

25
Table 2.6 Interviews achieved by region
Agency
Regions
Number of
interviews*
BMG
East of England
8,348

North West
8,425

South West
8,243

Northern Ireland
3,966
IFF Research
London
10,434

South East
10,480

Yorkshire and the Humber
7,358

Wales
5,879

Large multisites*
1,930
Ipsos MORI
East Midlands
7,083

North East
5,484

West Midlands
7,656

Scotland
5,924
*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 B
To ensure consistency between agencies, one comprehensive set of interviewer briefing
notes was created for use by all contractors (see Appendix F), and representatives of each
contractor and the UKCES team attended the initial interviewer briefing at IFF Research
(either by phone or in person). Subsequent to this, a member of the IFF team attended the
briefings conducted by each agency. Each briefing lasted around 90 minutes and all of the
interviewers that were due to work on the survey were required to attend one such briefing
prior to them starting work on the survey. Answers to any questions raised were shared
with all three interviewing teams. Quality assurance on the interviewing was carried out by
IFF at each of the research agencies, and UKCES attended several quality assurance
sessions at IFF, providing full feedback post-session which was also shared with all
contractors.

26
Interviews were conducted with the most senior person at the site with responsibility for
recruitment, human resources and workplace skills. Reassurances were provided to
respondents prior to the survey, including confirmation that data would be reported in
aggregate form and in a way that would not allow them or their organisation to be
identifiable. If after the first contact the respondent or gatekeeper wanted more information
about the survey a reassurance email was sent (see Appendix G for a copy of the
reassurance email). This reassurance email included a link to the dedicated survey website
which was created and hosted by IFF Research (www.skillssurvey.co.uk). This website
provided further background information on the research, links to the 2013 results, and a
list of frequently asked questions.
New for ESS 2015, employers were asked at the end of the survey whether they would like
to receive a summary report of the survey findings via email once the results were
published in January 2016 (51% of employers requested to be emailed the summary
report).
Fieldwork took place from March to July 2015. Weekly progress updates and feedback
ensured the quotas progressed evenly between the three agencies running the fieldwork
mitigating the possibility of current events unevenly affecting survey results. Interim data
runs were also provided from all agencies to IFF as lead contractor twice during fieldwork,
which were checked to ensure consistency between agencies.
A total of 55 interviews were completed in Welsh.
2.4
Response rate
High response rates are central to the success of the Employer Skills Survey. 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 ESS 2015 and a paper on
maximising response rates was circulated amongst the fieldwork contractors. These
strategies included:
 Detailed and engaging interviewer briefings administered to all interviewers working
on ESS 2015. This incorporated: 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 of the questionnaire) and for particularly difficult
sections (for example section D – occupational breakdown) recordings from the pilot
were played.

27
 Sample management: loading sample in proportion to quota targets to ensure that
sample was sufficiently ‘worked’ and that quota progression was as even as possible.
 Avoiding calling employers on public holidays.
The overall response rate for the survey was 42 per cent, calculated as ‘achieved
interviews’ as a proportion of all ‘complete contacts’. Table 2.7 provides a detailed
breakdown of survey outcomes.
Table 2.7 Sample outcomes and response rate
Outcome
Number of
contacts
% of all
sample
% of
complete
contacts
Total sample
742,599
100

Ineligible establishments (e.g. just 1
working proprietor at site)
44,640
6

‘Live’ / not available during fieldwork /
Out of quota
391,591
53

Unobtainable / invalid numbers
90,095
12

Total complete contacts
216,273
29
100
Achieved interviews
91,210
12
42
Respondent refusal
116,678
16
54
Quits during interview
8,386
1
4
As is common with these types of surveys, it was particularly difficult to achieve interviews
in the smaller sized establishments in sectors such as Construction and Agriculture which
are typically site/outdoor based rather than carried out near a telephone. 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 necessary to adjust some of
the quota targets in order to meet the required total number of interviews, as some quotas
proved unachievable with the given sample. Appendix B shows the drawn sample ratios;
in instances where this was lower than 8:1 this was because the required volume of sample
was simply not available from the sources used. Quotas for which the starting volume of
sample was lower proved the hardest to fill. Appendix B also shows the areas where it was
not possible to hit the original quota targets in the given fieldwork period.
Appendix H 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 was 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:

28
 In the first instance, fieldwork contractors were 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 a particular region indicated
a need to boost interviews in the particular sizeband.
 If compensating within sizeband across SIC sector was deemed preferable, or if all
sizebands within a SIC Sector had become unachievable, then targets would be
adjusted where possible according to a “neighbouring” SIC sector, as per Table 2.8.
Table 2.8 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 and Storage
SIC 49 to 53
Information and Communications
SIC 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
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities
SIC 90 to 96

29
2.5
Data edits
It was recognised at the outset that the ESS questionnaire involved the collection of some
complex data that respondents would possibly struggle to answer. There was also, despite
stringent quality control, the chance that interviewers may enter typing errors, for example
accidentally entering extra zeros on the end of numerical variables.
Data checks were built into the CATI script to ensure that questions on numbers of
employees equalled the number of people working at the site, and that the number of staff
in each job role who were not proficient 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 F). 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 I.
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 outputs from the IFF, BMG and Ipsos MORI
coding teams.
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
Survey data were weighted and grossed up to the total population of establishments and
total population of employees, according to the 2014 IDBR ‒ the latest available business
population statistics published by ONS at the time that weighting was carried out.
Given that the ESS data were intended to be used in a variety of ways (from UK-wide unit
and employment based measures, to similar measures at a regional and local level), a
number of different weights were produced:
 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.

30
 Unit and employment weights for the two skills lists (i.e. ‘new’ and ‘old’ skills lists) that
employers with skill-shortage vacancies and/or skills gaps were randomly assigned
to.
 Local weights for use analysing England data by LEA and LEP, and Scotland by
ROA.
Weights were created in pairs: a ‘unit-based’ weight and an ‘employment-based’ weight.
The unit-based weight was designed for analyses by the 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 were created listing each variable with notes
and guidance on the correct weight to use.
Core weights:
The core weights were the default, to be used for most sets of analysis.
The following weighting strategy was used for the UK-wide dataset.
 Within each English Region (9 GORs) and Devolved Administration, grossing-up
weights were applied on a 15 broad SIC sector and seven sizeband grid (i.e. 105
cells within each of the 12 geographical areas). The sizebands used were as follows:
2-4, 5-9, 10-24, 25-49, 50-99, 100-249, 250+.
 The sizebands were employment-based.
 Overlaying these grids, RIM12 weights were imposed for LAs grouped according to
the LEA definitions within England13, WDF area in Northern Ireland, RSA region in
Scotland and Broad Region in Wales, in order to ensure the survey population of
each matched the true population without further correction for size and sector at this
level. The RIM weights were calculated by the data processing software14 which used
this method to find a ‘best fit’ between the data and the local level targets that were
set for the software.

12 ‘RIM’ stands for Random Iterative Method.
13 LAs were grouped to 151 LEAs (the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEAs were combined due to the limited business
population in Isles of Scilly).
14 Merlin 9.5.08, Merlinco Ltd.

31
 Cell merging was applied in instances where, within a region or Devolved
Administration, no interviews had been conducted in cells where the IDBR indicated
that establishments existed, and, conversely, ones where interviews had 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 previously, 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 Retention (Section B)
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 responses to key questions (incidence of vacancies, skill-shortage
vacancies, skills gaps etc.). This similarity meant that the weighting applied to the whole
dataset would in principle be suitable for the modular data, in that the resulting percentages
were “correct” for the population within each modularised nation. However, if any weighted
counts of establishments 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.
A further set of weights was therefore produced for the modularised data, grossing up the
employers within each modular set to the full population. This was done by simply
multiplying their core weight by the factor required to take the weighted figure in each
modular 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_”.

32
Skills Lists Weighting Strategy
As detailed earlier, the list of new skill descriptors used in follow-up questions to understand
the skills lacking in the workforce and among applicants was developed for ESS 2015, with
2015 treated as a transitional year for the implementation of the expanded list of skill
descriptors. This meant that employers identified as having at least one skill-shortage
vacancy and/or at least one internal skills gap were randomly assigned to be asked either
the ‘old’ list of skill descriptors used in 2013 or the ‘new’ list of skill descriptors. For clarity,
the weighting approach detailed below for the ‘new’ and ‘old’ skills lists refers specifically
to the approach taken for skill-shortage vacancies (SSVs). The same approach was taken
for the skills lists relating to skills gaps.
Because employers with at least one SSV were randomly assigned to each list, the profile
of employers was not equally split across the core weighting criteria (sector, size and
country/region; see Table 2.3 for the profile of establishments being assigned to each skills
list). Moreover, the type of occupations in which employers had SSVs for ‒ as well as the
number of SSVs for each occupation ‒ was not split evenly across the two lists of skill
descriptors. For example, an employer with 100 SSVs in Managerial roles could be
assigned to the ‘new’ list of skills descriptors, whilst an employer with two SSVs in
Managerial roles could be assigned to the ‘old’ list of skills descriptors.
For this reason a separate unit weight was used to weight the number of employers with
SSVs assigned to a particular list to the total survey weighted population of employers with
SSVs. Similarly, a separate employment weight was used to weight the number of SSVs
in each occupation assigned to a particular list to the total survey weighted population of
SSVs in each corresponding occupation. The approach for these two types of weights is
detailed below.
Unit-based skills list weights
Across the two skills lists (‘new’ and ‘old’), data were grossed-up to the total weighted
population of employers with SSVs using a 15 SIC sector and 12 region/nation based grid.
An overlaying RIM weight by the seven sizebands (2-4, 5-9, 10-24, 25-49, 50-99, 100-249,
250+) was applied.

33
Employment-based skills list weights
Across the two skills lists, the number of SSVs by occupation that were assigned to each
skills list was grossed-up to the total employment weighted population of SSVs within each
occupation (e.g. the number of SSVs for Managerial roles that were assigned to the ‘new’
skills list was weighted up to the total employment-weighted population of SSVs for
Managerial roles). The weights applied were calculated using a six broad SIC sector15 and
12 region based grid. An overlaying RIM weight by the seven sizebands (2-4, 5-9, 10-24,
25-49, 50-99, 100-249, 250+) was applied. Because these weights are occupation specific,
the employment-based skills list weights are in a separate occupational SPSS file and are
not included on the main SPSS file.
‘Local level’ Weighting Strategy
England – LEA/LEP weights
To allow for analysis in England by LA (grouped according to the LEA definitions) 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 15
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 SPSS file,
and this LEA file should be used when carrying out any analysis by LEA or LEP.
Scotland – ROA weights
To allow for analysis in Scotland by ROA, a separate set of weights was produced using a
15 SIC sector and seven sizeband grid (the same as that used for Scotland in the core
weight) and applying a RIM adjustment by the 32 unitary authorities in Scotland. Separate
unit and employment weights were created. These weights are in a separate SPSS file to
the main SPSS file and this ROS file should be used when carrying out any analysis by
ROA16.

15 The six broad sectors were an amalgamation of the 15 broad sectors used for the unit-based skills list weights and it was
necessary to use this broader sector grouping due to the base sizes of the number of SSVs for each occupation assigned
to the different skills lists. These six sectors ‒ which have been used when reporting data from the Employer Perspectives
Survey ‒ were: Primary Sector and Utilities (SIC 01-09 and 35-39), Manufacturing (SIC 10-33), Construction (SIC 41-43),
Trade, Accommodation and Transport (45-56), Business and Other Services (SIC 58-82 and 90-96) and Non-Market
Services (SIC 84-88).
16 In ESS 2013 the local level Scotland data was by RSA regions. It should be noted that during the autumn of 2015 the
RSA groupings were reviewed by Skills Development Scotland and their partners and subsequently replaced by 13
Regional Output Areas (ROA). The 13 ROA groupings were used for weighting and reporting of local data in Scotland.

34
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
Investment in Training Surveys in 2013 and 2011, which, in turn, had replicated the
previous Cost of Training studies conducted in England and Northern Ireland in 2009. 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 were combined with data from other sources to create 12
‘cost components’. Summed, these generated the overall training expenditure figure.
Figure 3.1 Summary of the Investment in Training data process

3.1
Sampling
Sample for the Investment in Training survey comprised employers that had completed the
core ESS 2015 survey and had indicated that they had provided training for staff over the
last 12 months and indicated that they were happy to be re-contacted in order to provide
more specific information about training expenditure (question I3 of main stage
questionnaire).
The sample was collected from core survey fieldwork contractors in three batches during
fieldwork, after each 4-5 week period of interviewing.

Investment in
Training
Questionnaire
(see data sheet,
Appendix J)
Modelled data to fill
missing values
(see Section 3.6)
Cost factors
(Table 3.4)
12 Annual Cost
Components
(see Table 3.5)
Overall spend
figures

35
3.2
Quotas
The aim was to achieve 12,500 complete, useable interviews. This required a fieldwork
target of around 13,000 as it was expected that some records would ultimately prove to be
unsuitable for analysis due to high levels of ‘don’t know’ responses.
Notional targets of 7,400 interviews among employers in England, 1,000 in Northern
Ireland, 2,600 in Scotland and 1,500 in Wales were set. However, it was known at the
outset that the fieldwork approach would essentially be an attempted census of employers
in each of the countries outside of England given that sample was limited to employers
from the core survey that trained and agreed to being contacted for the Investment in
Training survey. Any shortfall of interviews among the countries outside of England was to
be made up for by additional interviews among employers in England.
Within England a target was set using an interlocking grid of size (fewer than 5 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. Due to an attempted census approach being taken in Northern Ireland, Scotland
and Wales, no quotas on size, sector or training type were set.
In addition to this, while no strict quotas were set, the proportion of interviews conducted
among those who provided on- and/or off-the-job training was carefully monitored. This
was to ensure that enough interviews were conducted among employers offering each
combination of training for sufficient representation.
3.3
Data collection method
Employers were sent a datasheet to complete by email, before then collecting their
answers by telephone. All respondents were called before sending them the datasheet.
This involved a short conversation thanking them for taking part in the core ESS 2015
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 if necessary 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.
3.4
Questionnaire
Given the need to closely replicate the Investment in Training studies undertaken in the UK
in 2011 and 2013, and previously in England in 2005, 2007 and 2009, and also in Northern
Ireland in 2008, the datasheet was largely unchanged compared to that used for these
previous surveys. A copy of the datasheet is included in Appendix J.

36
The only change made to the telephone questionnaire was the addition of one new
question, Q25, to estimate the amount spent by establishments on online training or e-
learning, including the costs incurred purchasing or developing online or e-learning. This
question was asked of those who identified in the core ESS 2015 interview that they had
arranged or funded training for staff in the last 12 months which involved online training or
e-learning. Q25 was not added to the datasheet due to the more straightforward nature of
the information required, and to avoid alteration of the components of the investment in
training survey.
3.5
Achieved interviews and response rate calculations
In total, information on training expenditure was collected from 13,197 establishments at
UK level, though 583 were rejected because of incompleteness (i.e. a large number of
‘don’t know’ responses); hence analysis is based on data from 12,614 establishments.
Fieldwork was undertaken by IFF Research from 1 May to 26 August 2015.
The overall response rate for the survey was 66%, 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.
Table 3.1 Sample outcomes and response rate
Outcome
Number of
contacts
% of all
sample
% of
complete
contacts
Total sample
37,674
100%

Still live at the end of fieldwork/ not
available during fieldwork / out of quota
16,973
45%

Unobtainable / invalid numbers
686
2%

Total complete contacts
20,015
53%
100%
Achieved interviews
13,197
35%
66%
Respondent refusal
3,171
8%
24%
Quits during interview
2,634
7%
83%
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.

37
Response rates were seen by country as follows:
Table 3.2 Response rate by country

UK
England
Northern
Ireland
Scotland
Wales
Interviews
13,197
10,056
740
1,111
1,290
Response rate
66%
66%
71%
65%
66%
It is worth noting that despite having the highest response rate, the 740 completed
interviews in Northern Ireland was a decrease from the 1,070 interviews completed in 2013.
The main reason for this was a reduction in the available sample (i.e. the number of
Northern Ireland employers that agreed to being recontacted for the Investment in Training
survey). In 2013 there were 1,933 Northern Ireland establishments loaded for Investment
in Training fieldwork, whereas 1,525 were loaded in 2015.
3.6
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
Employer Skills Surveys in 2011 and 2013, 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.
For questions unrelated to salaries, a modelling process was used to calculate mean
responses from those giving an exact answer (excluding zero). Where a respondent gave
a range answer, they were assigned a corresponding mean for their establishment size for
the range response selected. 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.

38
For salaries, a slightly different approach was taken to modelling ‘don’t know’ answers,
again based on that used in the Investment in Training Survey in 2013 and 2011, and 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.
For those respondents unable to give even a salary range, a method was used to determine
whether they pay salaries above or below the average, and to what degree. This took into
account the establishment’s location and evidence from other salary questions on the
datasheet. 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 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 ratio of a related
question for that establishment. The ratio selected was different for each question and
dependent on which questions were adjudged to be the most closely related. This enabled
the estimate to be either up-weighted or down-weighted 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.

39
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)
9,383
1
0.2
Q2
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,097
5
1
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
9,097
26
5
Q4
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,097
17
9
Q6A
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
748
32
27
Q6B
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
748
20
2
Q7A
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
3,031
23
0.1
Q8
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
9,097
0
0.2
Q9
Mean within 6 employment size bands (range information
not recorded for this question)
8,175
-
6
continued…

40
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
8,175
23
10
Q11
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
1,049
12
6
Q12
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
1,304
14
5
Q13
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
394
4
9
Q14
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
383
4
8
Q15
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
88
1
0.7
Q16
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
235
2
1
Q17
Same procedure as Q3 but different order of selection:
Q3, Q21, Q24, Q10
1,485
15
4
Q18
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
870
9
8
Q19
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
190
2
0.7
Q20
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
786
10
1
Q21
Same procedure as Q3 but different order of selection:
Q3, Q17, Q24, Q10
2,439
30
6
Q22
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
87
1
0.5
Q23
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
613
8
1
Q24
Same procedure as Q3 but different order of selection:
Q10, Q3, Q17, Q21
1,835
24
7
Q25
Mean within 6 employment size bands (within recorded
range where available)
4,776
14
15
“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

41
3.7
Cost calculations
To help respondents, some costs were collected in monthly rather than yearly terms; others
per trainee rather than across all trainees. Following data modelling however – which
ensured all respondents had at least an estimated exact answer for all questions –
individual questions were combined to calculate 12 total annual cost components. 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.
Table 3.4 Factors included in cost calculations

Factor
Value
Explanation
Labour cost up-
weight
16.9%
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 16.9 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 16.9 per cent figure was Eurostat. In the
UK, direct remuneration (wages and salaries including
bonuses) made up 85.6 per cent of labour costs. Hence an
uplift of 100/85.6 (i.e. 1.169 or 16.9%) is required to
convert direct remuneration to total labour costs.
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&in
it=1&language=en&pcode=tps00113&plugin=1
Days worked per
year
217
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) 2014):
 Worked an average of 4.8 days per week
 Received an average of 24.4 paid days holiday, plus
8 bank / public holidays
This gives: 52 x 4.8 (=249.6) possible working days a year,
less 24.4 days annual leave and 8 days bank/public
holiday = 217 days worked per year.

42
Factor
Value
Explanation
Hours worked a
day
6.9
Used to convert number of working hours of training to
working days.
Derived from average hours worked a week at 33 divided
by average 4.8 days worked a week = 6.9)
Source: Labour Force Survey Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2014.
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
0.76
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):
200,000 working full-time and 130,000 part-time. The full-
time workers work on average 36.5hours, whilst the part-
time workers work on average 14.2hours. Converting the
part-time workers into full-time equivalence (FTE) gives a
FTE of 0.76 of the total
Source: Labour Force Survey Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2014.

43
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 ESS 2015 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.
3.8
Weighting
In order to weight the Investment in Training study, population figures were calculated using
the core ESS 2015 survey data (which had in turn been weighted using the IDBR figures
used for the main survey analysis). Data were weighted on the basis of interlocking grids
on seven size bands (2-4, 5-9, 10-24, 25-49, 50-99, 100-249, 250+) by 14 SIC sectors (as
in the core survey, but with Mining and Quarrying merged with Manufacturing), by the type
of training they carried out (on-the-job only, off-the-job only, or both).

44
A regional RIM weight was then applied using targets based on the proportion training in
the English GOR regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. An additional step was
also undertaken in 2015: an adjustment was applied to each weight to ensure that the
profile of size band within country was correct. This was in order to ensure establishment
size was accurately represented at a country as well as a UK level, increasing the accuracy
of the spend figure within countries.17
Only establishment-based weights were created for the Investment in Training survey, as
all data in the survey are establishment orientated.

17 A separate technical paper with a more detailed description of the Investment in Training weighting approach is available
here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2015-uk-results

45
4
Using the survey for analysis
The Employer Skills Survey 2015 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 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukces-employer-skills-
survey-2015-uk-results) 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
(https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2015).
 Accompanying slide packs at a UK level and by nation have also been made
available to complement the report
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2015-
supplementary-documents).
 There are five 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.

46
Figure 4.1 Selecting a datafile

As with previous Employer Skills Surveys the data will be stored in the ONS Virtual
Microdata Laboratory and UK data archive.
Each data file has its own weight or set of weights, as follows:
1. Core dataset – UK-wide – Establishment, Employment, Modular and unit-based skills
list 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. Scotland local data (ROA) – Scotland only – Establishment and Employment weights
5. Occupational file – UK-wide – vacancy, hard-to-fill vacancy and skill-shortage
vacancy employment weights, as well as employment-based skills list weights.
Table 4.1 gives details of each of these weights and when each one has been and should
be used.
Local
level data
(LA / LEA
/ LEP)
DATA QUERY
Main UK datafile
Training
spend
Investment in
Training data
Vacancies and recruitment,
Skills gaps,
Retention,
Workforce development
High Performance Working
Occupational
datafile
Vacancy
data by
SOC
England local
data
Local
level data
(RSA)
Scotland local
data
Skills list
data by
SOC
Occupational
datafile

47
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”
EMPWEIGHT
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”
MODEMPWT
UK
Employment
Should only be used for employment bases measures on
modular questions (prefixed “M_” in datafile). Use when
comparing UK nations.
Under 50 not reported;
50-99 “indicative”
SKILLSWT_NEW_SSV
UK
Establishment
Use for establishment based measures of the ‘new’ skill
descriptors (i.e. establishment based measures of the skills
lacking among applicants). Use when comparing UK nations.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
SKILLSWT_OLD_SSV
UK
Establishment
Use for establishment based measures of the ‘old’ skill
descriptors (i.e. establishment based measures of the skills
lacking among applicants). Use when comparing UK nations.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
SKILLSWT_NEW_GAPS
UK
Establishment
Use for establishment based measures of the ‘new’ skill
descriptors (i.e. establishment based measures of the skills
lacking among the workforce). Use when comparing UK nations.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”

48
Weight name
Coverage
Establishment/
employment
Notes
Reporting thresholds
SKILLSWT_OLD_GAPS
UK
Establishment
Use for establishment based measures of the ‘old’ skill
descriptors (i.e. establishment based measures of the skills
lacking among the workforce). Use when comparing UK nations.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
England local data:

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

ROAUNITWEIGHT
Scotland
Establishment
For use when analysing ROA data.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
ROAEMPWEIGHT
Scotland
Employment
For use when analysing ROA 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”

49
Weight name
Coverage
Establishment/
employment
Notes
Reporting thresholds
SSVVOLWEIGHT
UK
Employment
For use when running frequencies of skill-shortage vacancy-
related measures
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
SKILLSEMPWT_NEW_SSV
UK
Employment
For use when running frequencies of skills lacking among
applicants according to the ‘new’ skill descriptors.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
SKILLSEMPWT_OLD_SSV
UK
Employment
For use when running frequencies of skills lacking among
applicants according to the ‘old’ skill descriptors.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
SKILLSEMPWT_NEW_GAP
UK
Employment
For use when running frequencies of skills lacking among the
workforce according to the ‘new’ skill descriptors.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
SKILLSEMPWT_OLD_GAP
UK
Employment
For use when running frequencies of skills lacking among the
workforce according to the ‘old’ skill descriptors.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”
Investment in Training Survey

WEIGHT
Investment
in Training
data
Establishment
Applies to all 2015 analysis of Investment in Training data. For
use when analysing 2015 training spend.
Under 25 not reported;
25-49 “indicative”

50
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 K of this report, which shows the standard confidence intervals for different
subgroup sample sizes.
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, 2013 and 2015 surveys as follows:
Table 4.2 Employer engagement indicators 2009-2015
NESS09
indicator
Description
ESS 2011, 2013
and 2015
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.

51
Appendix A: Industry Coding
Each establishment was allocated to one of 15 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 F). 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 15 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)
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

52
Sector
SIC 2007
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 Storage
H - Transport and storage (49-53)
Including land, water and air transport (passenger
and freight), warehousing and support activities for
transportation, postal and courier activities,
9. Information and
Communications
J - Information and communication (58-63)
Including 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)
10. 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

11. Business services
L - Real estate activities (68)

53
Sector
SIC 2007
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
12. 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
13. Education
P - Education (85)
Including pre-primary, primary, secondary and
higher education, other education (such as sports,
driving schools, cultural education), educational
support activities
14. Health and Social Work
Q - Human health and social work activities (86-88)
Including Hospitals, medical and dental practices,
residential care, social work activities

R - Arts, entertainment and recreation (90-93)
S - Other service activities (94-96)

54
Sector
SIC 2007
15. Arts, entertainment, recreation
and other service activities18
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

18 Previously labelled ‘Other Community, Social and Personal Services’.

55
Appendix B: 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
8,287
65,592
7.9
8,445
102%

2-4
1,584
15,363
9.7
1,706
108%
5-9
2,025
16,026
7.9
2,105
104%
10-24
2,667
20,766
7.8
2,773
104%
25-49
959
7,538
7.9
1,052
110%
50-99
594
3,547
6.0
505
85%
100-249
287
1,697
5.9
223
78%
250+
171
655
3.8
81
47%

Agriculture
423
4,121
9.7
305
72%
Mining and Quarrying
23
141
6.1
15
65%
Manufacturing
618
4,756
7.7
662
107%
Electricity, Gas and Water
137
1,107
8.1
105
77%
Construction
825
7,365
8.9
849
103%
Wholesale and Retail
1,136
8,601
7.6
1,357
119%
Hotels and Restaurants
698
5,392
7.7
717
103%
Transport and Storage
511
3,930
7.7
496
97%
Information and Communications
478
3,765
7.9
426
89%
Financial Services
272
2,049
7.5
264
97%
Business Services
1,265
9,790
7.7
1,230
97%
Public Administration
83
511
6.2
93
112%
Education
510
3,758
7.4
543
106%
Health and Social Work
653
5,247
8.0
729
112%
Arts and Other Services
655
5,059
7.7
654
100%

56

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
East Midlands
7,069
55,492
7.9
7179
102%

2-4
1,536
14,012
9.1
1,736
113%
5-9
2,004
16,196
8.1
1,894
95%
10-24
1,995
15,148
7.6
1,970
99%
25-49
747
5,782
7.7
875
117%
50-99
424
2,511
5.9
421
99%
100-249
221
1,293
5.9
216
98%
250+
142
550
3.9
67
47%

Agriculture
394
3,786
9.6
333
85%
Mining and Quarrying
23
140
6.1
20
87%
Manufacturing
604
4,644
7.7
660
109%
Electricity, Gas and Water
90
734
8.2
74
82%
Construction
670
5,820
8.7
664
99%
Wholesale and Retail
1,051
7,788
7.4
1,237
118%
Hotels and Restaurants
613
4,936
8.1
622
101%
Transport and Storage
451
3,474
7.7
410
91%
Information and Communications
291
2,235
7.7
262
90%
Financial Services
179
1,295
7.2
148
83%
Business Services
1,083
8,410
7.8
1,100
102%
Public Administration
96
487
5.1
76
79%
Education
452
3,386
7.5
467
103%
Health and Social Work
560
4,364
7.8
623
111%
Arts and Other Services
512
3,993
7.8
483
94%

57

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
London
10,473
90,119
8.6
10,630
101%

2-4
1,449
17,563
12.1
1,943
134%
5-9
2,234
20,579
9.2
2,276
102%
10-24
3,642
31,501
8.6
3,578
98%
25-49
1,327
10,395
7.8
1,545
116%
50-99
968
5,776
6.0
767
79%
100-249
508
2,950
5.8
393
77%
250+
345
1,355
3.9
128
37%

Agriculture
19
138
7.3
12
63%
Mining and Quarrying
6
42
7.0
15
250%
Manufacturing
632
5,312
8.4
541
86%
Electricity, Gas and Water
110
859
7.8
89
81%
Construction
846
7,443
8.8
793
94%
Wholesale and Retail
1,378
11,339
8.2
1,668
121%
Hotels and Restaurants
966
9,929
10.3
1,041
108%
Transport and Storage
610
4,936
8.1
443
73%
Information and Communications
892
7,378
8.3
860
96%
Financial Services
505
4,540
9.0
467
92%
Business Services
2,026
17,570
8.7
1,921
95%
Public Administration
112
702
6.3
99
88%
Education
628
5,156
8.2
695
111%
Health and Social Work
836
7,010
8.4
1,016
122%
Arts and Other Services
907
7,765
8.6
970
107%

58

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
North East
5,484
41,839
7.6
5,642
103%

2-4
2,263
18,011
8.0
2,042
90%
5-9
1,416
10,963
7.7
1,510
107%
10-24
1,003
7,615
7.6
1,241
124%
25-49
384
2,998
7.8
392
102%
50-99
226
1,325
5.9
284
126%
100-249
113
654
5.8
129
114%
250+
79
273
3.5
44
56%

Agriculture
160
1,469
9.2
155
97%
Mining and Quarrying
8
49
6.1
7
88%
Manufacturing
406
3,181
7.8
395
97%
Electricity, Gas and Water
42
336
8.0
31
74%
Construction
465
3,169
6.8
406
87%
Wholesale and Retail
991
7,371
7.4
1,171
118%
Hotels and Restaurants
699
5,479
7.8
744
106%
Transport and Storage
294
2,269
7.7
288
98%
Information and Communications
113
858
7.6
101
89%
Financial Services
89
618
6.9
77
87%
Business Services
874
6,664
7.6
873
100%
Public Administration
35
228
6.5
45
129%
Education
276
2,193
7.9
297
108%
Health and Social Work
407
3,121
7.7
472
116%
Arts and Other Services
625
4,834
7.7
580
93%

59

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
North West
8,425
67,033
8.0
8,631
102%

2-4
1,578
15,674
9.9
1,648
104%
5-9
1,674
13,766
8.2
1,772
106%
10-24
2,751
21,643
7.9
2,876
105%
25-49
1,168
9,021
7.7
1,347
115%
50-99
706
4,169
5.9
649
92%
100-249
335
1,960
5.9
259
77%
250+
213
800
3.8
80
38%

Agriculture
423
4,291
10.1
320
76%
Mining and Quarrying
17
106
6.2
6
35%
Manufacturing
566
4,429
7.8
643
114%
Electricity, Gas and Water
144
1,169
8.1
121
84%
Construction
840
7,430
8.8
763
91%
Wholesale and Retail
1,216
9,347
7.7
1,530
126%
Hotels and Restaurants
736
6,089
8.3
847
115%
Transport and Storage
495
3,776
7.6
427
86%
Information and Communications
454
3,480
7.7
362
80%
Financial Services
304
2,284
7.5
261
86%
Business Services
1,206
9,186
7.6
1,157
96%
Public Administration
105
554
5.3
80
76%
Education
511
3,841
7.5
542
106%
Health and Social Work
730
5,811
8.0
881
121%
Arts and Other Services
678
5,240
7.7
691
102%

60

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
South East
10,412
91,371
8.8
10,685
103%

2-4
1,768
21,304
12.0
1,996
113%
5-9
2,061
19,438
9.4
2,143
104%
10-24
3,544
30,500
8.6
3,675
104%
25-49
1,399
10,972
7.8
1,586
113%
50-99
900
5,387
6.0
774
86%
100-249
471
2,727
5.8
377
80%
250+
269
1,043
3.9
134
50%

Agriculture
315
4,251
13.5
268
85%
Mining and Quarrying
26
162
6.2
14
54%
Manufacturing
715
6,019
8.4
764
107%
Electricity, Gas and Water
195
1,546
7.9
152
78%
Construction
993
10,149
10.2
922
93%
Wholesale and Retail
1,365
11,750
8.6
1,793
131%
Hotels and Restaurants
886
8,572
9.7
982
111%
Transport and Storage
598
4,801
8.0
437
73%
Information and Communications
795
6,462
8.1
739
93%
Financial Services
387
3,039
7.9
339
88%
Business Services
1,702
14,496
8.5
1,684
99%
Public Administration
129
791
6.1
117
91%
Education
628
5,045
8.0
574
91%
Health and Social Work
832
7,245
8.7
1,017
122%
Arts and Other Services
846
7,043
8.3
883
104%

61

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
South West
8,194
68,317
8.3
8,493
104%

2-4
1,925
20,449
10.6
1,922
100%
5-9
1,913
15,499
8.1
2,084
109%
10-24
2,527
20,094
8.0
2,731
108%
25-49
884
6,948
7.9
1,004
114%
50-99
535
3,214
6.0
474
89%
100-249
262
1,551
5.9
215
82%
250+
148
562
3.8
63
43%

Agriculture
714
9,095
12.7
535
75%
Mining and Quarrying
28
178
6.4
17
61%
Manufacturing
581
4,537
7.8
618
106%
Electricity, Gas and Water
117
949
8.1
111
95%
Construction
771
7,221
9.4
763
99%
Wholesale and Retail
1,090
8,308
7.6
1,449
133%
Hotels and Restaurants
753
6,226
8.3
884
117%
Transport and Storage
464
3,604
7.8
420
91%
Information and Communications
454
3,524
7.8
410
90%
Financial Services
225
1,708
7.6
216
96%
Business Services
1,137
8,759
7.7
1,140
100%
Public Administration
85
524
6.2
63
74%
Education
483
3,519
7.3
523
108%
Health and Social Work
663
5,295
8.0
751
113%
Arts and Other Services
629
4,870
7.7
593
94%

62

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
West Midlands
7,645
60,425
7.9
7,879
103%

2-4
1,494
14,505
9.7
1,756
118%
5-9
1,782
14,373
8.1
1,889
106%
10-24
2,420
18,644
7.7
2,256
93%
25-49
915
7,143
7.8
1,078
118%
50-99
590
3,497
5.9
549
93%
100-249
274
1,616
5.9
245
89%
250+
170
647
3.8
106
62%

Agriculture
420
4,640
11.0
403
96%
Mining and Quarrying
15
82
5.5
10
67%
Manufacturing
649
5,087
7.8
751
116%
Electricity, Gas and Water
128
1,024
8.0
114
89%
Construction
679
5,847
8.6
600
88%
Wholesale and Retail
1,137
8,447
7.4
1,409
124%
Hotels and Restaurants
634
4,962
7.8
709
112%
Transport and Storage
467
3,569
7.6
435
93%
Information and Communications
376
2,903
7.7
313
83%
Financial Services
232
1,696
7.3
201
87%
Business Services
1,071
8,240
7.7
1,016
95%
Public Administration
88
457
5.2
79
90%
Education
481
3,518
7.3
495
103%
Health and Social Work
650
5,482
8.4
736
113%
Arts and Other Services
618
4,471
7.2
608
98%

63

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
Yorkshire and Humber
7,343
59,572
8.1
7,545
103%

2-4
1,565
15,515
9.9
1,597
102%
5-9
1,837
15,239
8.3
1,860
101%
10-24
2,176
17,019
7.8
2,380
109%
25-49
822
6,563
8.0
981
119%
50-99
538
3,192
5.9
459
85%
100-249
245
1,425
5.8
206
84%
250+
160
619
3.9
62
39%

Agriculture
456
4,220
9.3
320
70%
Mining and Quarrying
19
121
6.4
14
74%
Manufacturing
593
4,691
7.9
669
113%
Electricity, Gas and Water
106
867
8.2
83
78%
Construction
670
6,667
10.0
574
86%
Wholesale and Retail
1,090
8,310
7.6
1,512
139%
Hotels and Restaurants
671
6,469
9.6
728
108%
Transport and Storage
457
3,789
8.3
441
96%
Information and Communications
321
2,528
7.9
268
83%
Financial Services
197
1,568
8.0
148
75%
Business Services
1,078
7,413
6.9
1,037
96%
Public Administration
61
386
6.3
69
113%
Education
459
3,379
7.4
413
90%
Health and Social Work
602
4,826
8.0
738
123%
Arts and Other Services
563
4,338
7.7
531
94%

64

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
Northern Ireland
3,962
30,783
7.8
4,019
101%

2-4
1,289
10,824
8.4
1,168
91%
5-9
1,109
8,699
7.8
1,175
106%
10-24
982
7,461
7.6
1,061
108%
25-49
274
2,142
7.8
321
117%
50-99
172
1,012
5.9
191
111%
100-249
84
465
5.5
72
86%
250+
52
180
3.5
31
60%

Agriculture
213
2,111
9.9
84
39%
Mining and Quarrying
18
108
6.0
9
50%
Manufacturing
359
2,811
7.8
330
92%
Electricity, Gas and Water
28
224
8.0
29
104%
Construction
306
2,213
7.2
246
80%
Wholesale and Retail
676
5,081
7.5
859
127%
Hotels and Restaurants
412
3,243
7.9
415
101%
Transport and Storage
203
1,584
7.8
201
99%
Information and Communications
88
686
7.8
88
100%
Financial Services
105
840
8.0
93
89%
Business Services
494
3,816
7.7
507
103%
Public Administration
55
369
6.7
49
89%
Education
251
1,872
7.5
267
106%
Health and Social Work
327
2,545
7.8
382
117%
Arts and Other Services
427
3,280
7.7
460
108%

65

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
Scotland
5,915
49,077
8.3
6,035
102%

2-4
1,073
11,788
11.0
1,264
118%
5-9
1,148
9,401
8.2
1,266
110%
10-24
1,864
15,942
8.6
1,753
94%
25-49
862
6,671
7.7
929
108%
50-99
514
3,072
6.0
490
95%
100-249
272
1,558
5.7
249
92%
250+
182
645
3.5
84
46%

Agriculture
492
5,457
11.1
492
100%
Mining and Quarrying
29
191
6.6
34
117%
Manufacturing
376
2,761
7.3
377
100%
Electricity, Gas and Water
70
608
8.7
70
100%
Construction
495
5,141
10.4
489
99%
Wholesale and Retail
808
5,472
6.8
938
116%
Hotels and Restaurants
530
4,743
8.9
582
110%
Transport and Storage
335
2,569
7.7
323
96%
Information and Communications
291
2,285
7.9
260
89%
Financial Services
269
2,055
7.6
227
84%
Business Services
795
6,389
8.0
763
96%
Public Administration
103
688
6.7
102
99%
Education
330
2,638
8.0
338
102%
Health and Social Work
502
4,216
8.4
594
118%
Arts and Other Services
490
3,864
7.9
446
91%

66

Overall
Target
Sample
drawn
Ratio
Interviews
achieved
% of
Overall
Target
Wales
5,872
45,223
7.7
6,027
103%

2-4
1,884
15,815
8.4
1,749
93%
5-9
1,754
13,464
7.7
1,735
99%
10-24
1,323
9,967
7.5
1,581
120%
25-49
446
3,430
7.7
547
123%
50-99
263
1,547
5.9
273
104%
100-249
122
706
5.8
105
86%
250+
80
294
3.7
37
46%

Agriculture
626
4,884
7.8
405
65%
Mining and Quarrying
13
84
6.5
10
77%
Manufacturing
431
3,316
7.7
417
97%
Electricity, Gas and Water
61
488
8.0
62
102%
Construction
547
4,729
8.6
405
74%
Wholesale and Retail
839
6,088
7.3
1,203
143%
Hotels and Restaurants
579
4,534
7.8
649
112%
Transport and Storage
373
2,936
7.9
359
96%
Information and Communications
155
1,197
7.7
167
108%
Financial Services
119
816
6.9
108
91%
Business Services
719
5,594
7.8
715
99%
Public Administration
59
376
6.4
75
127%
Education
379
2,844
7.5
361
95%
Health and Social Work
491
3,885
7.9
617
126%
Arts and Other Services
481
3,452
7.2
474
99%

67
Appendix C: Questionnaire Changes for ESS 2015
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
S2
Survey introduction
The sample received from Experian
and the IDBR was checked for
whether employers had completed
ESS 2013 and/or EPS 2014 and
agreed to being re-contacted for
future research. If so, text
substitutions to ask for the named
respondent were added at S2.
To help improve response
rate.
S3
Survey introduction
An ‘add if necessary’ text was
inserted to inform employers that, at
the end of the survey, they would
have the option of requesting a
summary report of the survey
findings once published in January
2016.
To help improve response
rate.
Section A
Firmographics
The ordering of this section used in
2013 (A1, A1X, A1A, A3, A4NEW,
A4A, A5, A6, A7, A8 and A10) was
re-ordered as follows: A3, A5, A1,
A1X, A4NEW, A4A, A6, A7, A8, A10.
Historically, when cleaning
and checking the data there
have been instances where
respondents need to be
called back or their surveys
deleted because they have
given the size of their
organisation as a whole
rather than their own site.
The change in question
ordering was made so that
employers are first asked
whether the establishment
was a single site organisation
or part of a larger number of
sites so that those who were
multisite were asked how
many employees they have
across their organisation
before asking how many are
employed at their specific
site to help reduce instances
of the type of error
mentioned above.
A1A
Change in number
of staff
Moved to position B1.
Moved back to its position
used in 2011 due to the
questions relating to
retention of staff being
reinstated for 2015.

68
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
Section B
Retention /
Retention
Difficulties
Section reinstated for ESS 2015 and
question A1A moved back to position
B1.
Section reinstated for ESS
2015 having been rotated out
in 2013.
B5 and
B6
Measures taken to
overcome retention
difficulties (B5) and
difficulties caused
by retention
difficulties (B6)
Removed for ESS 2015.
It was felt unlikely that
responses to these questions
would have significantly
changed since 2011 and
there was reduced interest
among UKCES and its
partners for tracking the time
series of these questions.
C1A
Whether recruited
over the past year
The timeframe referenced in the
question text was changed from “in
the last 2 to 3 years” to “in the last 12
months”.
In 2013 the timeframe used
was the last 2-3 years in
order to be consistent with
the timeframes used for the
education leaver questions.
These questions were
removed for 2015, hence a
12 month timeframe was
used in order to be
consistent with other
questions in the 2015 survey.
C1 to
C5D
Recruitment of
education leavers
and young people
Removed for ESS 2015.
These questions relating to
the recruitment of education
leavers and young people
were included in the EPS
2014 survey.
C13A
and
C13NW
New skill
descriptors to
understand the
skills lacking
among applicants
New questions to incorporate the
new skill descriptors that were
developed off the back of a review of
the skill descriptors used in 2013.
These questions were asked of a
random selection of 50% of
employers with skill-shortage
vacancies and were asked up to
maximum of two occupations in
which the employer had skill-
shortage vacancies for.
To improve the skill
descriptors used in the
survey to better understand
the skills lacking among
applicants.
C13B
Selecting the main
skill lacking among
applicants
New question asking employers to
select the single skill lacking among
applicants that is most important for
performing the job role (if the
employers had selecting multiple
skills lacking).
To identify the skill that is
most importantly lacking and
understand if there is a
prioritisation in the skills
lacking among applicants.
C13
Old skill descriptors
to understand the
skills lacking
among applicants
These questions were asked of a
random selection of 50% of
employers with skill-shortage
vacancies.
To take into account the two
separate (‘old’ and ‘new’)
lists of skill descriptors being
used in the survey.

69
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
C13D
Selecting the main
skill lacking among
applicants
New question asking employers to
select the single skill lacking among
applicants that is most important for
performing the job role (if the
employers had selecting multiple
skills lacking).
To identify the skill that is
most importantly lacking and
understand if there is a
prioritisation in the skills
lacking among applicants.
D5A to
D5C
Occupational
profiling
New questions to offer
establishments with 10+ employees
the opportunity to access the online
occupational prompts (D5A) and
check which broad sector
classification they chose online (D5B)
before classifying all of their
employees according to the nine
occupational categories (D5C).
The online occupational
prompts were introduced to
assist employers in
classifying their employees to
ease the burden of this
section of the survey.
D5D and
D8
Occupational
profiling
Updating the example job titles and
descriptions displayed on screen for
the interviewer to read out ‘as
necessary’ (D8) which were tailored
depending on the broad sector
classification that was assigned (if
respondent agreed with the SIC code
description at A6) or chosen by the
respondent at question D5D (if
respondent agreed with the SIC code
description at A6).
To ensure consistency with
the example job titles and
descriptions used on the
online occupational prompts.
D11A
and
D11NW
New skill
descriptors to
understand the
skills lacking
among the
workforce
New questions to incorporate the
new skill descriptors that were
developed off the back of a review of
the skill descriptors used in 2013.
These questions were asked of a
random selection of 50% of
employers with skills gaps and were
asked up to maximum of two
occupations in which the employer
had staff with skills gaps.
To improve the skill
descriptors used in the
survey to better understand
the skills lacking among the
workforce.
D11B
Selecting the main
skill lacking among
the workforce
New question asking employers to
select the single skill lacking among
their workforce that has the biggest
impact on the establishment (if the
employers had selecting multiple
skills lacking).
To identify the skill that is
most importantly lacking and
understand if there is a
prioritisation in the skills
lacking among applicants.
D11
Old skill descriptors
to understand the
skills lacking
among the
workforce
These questions were asked of a
random selection of 50% of
employers with skills gaps.
To take into account the two
separate (‘old’ and ‘new’)
lists of skill descriptors being
used in the survey.

70
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
D11D
Selecting the main
skill lacking among
the workforce
New question asking employers to
select the single skill lacking among
their workforce that has the biggest
impact on the establishment (if the
employers had selecting multiple
skills lacking).
To identify the skill that is
most importantly lacking and
understand if there is a
prioritisation in the skills
lacking among the workforce.
D15 and
D15A
Number of staff
over-qualified and
over-skilled for their
current job role
D15 was asked of all employers
(rather than modularised in 2013).
The question text at D15 changed
from asking about both qualifications
and skills in one question (as was
used in 2013) to ask only about how
many staff have qualifications that
are more advanced than required for
their current job role. D15A then
asked how many of those staff
identified as being over-qualified at
D15 also have skills that are more
advanced than required for the
current job role.
The cognitive testing and
piloting suggested that
employers tended to focus
on one element of the
question criteria when asked
how many staff have both
qualifications and skills that
are more advanced for their
current job role. The question
was therefore split to first ask
about qualifications (D15)
and then, of these, how
many also have skills more
advanced (D15A).
D16
Occupation of staff
that are over-
qualified and over-
skilled for their
current job role
New question to understand what
types of occupations under-utilised
staff are working in. Survey
responses were coded to 4-digit SOC
2010.
New question to expand on
the analysis surrounding
skill-underutilisation.
D17
Main reasons why
staff are working in
job roles that they
are over-qualified
and over-skilled for
New question to understand the main
reasons why the staff members
identified by the employer as being
over-qualified and over-skilled for
their current role are indeed working
in such a role.
New question to expand on
the analysis surrounding
skill-underutilisation.
D19
Perceived
advantage /
disadvantage of
skill under-
utilisation
New question to understand whether
employers deem having over-
qualified and over-skilled staff as an
advantage or disadvantage for their
organisation.
New question to expand on
the analysis surrounding
skill-underutilisation.
Section E
Upskilling
Removed for ESS 2015.
Rotated out of ESS 2015 to
save time.
F7B
Provision of online /
e-learning training
New question asking whether the
establishment had arranged or
funded training for staff over the past
12 months which had involved online
/ e-learning training, or other self-
learning training where the employee
does the learning at a time of their
own choosing.

To measure the use of such
training methods by
employers as these were not
covered by the existing set of
training and workforce
development questions.

71
Question
number
Question area
Change made
Reason for change
F7C and
F7E
Change over time
in use of online / e-
learning training
New question to assess whether use
of online / e-learning training was
higher or lower compared to the 12
months before that (F7C). If the
employer had not arranged or funded
online training over the past 12
months then question F7E asked
whether they had arranged or funded
such training at all over the last two
years.
To measure change over
time in use of such training
methods.
F7D and
F7F
Change over time
in use of other self-
learning training
New question to assess whether use
of other self-learning training was
higher or lower compared to the 12
months before that (F7D). If the
employer had not arranged or funded
online training over the past 12
months then question F7F asked
whether they had arranged or funded
such training at all over the last two
years.
To measure change over
time in use of such training
methods.
I3A
Summary report of
results
New question asking respondents if
they would like to be emailed a
summary report of the survey
findings once published in January
2016. (If yes, then the respondent’s
email address was collected).
To help improve response
rate and act as a means to
publicise the survey and
disseminate the results
directly to employers.

72
Appendix D: Supplementary Tables Regarding
Impact of Questionnaire Amends
Table D.1.1 Profile of establishments with skill-shortage vacancies (SSVs) and skills
gaps assigned to each list of skill descriptors

New
skills
list:
SSVs
Old
skills
list:
SSVs

New
skills
list:
Skills
Gaps
Old
skills
list:
Skills
Gaps
Row percentages
Base

Base

UK
6,831
%
47
53
18,265
%
49
51
Country

England
5,801
%
47
53
15,409
%
50
50
Northern Ireland
172
%
45
55
520
%
52
48
Scotland
453
%
44
56
1,236
%
48
52
Wales
405
%
53
47
1,100
%
52
48
Size

2-4
645
%
49
51
1,240
%
51
49
5-9
1,176
%
49
51
3,371
%
51
49
10-24
2,341
%
47
53
6,713
%
50
50
25-49
1,274
%
46
54
3,530
%
49
51
50-99
770
%
47
53
1,948
%
49
51
100-249
446
%
45
55
1,064
%
50
50
250+
179
%
55
45
399
%
51
49
Sector

Agriculture
67
%
45
55
292
%
50
50
Mining and Quarrying
4
%
-
100
23
%
39
61
Manufacturing
618
%
46
54
1,674
%
51
49
Electricity, Gas and Water
76
%
58
42
163
%
45
55
Construction
461
%
51
49
1,132
%
51
49
Wholesale and Retail
850
%
49
51
3,669
%
50
50
Hotels and Restaurants
844
%
47
53
2,610
%
51
49
Transport and Storage
366
%
49
51
750
%
49
51
Information and
Communications
345
%
47
53
595
%
51
49
Financial services
106
%
41
59
435
%
47
53
Business Services
1,285
%
47
53
2,601
%
49
51
Public Administration
44
%
55
45
200
%
48
52
Education
486
%
47
53
1,211
%
50
50
Health and Social Work
793
%
47
53
1,663
%
50
50
Arts and Other Services
486
%
46
54
1,247
%
51
49
Base: Column 1: all establishments with skill-shortage vacancies; Column 4 – all establishments
with skills gaps

73
Table D.1.2 Proportions accessing online prompt card, but country size and sector

Accessed online prompt
card

Base

UK
48,974
%
32
Country

England
41,250
%
32
Northern Ireland
1,676
%
30
Scotland
3,505
%
32
Wales
2,543
%
31
Size

10-24
27,875
%
28
25-49
11,657
%
34
50-99
5,836
%
40
100-249
2,689
%
47
250+
917
%
53
Sector

Agriculture
246
%
30
Mining and Quarrying
92
%
25
Manufacturing
3,947
%
38
Electricity, Gas and Water
485
%
36
Construction
2,342
%
20
Wholesale and Retail
8,956
%
18
Hotels and Restaurants
6,309
%
28
Transport and Storage
1,720
%
51
Information and Communications
1,354
%
40
Financial Services
774
%
44
Business Services
7,381
%
38
Public Administration
552
%
43
Education
4,840
%
29
Health and Social Work
6,409
%
34
Arts and Other Services
3,567
%
34
Base: All establishments with 10+ employees

74
Table D.1.3 Occupations by whether online prompt card was accessed

Accessed online
prompt card
Did not access online
prompt card
Base:
(15,663)
%
(33,311)
%
Managers
99
99
Professionals
41
22
Associate Professionals
32
14
Administrative / Clerical staff
85
63
Skilled trades occupations
34
30
Caring, leisure and other service staff
26
25
Sales and customer services staff
36
34
Machine operatives
24
18
Elementary staff
51
48
Base: All establishments with 10+ employees

75
Appendix E: 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

76
Appendix F: Briefing Notes / Core Questionnaire

Background to the survey
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) was established in 2008; its
aim 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
(ESS2013) 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.
ESS2015 is the third 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 four
years ago ESS2011, 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.
ESS2015 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 2014. ESS2015
is designed to be “inward looking”, that is, it asks about areas relating to the respondent’s
own establishment and internal procedures; the sister EPS 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 has undergone a few changes since the 2013 survey. The main
differences relate to skills lists and the introduction of an online prompt card. For the skills
lists (present in section C and D), dimensions will go through the old setup for half the
respondents, and a new setup for the other half.
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, and BMG. Each contractor is
covering different regions as follows.

IFF Research
London, South East, Wales, Yorkshire & The Humber + c.1,900
multi-sites
MORI
North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, Scotland
BMG
North West, East of England, South West, Northern Ireland

An establishment-based survey

77
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 2013). 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 dedicated website
www.skillssurvey.co.uk;
 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 2016
 Respondents may say that they took part in the 2009 (England only) or 2011/2013
(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 2015, 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

78
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.

79
Screenshots of information on website:

80

81
The questionnaire
After screening questions, there are 8 sections to the questionnaire (A-I).

The interview will last around 23 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
Retention / Retention Difficulties
C
Recruitment & Recruitment Difficulties
D
Demand for skills / Skills gaps
E
Not included
F
Workforce Development
G
Skills utilisation / High performance working
H
Business strategy and structure
I
Closing questions

82
Questionnaire
J5440

Employer Skills Survey 2015 – MAINSTAGE Telephone
S Screen 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

Arts, entertainment, recreation and
other services
14

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
Contact name from previous
survey (hascon)
Yes
1

No
2
Took part in ESS13
(ESS13comp)
Yes
1

No
2

83
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

84

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.

85
IF S1=1 OR 2
S2
My name is NAME, calling from [COMPANY NAME], an independent market research
company. IF NAMED SAMPLE: Please may I speak to [NAME].

IF SAMPLE NOT NAMED: 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
8
Not available in deadline
9
WANTS REASSURANCES
10
SHOW REASSURANCES

86
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 2013 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.

87

ASK ALL
S3
IF S2 not 1: 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 assist 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.
IF NECESSARY: If you would like, we will also email you a summary report of our
findings as a thank you for taking part once the research has been completed
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
Send email reassurance
8
COLLECT EMAIL ADDRESS
WANTS REASSURANCES
9
SHOW REASSURANCES

REASSURANCES TO USE IF NECESSARY
The interview will take around 20 minutes to complete.
[IF ess13comp=1 AND hascon=1: Your organisation kindly took part in the UK Commission’s previous
Employer Skills Survey in Spring/Summer 2013 and, at the end of that interview, gave permission to be
re-contacted about future relevant research.]
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: Christabel Downing or Mark Tweddle on xx-xxxx-xxxx] [BMG AND
IPSOS MORI TO ADD OWN COMPANY CONTACTS]

UKCES: Rosie Sutton on xx-xxxx-xxxx

S3

88

If the respondent needs reassurance about the survey a list of reassurances can be
brought up on screen by selecting the ‘wants reassurances’ option.
New this year is the offer of sending a summary report of the findings, this can be
used as an incentive to take part (we will collect information on whether the
respondent wants a summary report, and the email to send it to if so, at the end of
the survey).
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 (part of Gov.UK)
which will have an area set up regarding this survey and also shows results for the
ESS 2013 survey (type in 'skills survey' to the search option on Gov.UK).
They can also visit the dedicated ESS 2015 microsite at www.skillssurvey.co.uk.

89
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

90
S4
Welsh respondents will get the option here to complete the survey in Welsh; if this is
required then state that one of our Welsh interviewers will call back soon to organise
a time for (or indeed conduct) an interview.

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.

91
A Firmographics
ASK ALL
A3
First, can I just check, is this establishment..?
READ OUT. SINGLE CODE.

IF NECESSARY: By ‘establishment’, I mean the site at which you work

The only establishment in the organisation, or
1
GO TO A1
One of a number of establishments within a larger organisation
2
ASK A5

ASK IF MULTI-SITE ORGANISATION (A3=2)
A5
Approximately how many people work in your organisation across the UK as a whole
-
By that I mean both full-time and part-time employees on your payroll, as well as any
working proprietors or owners, but excluding the self-employed and outside contractor
or agency staff.

PROBE FOR BEST ESTIMATE AND RECORD NUMBER
IF DK, PROMPT WITH RANGES
(IF ANSWER GIVEN, CATI CODE RANGES AUTOMATICALLY)

Is it roughly...
READ OUT. SINGLE CODE.
Under 10
1
10-49
2
50-249
3
250-999
4
1,000+
5
Don’t know
X

92
A3

This question aims to determine whether the site we have called is part of a multi-site
organisation.

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

93
ASK ALL
A1

(IF A3=2: And) how many people work at this specific site, including yourself, all
others on your payroll and any working proprietors or owners, but [IF A3=2: again]
excluding 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
ONLY ALLOW NUMBERS SMALLER THAN OR EQUAL TO THE INTEGER GIVEN AT A5,
OR THE HIGHER END OF ORGANISATION SIZE BANDING GIVEN IN PREVIOUS
QUESTION (A5)

CLOSE IF DON’T KNOW / REFUSED

A1DUM) CATI TO CODE RANGE AUTOMATICALLY AND CHECK QUOTA

1
1
GO TO A1X
2-4
2
Check A1A
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
establishment as having two employees.

94
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. There is also a check at this question to ensure
respondents are not reporting a higher number of employees at their site than there are in the
organisation across the UK.

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.

95
A1A MOVED TO QUESTION B1
A3
QUESTION MOVED
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?

CODE ONE ONLY.

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

A5
QUESTION MOVED

IF MULTI-SITE ORGANISATION (A3=2):
From now on, when I use the word ‘establishment’, I mean the site at which you work.

96
A4

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

97
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?

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

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

98
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

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.

99

B Retention / Retention Difficulties
ASK MODULE 2 (DUMMOD=2) (DS – QUESTION WAS A1A IN 2013)
B1
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
B2
THERE IS NO B2

ASK MODULE 2 (DUMMOD=2)
B3
Are there particular jobs in which you have difficulties retaining staff?
PROMPT IF NECESSARY: Retention difficulties are when a high number of staff leave (but
not as a direct result of downsizing or redundancy)

Yes
1
Ask B3A
No
2
Go to C1
Don’t know
3

ASK IF DIFFICULT TO RETAIN STAFF B3=1
B3A Which is the occupation in which you have the MOST difficulty retaining staff?

WRITE IN. PROMPT FOR FULL DETAILS (E.G. IF ‘MANAGER’ PROBE: WHAT TYPE
OF MANAGER?)

AT THE ANALYSIS STAGE CODE TO SOC 2010 3 DIGITS

100
B1

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

B3A

Please probe sufficiently to allow coding to 4 digit SOC

101
ASK IF DIFFICULT TO RETAIN STAFF B3=1
B4
Which of the following are the main reasons why it is difficult to retain staff in this
occupation…?

READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY. ROTATE ANSWER LIST (EXCEPT CODE 10)

Wages offered are lower than those offered by other organisations
1
Impact of the benefits trap
2
Geographic location of the site
3
Unattractive conditions of employment
4
Lack of career progression
5
Long/unsocial hours
6
Too much competition from other employers
7
Not enough people interested in doing this type of work
8
Staff don't want long term commitment
9
Are there any other key reasons why it is difficult to retain staff (WRITE IN)
10

B5
QUESTION DELETED

B6
QUESTION DELETED

102

C Recruitment & Recruitment Difficulties
ASK ALL
C1A Have you recruited anyone at this site in the last 12 months? IF NECESSARY: whether
or not they are still working for you

Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
X

C1 – C5D DELETED

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

WRITE IN NUMBER ___(0-9999)________

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

103
C1A
The first question in this section simply asks whether the respondent has recruited
anyone in the past 12 months. We still want them to consider anybody who has been
recruited in that time but has since left the company.

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.

You can enter details for up to six occupations – for establishments with less than six, when they have run
out of occupations cod e ‘no answer’ which will take you straight on to question C8.

104
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-[C6])
Occupation 2 -
(1-[C6])
Occupation 3 -
(1-[C6])
Occupation 4 -
(1-[C6])
Occupation 5 -
(1-[C6])
Occupation 6 -
(1-[C6])

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

105
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).

106
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

107

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.

108
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

109
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.

110

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

DS NOTE – QUESTION C13 IS SPLIT INTO TWO VERSIONS. 50% OF SAMPLE WITH SSVS
GET “NEW” VERSION (C13a AND C13NW AND C13b) AND 50% WITH SSVS GET “OLD”
VERSION (C13).

OF THOSE GETTING THE “NEW” VERSION, IT SHOULD ONLY BE ASKED OF THE FIRST
TWO OCCUPATIONS TO HAVE SSVS.

111
C13-C13dd

There are two routes following on from C13. Some respondents will receive the OLD skills list (i.e. that
used in 2013), while others will receive the NEW skills list.

Questions C13a-C13b = NEW skills list – these will be asked in relation to the first two occupations
with hard to fill vacancies caused by lack of skills

Questions C13/C13d = OLD skills list – these will be asked for all occupations (up to 6 in total) with
hard to fill vacancies caused by lack of skills

112
“NEW” LIST 50%: ASK C13a AND C13NW IN A LOOP FOR FIRST TWO OCCUPATIONS
WITH HARD-TO-FILL VACANCIES CAUSED BY LACK OF SKILLS (C12=1, 2 OR 3 OR
C11A=4, 7 OR 8) FOR 50% OF SAMPLE
C13a I’m now going to ask you about skills you have had difficulty finding among
candidates. Have you found any of the following skills difficult to obtain from
applicants for ?

IF NECESSARY: If you do not require candidates for this role to have this skill, then
please do not include it in your answer.
READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY
DS – ROTATE ORDER OF SKILLS (‘KNOWLEDGE OF PARTICULAR PRODUCTS OR
SERVICES’ THROUGH TO ‘DON’T KNOW’ MUST ALWAYS APPEAR LAST AND IN THE
ORDER SHOWN; IT SKILLS MUST ALWAYS APPEAR TOGETHER WITH BASIC IT
SKILLS FIRST, FOLLOWED BY ADVANCED IT SKILLS; NUMERICAL SKILLS MUST
ALWAYS APPEAR WITH BASIC NUMERICAL SKILLS FIRST, FOLLOWED BY USING
MORE COMPLEX NUMERICAL INFORMATION; BOTH WALES ONLY OPTIONS MUST
ALWAYS COME BEFORE COMMUNICATING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

1st two Occupations
with SSVs

Occ 1
Occ 2
Computer literacy / basic IT skills
1
1
Advanced or specialist IT skills
2
2
Solving complex problems requiring a solution specific to the
situation
3
3
Reading and understanding instructions, guidelines, manuals or
reports
4
4
Writing instructions, guidelines, manuals or reports
5
5
Basic numerical skills and understanding
6
6
More complex numerical or statistical skills and understanding
7
7
WALES: Written Welsh language skills
8
8
WALES: Oral Welsh language skills
9
9
Communicating in a foreign language
IF NECESSARY: That is, a language that is not [WELSH: Welsh]
or English
10
10
Manual dexterity – for example, to mend, repair, assemble,
construct or adjust things
11
11
Adapting to new equipment or materials
12
12
Knowledge of products and services offered by your
organisation and organisations like yours
13
13
Knowledge of how your organisation works
IF NECESSARY: This might include knowledge and understanding of
the structure of the organisation and the business model it operates
14
14
Specialist skills or knowledge needed to perform the role
15
15
DO NOT READ OUT: None of the above (ALLOW SINGLE CODE
ONLY)
17
17
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
18
18

C13a

113

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

Computer literacy / basic IT skills refer to the simple understanding and ability to
use computers for everyday tasks. Advanced or specialist IT skills go beyond this
basic knowledge, and may include things like the ability to program or use a complex
software that is relevant to their job.

Solving complex problems requiring a solution specific to the situation refer to
problems that are novel and/or unique, i.e. problems that are complex but are faced
regularly and have a solution that has been used previously do not count under this
definition.

Knowledge of products and services offered by your organisation and organisations like
yours - it is important to read this code out in full so respondents know we are referring to
products and services that their organisation offers rather than just products and services
in general.

114
C13NW Next, I’m going to ask about skills relating to dealing with other people.

Have you found any of the following skills difficult to obtain from applicants for
?

IF NECESSARY: If you do not require candidates for this role to have this skill,
then please do not include it in your answer.

READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY

DS – ROTATE ORDER OF SKILLS (CODES 2, 3 AND 4 (SALES, CUSTOMER HANDLING
AND PERSUADING) SHOULD ALWAYS APPEAR IN THIS ORDER. NONE & DON’T
KNOW MUST ALWAYS APPEAR LAST).

1st two occupations with hard to
fill vacancies

Occ 1
Occ 2
Instructing, teaching or training people
1
1
Sales skills
2
2
Customer handling skills
3
3
Persuading or influencing others
4
4
Team working
5
5
Managing or motivating other staff
6
6
Ability to manage own time and prioritise own tasks
7
7
Setting objectives for others and planning human,
financial and other resources
8
8
Managing their own feelings, or handling the feelings
of others
9
9
Making speeches or presentations
10
10
DO NOT READ OUT: None of the above (ALLOW
SINGLE CODE ONLY)
11
11
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE
CODE ONLY)
12
12

115
C13nw
This question asks about more skills which establishments have struggled to obtain
from recent job applicants, specifically those to do with dealing with people. This list
is a read out and will rotate so items will appear in a different order.

116
ASK IF SELECTED MORE THAN ONE CODE AT C13NW/C13A (COMBINED).
C13b Which one of the skills you have had difficulty finding for (OCCUPATION) is most
important for performing this role in your establishment? PROMPT IF NECESSARY
SHOW CODES SELECTED AT C13NW AND C13A
“OLD” LIST 50%: 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) FOR 50% OF
SAMPLE
C13 Have you found any of the following skills difficult to obtain from applicants for
?

READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY

DS – 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

117
C13b – This question asks respondents to choose which skill from the previous two
lists is most important for performing this role; they can only choose one so if they
say ‘all of them’, ‘both’ etc., you will need to prompt them to choose the one which is
most important.

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)

C13d – This question asks respondents to choose which skill from C13 is most
important for performing this role; they can only choose one so if they say ‘all of
them’, ‘both’ etc., you will need to prompt them to choose the one which is most
important.

118
ASK IF SELECTED MORE THAN ONE CODE AT C13.
C13d Which one of the skills you have had difficulty finding for (OCCUPATION) is most
important for performing this role in your establishment? PROMPT IF NECESSARY
SHOW CODES SELECTED AT C13

ASK ALL WITH HARD-TO-FILL VACANCIES (C9=1)
C14 Thinking now about all occupations in which you have hard-to-fill vacancies, 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

119
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

120
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

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

D4
THERE IS NO D4

121
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.

The 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/occupations that belong in each (descriptions can be found on the crib sheet).

For the first time this year respondents have the option of accessing an online
prompt card to help them categorise their staff. The layout of this section in
dimensions differs quite substantially depending on whether the respondent chooses
to utilise the online prompt card or not. We recommend fully familiarising yourself
with both routes to ensure the process is as smooth as possible.

For both routes, respondents will be asked to classify what sector their organisation
falls into, or their sector will be derived from the sample if they agreed with the SIC
description at A6. This allows sector-relevant examples for each job role /
occupation to assist the respondent with classification – these will be the same in the
online prompt cards and on your screen. We strongly recommend that you
familiarise yourself the accompanying crib sheet which specifies these sector-
relevant examples.

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.

122
ASK IF A1DUM=4-8 (10+ STAFF AT ESTABLISHMENT)
D5A For this next section we would like to categorise the [A1] staff you have at this
establishment into a number of different job roles. To help you quickly categorise
your staff, we have prepared an online prompt card – if you are at a computer we
would recommend accessing this page now at www.skillssurvey.co.uk/jobs . If not
then it’s not a problem, I can just continue asking the questions as I have been doing
so far.
IF NECESSARY: THE PAGE WILL ASK YOU TO CHOOSE A BROAD SECTOR FOR
YOUR ESTABLISHMENT. THIS WILL ONLY BE USED TO MAKE THE EXAMPLES
SHOWN MORE RELEVANT TO YOU. IF YOU ARE NOT SURE, SELECT ‘NONE OF THE
ABOVE’
INTERVIEWER TO CODE IF RESPONDENT SUCCESSFULLY ACCESSES ONLINE
PROMPT PAGE
Yes – respondent accessed online prompt page
1
ASK D5B
No – respondent has not accessed online prompt page
2
ASK D5D

123

D5A

Respondents with 10+ employees at the site will be given the option of using an online
prompt card, which will present them with descriptions and examples of the different
occupations to help aid classification. The link will first ask them to choose which sector
fits their establishment:

If they are unsure or finding it hard / time-consuming to select one, the option of ‘None of
the above / Other’ can be selected.

N.B. ALL health and social care related organisations should select the ‘Health or
Social Care’ option, even if they are public sector as well. The relevant examples for
health and social care have not been included in the public sector section. Veterinary
surgeries will also find relevant examples under ‘Health and Social Care.’

Although best viewed with a computer screen due to text size, this is accessible and
useable via smartphone and tablet too.

124
ASK IF D5A=1: ACCESSED ONLINE PROMPT CARD
D5B Can I just check which sector you have chosen?

Transport, Retail or Wholesale
1

Business & Other Services, Finance or Insurance
2

Manufacturing, Construction or Agriculture
3

Hospitality, Catering or Leisure Services
4

Health or Social Care
5

Public Sector or Education
6

None of the above
7

ASK IF D5A=1
D5C Looking at the examples on the screen, please tell me how many of the [A1] staff you
have at this establishment fit into each job role.

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.

D5C
Managers, Directors and senior officials

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)
Administrative and secretarial occupations

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)
Elementary occupations

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)
Process, plant and machine operatives

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)
Sales and customer service occupations

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)
Skilled trades occupations

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)
Associate professional and technical occupations

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)
Professional occupations

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
(0 – A1)

125
D5b

The option selected here will dictate the job title prompts appearing on dimensions for
each occupation – the prompts shown will be relevant to the sector chosen and should aid
respondent classification. Please ensure you select the same sector as the respondent, as
this will mean you are both viewing the same sector-related examples for each occupation.

D5c

Here we will ask the respondent for the number of employees that fall under each occupation according
to their PRIMARY role. The intention here 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.

This will appear as a grid in dimensions to maximise the similarity between the online
prompt card and interviewer screen. The examples visible to the respondent will be the
same as the prompts on dimensions. Allow the respondent time to process the information
for each job role, and only use the prompts and descriptions as a guide if the respondent is
struggling.

Please ensure all occupations are covered as referencing an occupation that the respondent
has not noticed may alter their response. If no employees fall under a specific occupation
please record this as ‘0’.

As you click through to the next screen a check will run to ensure that the number of
employees in each occupation sums to the number of employees stated at A1.
Respondents will need to review their answers if this is not the case.

126
IF D5C_1-9 NOT EQUAL TO A1
D5C_CHK
The figures you have given me sum to [D5C SUM] out of [A1] staff. Can I
just re-check the number of staff in each category?

RE-ASK D5C
CATI CHECK AFTER D5C: IF NUMBER OF STAFF EMPLOYED AT A1 IS GREATER
THAN 50 AND RESPONDENTS SAYS NO MANAGERS EMPLOYED AT D5

D5cchka 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 D5c AND RECODE

ASK IF (D5A=2 OR IF A1DUM=2-3 (ESTABLISHMENT HAS LESS THAN 10 STAFF)) AND
A6=2 (SECTOR ON SAMPLE NOT CORRECT)
D5D For this next section we would like to categorise the [A1] staff you have at this
establishment into a number of different job roles.

To help us give you relevant examples, please can you tell me which of the following
broad sectors best fits your establishment:

ADD IF NECESSARY: THIS WILL JUST BE USED TO HELP US GIVE YOU MORE
RELEVANT EXAMPLES

Transport, Retail or Wholesale
1

Business & Other Services, Finance or Insurance
2

Manufacturing, Construction or Agriculture
3

Hospitality, Catering or Leisure Services
4

Health or Social Care
5

Public Sector or Education
6

None of the above
7

DS: CREATE DUMMY VARIABLE: IF A6=2, USE D5D RESPONSE; IF A6=1, ASSIGN TO
RELEVANT D5D CODE BASED ON SAMPLE SECTOR (SPEC TO FOLLOW)
1. TRANSPORT, RETAIL OR WHOLESALE
2. BUSINESS & OTHER SERVICES, FINANCE OR INSURANCE
3. MANUFACTURING, CONSTRUCTION OR AGRICULTURE
4. HOSPITALITY, CATERING OR LEISURE SERVICES
5. HEALTH OR SOCIAL CARE
6. PUBLIC SECTOR OR EDUCATION
7. NONE OF THE ABOVE

127
D5C_CHK

This if the text that will appear if the number of employees in each occupation does not sum to the
number of employees given for the site at A1.

D5D
This is the first question asked of those who did not opt to use the online prompt
card (or they have <10 employees), IF they did not agree with the sector
classification that we have in the sample at question A6. The option selected here will
dictate the job title prompts appearing on dimensions for each occupation – the prompts
shown will relevant to the sector chosen and should aid respondent classification.

For respondents where we know the sector classification in the sample is correct, they will
automatically be assigned to one of these categories and given the relevant prompts.

128
ASK IF D5A=2 OR IF A1DUM=2-3 (ESTABLISHMENT HAS LESS THAN 10 STAFF)
D5
[IF A6=1: For this next section we would like to categorise the [A1] staff you have at this
establishment into a number of different job roles.]

We will now just go through each category one at a time and categorise your staff into
the 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
D6
And how many – if any – of your 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

[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]

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]

129
D5-D8
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.

130
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))

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
[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
1
2
(1-A1
MINUS
(D5+D6))
Process, plant and machine operatives
[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
1
2
(1-99999)
Sales and customer service occupations
[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
1
2
(1-99999)
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations
[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
1
2
(1-99999)
Skilled trades occupations
[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
1
2
(1-99999)
Associate professional and technical occupations
[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
1
2
(1-99999)
Professional occupations
[SEE APPENDIX AT END OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR PROMPTS]
1
2
(1-99999)

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

131
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.

132
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 // D5C

D9
How many of your [INSERT NUMBER FROM D5 / D5c / D6 / D8] existing staff working
in [OCCUPATION] would you regard as fully proficient at their job?
CATI – SHOW NUMERIC BREAKDOWN FROM D8/D5C TO HELP RESPONDENTS
ANSWER D9.

CATI – ANSWER AT D9 MUST BE BETWEEN 0 AND D5, D6 or D8 / D5C RESPONSE
FOR SAME OCCUPATION.

D9
Managers, Directors and senior officials
(0 – RESPONSE AT D5/d5c_1)
Administrative and secretarial occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D6/d5c_2)
Elementary occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_1/d5c_3)
Process, plant and machine operatives
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_2/d5c_4)
Sales and customer service occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_3/d5c_5)
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_4/d5c_6)
Skilled trades occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_5/d5c_7)
Associate professional and technical occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_6/d5c_8)
Professional occupations
(0 – RESPONSE AT D8_7/d5c_9)

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)

133
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 ESS measure – so it is
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.

Respondents who used the online prompt card earlier may be able to refer to this to
help them remember which staff they put in each category.

134
ASK ALL WITH SKILLS GAPS (D9DUM3=1), OTHERS GO TO D15

ALL: ASK D10 AND D11A-D OF UP TO 2 OCCUPATIONS WITH SKILLS GAPS (CHOSEN
AT RANDOM AT D9DUM2)

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

What are the main causes of staff in 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

DS NOTE – QUESTION D11 IS SPLIT INTO TWO VERSIONS. IF THE RESPONDENT HAS
SSVS THEY SHOULD BE ASKED THE SAME VERSION OF THE LIST AS THEY GOT AT C13.

OTHERWISE, 50% OF SAMPLE WITH GAPS GET “NEW” VERSION (D11a AND D11NW AND
D11b) AND 50% WITH GAPS GET “OLD” VERSION (D11).

135
D10-D11d

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.

There are two routes following on from D10. As in section C, some respondents will receive the OLD
skills list (i.e. that used in 2013), while others will receive the NEW skills list.

Questions D11a-D11b = NEW skills list

Questions D11/D11d = OLD skills list

If a respondent has answered the questions relating to SSVs in section C they will be presented with the
SAME list as they were previous (i.e. if a respondent was presented with the NEW skills list when
answering questions on SSVs, they will be presented with the NEW skills list in this section).
Respondents that did not answer on SSVs in section C will be randomly split 50-50 between the new
and old lists.

136
“NEW LIST”: ASK D11A AND D11NW OF THE SAME OCCUPATIONS AS D10 FOR 50%
OF SAMPLE
D11a I’m now going to ask you about the skills you feel need improving. Thinking about
your who are not fully proficient which, if any, of the following skills
do you feel need improving?

IF NECESSARY: If you do not require staff in this role to have this skill, then please
do not include it in your answer.
READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY
DS – ROTATE ORDER OF SKILLS (‘KNOWLEDGE OF PARTICULAR PRODUCTS OR
SERVICES’ THROUGH TO ‘DON’T KNOW’ MUST ALWAYS APPEAR LAST AND IN THE
ORDER SHOWN; IT SKILLS MUST ALWAYS APPEAR TOGETHER WITH BASIC IT
SKILLS FIRST, FOLLOWED BY ADVANCED IT SKILLS; NUMERICAL SKILLS MUST
ALWAYS APPEAR WITH BASIC NUMERICAL SKILLS FIRST, FOLLOWED BY USING
MORE COMPLEX NUMERICAL INFORMATION; BOTH WALES ONLY OPTIONS MUST
ALWAYS COME BEFORE COMMUNICATING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Occ 1
Occ 2
Computer literacy / basic IT skills
1
1
Advanced or specialist IT skills
2
2
Solving complex problems requiring a solution specific to the
situation
3
3
Reading and understanding instructions, guidelines, manuals or
reports
4
4
Writing instructions, guidelines, manuals or reports
5
5
Basic numerical skills and understanding
6
6
More complex numerical or statistical skills and understanding
7
7
WALES: Written Welsh language skills
8
8
WALES: Oral Welsh language skills
9
9
Communicating in a foreign language
IF NECESSARY: That is, a language that is not [WELSH: Welsh] or
English
10
10
Manual dexterity – for example, to mend, repair, assemble,
construct or adjust things
11
11
Adapting to new equipment or materials
12
12
Knowledge of products and services offered by your organisation
and organisations like yours
13
13
Knowledge of how your organisation works
IF NECESSARY: This might include knowledge and understanding of the
structure of the organisation and the business model it operates
14
14
Specialist skills or knowledge needed to perform the role
15
15
DO NOT READ OUT: None of the above (ALLOW SINGLE CODE
ONLY)
17
17
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
18
18

137
D11a

This is a read out list, and the codes will rotate and so appear in a different order
each time.

Computer literacy / basic IT skills refer to the simple understanding and ability to
use computers for everyday tasks. Advanced or specialist IT skills go beyond this
basic knowledge, and may include things like the ability to program or use a complex
software that is relevant to their job.

Solving complex problems requiring a solution specific to the situation refer to
problems that are novel and/or unique, i.e. problems that are complex but dealt
faced regularly and have a solution that has been used previously do not count under
this definition.

Knowledge of products and services offered by your organisation and
organisations like yours - it is important to read this code out in full so
respondents know we are referring to products and services that their organisation
offers rather than just products and services in general.

138
D11NW Next, I’m going to ask about skills related to dealing with other people. Thinking
about your who are not fully proficient which, if any, of the following
skills do you feel need improving… ?

IF NECESSARY: If you do not require staff in this role to have this skill, then please
do not include it in your answer.

READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY

DS – ROTATE ORDER OF SKILLS (CODES 2, 3 AND 4 (SALES, CUSTOMER HANDLING
AND PERSUADING) SHOULD ALWAYS APPEAR IN THIS ORDER. NONE & DON’T
KNOW MUST ALWAYS APPEAR LAST).

Occ
1
Occ
2
Instructing, teaching or training people
1
1
Sales skills
2
2
Customer handling skills
3
3
Persuading or influencing others
4
4
Team working
5
5
Managing or motivating other staff
6
6
Ability to manage own time and prioritise own tasks
7
7
Setting objectives for others and planning human, financial and other
resources
8
8
Managing their own feelings, or handling the feelings of others
9
9
Making speeches or presentations
10
10
DO NOT READ OUT: None of the above (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
11
11
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know (ALLOW SINGLE CODE ONLY)
12
12

ASK IF SELECTED MORE THAN ONE CODE AT D11NW/D11A (COMBINED).
D11b And which one of these skills which are lacking has the biggest impact on your
establishment? PROMPT IF NECESSARY
SHOW CODES SELECTED AT D11NW AND D11A

139
D11NW

This question asks about more skills which staff who are not fully proficient lack,
specifically those to do with dealing with people. This list is a read out and will rotate
so items will appear in a different order.

D11b

This question asks respondents to choose which skill they are lacking from the
previous two lists has the biggest impact on their establishment; they can only
choose one so if they say ‘all of them’, ‘both’ etc., you will need to prompt them to
choose the one which has the biggest impact.

140
“OLD LIST” ASK OF THE SAME OCCUPATIONS AS D10 FOR 50% OF SAMPLE
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 Organisation 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

ASK IF SELECTED MORE THAN ONE CODE AT D11.
D11d And which one of these skills which are lacking has the biggest impact on your
establishment? PROMPT IF NECESSARY
SHOW CODES SELECTED AT D11

141
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)

D11d

This question asks respondents to choose which skill they are lacking from D11 has
the biggest impact on their establishment; they can only choose one so if they say ‘all
of them’, ‘both’ etc., you will need to prompt them to choose the one which has the
biggest impact.

142
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 D13A

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

143

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

144

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 ALL
D15 You said that you have [A1] staff at this site. Of these, how many would you say have
QUALIFICATIONS that are more advanced than required for their current job role?

ENTER NUMBER

VALID RANGE = 0 TO (A1)

ALLOW DON’T KNOW

IF D15>0
D15A And how many of these [D15] staff ALSO have SKILLS that are more advanced than
required for their current job role?

ENTER NUMBER

VALID RANGE = 0 TO (D15)

ALLOW DON’T KNOW

145

D15
This question focuses specifically on QUALIFICATIONS. These do not need to be
relevant to their job role, just deemed more advanced than required for it.

D15A

This should be based on whether they have BOTH skills AND qualifications which are more than are
required for their current job.

146
ASK IF HAVE ANY STAFF WITH MORE ADVANCED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
(D15A>0)
D16 [IF D15A=1: What is the specific role or occupation of this member of staff who has]
[IF D15A>1: In which specific occupation do you have most staff who have] BOTH
qualifications and skills beyond those needed for their job role?
PROMPT FOR FULL DETAILS (E.G. IF MANAGER’ PROBE: WHAT TYPE OF
MANAGER?)
RECORD SPECIFIC DETAILS FOR ONE OCCUPATION.
CODE AT ANALYSIS STAGE TO SOC2010 4 DIGITS

ASK IF HAVE ANY STAFF WITH MORE ADVANCED SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS (D15A>0)
D17 And thinking of the [IF D15A=1: member of] staff in that specific occupation, what are
the main reasons why they are working in a role for which they have BOTH
qualifications and skills beyond those needed for their job role?
DO NOT READ OUT. CODE ALL THAT APPLY.

To gain experience / current role is lower level in same industry as desired higher level
role
1
Competition for higher level roles / they are struggling to get a higher level job
2
Lack of jobs in the desired higher level role
3
Current role is temporary job / stop gap before starting desired career
4
The working hours suit them better
5
They are not interested in taking on a higher level role with more responsibility
6
We actively seek staff with qualifications and/or skills beyond those needed
7
Other reasons [SPECIFY]
8
No particular reason / it just happened
9
Don’t know
10

D18 QUESTION DELETED

147
D16
If more than one occupation is thought to have staff with qualifications and skills
more advanced than required, we want to probe for the occupation where most
commonly the case. If there is an even number across occupations, please probe for
the more important occupation.

Please probe to gain sufficient information for 4 digit SOC coding.

D17

This is a DO NOT READ OUT, but as some codes are fairly similar (e.g. codes 1-3),
spontaneous responses may make it difficult to code. In these cases, please probe to
ensure you are coding to the most accurate response(s).

148

ASK IF HAVE ANY STAFF WITH MORE ADVANCED SKILLS/QUALIFICATIONS (D15A>0)
D19 And overall would you say it is an advantage or disadvantage for your organisation to
have [D15A=1: this member of] [IF D15A>1: these] staff with both qualifications and
skills beyond those needed for their current role?
Advantage
1
Disadvantage
2
No difference
3
DO NOT READ OUT: It varies too much to say
4
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
5

149
D19

This question asks if it is an advantage or disadvantage – this can just be based on the
respondent’s own feeling / perception.

150
E
THERE IS NO SECTION E
F Workforce development
ASK ALL
F1
Does your establishment have any of the following…?
INTERVIEWER NOTES:
IF RESPONDENT INDICATES THAT ESTABLISHMENT IS COVERED BY A COMPANY
WIDE [SHOW CODE RELEVANT FOR EACH ITERATION: TRAINING PLAN / TRAINING
BUDGET] CODE AS ‘YES’
CODE AS ‘NO’ IF IN PROCESS OF DRAWING UP FIRST [SHOW CODE RELEVANT
FOR EACH ITERATION: TRAINING PLAN / TRAINING BUDGET]
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

151

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
Prompt as necessary. Check you are choosing the correct code if they are vague.

152
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

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)

153
F3
Prompt as necessary. Check you are choosing the correct code if they are vague.
This refers to an annual/yearly performance review and not simply performance
reviews over different time periods/or other regular review meetings.

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).

154
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

155
F5
Do not read out list – familiarise yourself with this list in advance of survey as it will
more than likely be too long to fit on the screen without scrolling.

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 no longer available to them etc.

156
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. BASIC INDUCTION
TRAINING AND EXTENSIVE INDUCTION TRAINING ALWAYS APPEAR TOGETHER IN
THAT ORDER.

Basic induction training new staff receive when they start the job
1
More extensive induction training for new staff
10
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)
9

157

F6

For ‘basic induction training new staff receive when they start their job’ we are
trying to identify any training that occurs on their first day (or over the first couple of
days) that is necessary for new employees to undergo before they begin their work,
such as building health and safety rules, company policies and introductions to any
systems and security factors. ‘More extensive induction training’ covers additional
training employees may receive for their role during their first couple of weeks or
months at the organisation.

158
ASK IF PROVIDE H&S / BASIC 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 C6=2
health & safety] [IF C6=1 AND 2 or] [IF C6=1 basic induction training new staff receive
when they start the job]? PROMPT WITH BANDS
IF RESPONDENT SAYS “ALL OF IT (100%)” CHECK THEY DO MEAN ALL OF THE TRAINING
THEY HAVE ARRANGED/FUNDED
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

ASK IF PROVIDE TRAINING AT ALL (F4=1 OR F4a=1).
F7b Have you arranged or funded any training for staff in the last 12 months which has
involved….?
READ OUT
Online training or e-learning
1
Other self-learning where the employee does the learning at a time of
their own choosing
2
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
4
DO NOT READ OUT: None of these
5

IF ARRANGED ONLINE TRAINING IN LAST 12 MONTHS (F7B=1)
F7c Thinking about the amount of online training or e-learning arranged or funded for
staff at this site over the last 12 months, was this…
Significantly higher than in the 12 months before that
1
Slightly higher
2
About the same
3
Slightly lower
4
Or significantly lower in the last 12 months than in the 12 months
before that?
5
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
6

159
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.

F7b

We have used the word ‘other’ in the second code to ensure respondents are not including
instances of online training or e-learning for their self-learning response.

F7c

Here we want respondents to compare all the online or e-learning training that took place
during the past year to all of this form of training that took place in the previous year. We
do not want respondents to think about changes over the past 12 months in isolation.

160
IF NOT ARRANGED ONLINE TRAINING IN LAST 12 MONTHS (F7B≠1)
F7e Has your establishment arranged or funded online training or e-learning for staff at
this site at all over the last two years?
Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
3

IF ARRANGED OTHER SELF-LEARNING IN LAST 12 MONTHS (F7b=2)
F7d Thinking about the amount of other self-learning, where the employee does the
learning at a time of their own choosing, that you have arranged or funded for staff at
this site over the last 12 months, was this…
Significantly higher than in the 12 months before that
1
Slightly higher
2
About the same
3
Slightly lower
4
Or significantly lower in the last 12 months than in the 12 months
before that?
5
DO NOT READ OUT: Don’t know
6

IF NOT ARRANGED OTHER SELF-LEARNING IN LAST 12 MONTHS (F7B≠2)
F7f
Has your establishment arranged or funded [IF F7b=1: other] self-learning, where the
employee does the learning at a time of their own choosing, at all over the last two
years?
[IF F7b=1: ADD IF NECESSARY: By other we mean besides online or e-
learning]Yes
1
No
2
Don’t know
3

161

F7e

This question aims to clarify whether any online training or e-learning has been funded at
the site over the past two years, despite none occurring in the last 12 months.

F7d

Respondents should not be including any instances of online or e-learning in their
response, even if these are considered ‘self-learning done in the employees own time’.

Here we want respondents to compare all the self-learning that took place during the past
year to all of this form of training that took place in the previous year. We do not want
respondents to think about changes over the past 12 months in isolation.

F7f

This question aims to clarify whether any other self-learning has been funded at the site
over the past two years, despite none occurring in the last 12 months. This should not
include any instances of online training or e-learning.

162
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

163

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

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

Yes
1
AUTOMATICALLY CODE F9
AND F10 TO MATCH
CURRENT STAFF
BREAKDOWN (D5C OR D5-8)
No
2
ASK F9

164
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.

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.

165

F10DUM CATI DUMMY VARIABLE – LIST EACH OCCUPATION EMPLOYED AT D5C/D5-
8 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 OCCUPATIONS MENTIONED AT D5-D7/D5C, PLUS (AS LONG AS
NOT ALL 9 CATEGORIES ANSWERED YES AT D5 –D7/D5C) ‘ANY OTHER
OCCUPATIONS’

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/D5C)

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____
Administrative and secretarial occupations
4
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Elementary occupations
9
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Process, plant and machine operatives
8
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Sales and customer service occupations
7
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations
6
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Skilled trades occupations
5
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Associate professional and technical occupations
3
WRITE IN NUMBER____
Professional occupations
2
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

166
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.

167
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

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 F11 IF GAVE ABSOLUTE FIGURE
OR “more than 20” IF CODE 13 ON DON’T KNOW RANGE] days training over the last 12
months?

Yes
1
GO TO F15
No
2
RE-ASK F11

168
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 Apprentices that they 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.

169

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

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).

170
F15
The question here is whether they FORMALLY assess – formally i.e. it is written policy or records are
kept.

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

171
ASK IF TRAINING TOWARDS A NATIONALLY RECOGNISED QUALIFICATION (F12>0 or
bands 2-11).
F13
And still thinking about the training you have arranged or funded towards nationally
recognised qualifications, [IF F12=1: is or was this member of, IF F12>1: are or were
any of these members of] staff being trained towards any of the following types of
qualification in the last 12 months...

F14
THERE IS NO F14.

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

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

172
F13-15a
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.

173

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

174
F15B Do not read out list – familiarise yourself with this list in advance of survey as
it will more than likely be too long to all fit on the screen without scrolling.
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 no 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.

175
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 organisation
[IF A3=2: or establishment]
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
Don’t know
X

G3
THERE IS NO QUESTION G3.
G4
THERE IS NO QUESTION G4

176

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

177
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

178

H Business strategy and structure
ASK IF PRIVATE SECTOR ONLY (A8=1)
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)
[IF PUBLIC OR THIRD SECTOR (A8=2-5): On a scale of 1 to 5, where would you place
this establishment if…]

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

H2
THERE IS NO QUESTION H2

179
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.

180
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

181
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

182
I
Closing questions
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

IF TRAIN AT ALL (F4=1 or F4a=1)
I3
The UK Commission will be conducting some follow up research in the next few
weeks about training expenditure. This will involve sending some questions by email
then collecting answers through a short telephone call. [IF IFF: Would this be
possible? IF NOT IFF: Would you be willing for their appointed contractor, IFF
Research, to contact you about this? ]
REASSURE IF NECESSARY: The call should take less than 10 minutes.
Yes
1

No
2

ASK IF I3=1 OR I3a=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 I2

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 I2
No
2
GO TO I3B AND REDO

183

I3
There is going to be a follow up survey to ESS2015 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 re-contact 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 it
in on screen accurately with no typos and correct spelling.

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

184
ASK ALL
I3a
Would you like us to email you a summary report of the findings of this survey, once
the results are published in January 2016?
Yes
1

No
2

IF (A4DUM=4 OR I3=2) AND I3a=1
I3D
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 I3E
NULL/REF

GO TO I2

ASK IF NOT NULL/REF AT I3D
I3E
I have that as [text sub of email address recorded at I3D] - is that right?
INTERVIEWER NOTE: SPELL OUT EMAIL ADDRESS LETTER-BY-LETTER

Yes
1
CONTINUE TO I2
No
2
GO TO I3D AND REDO

185
I3a
This follows on from the point mentioned in the introduction – that this year we are offering
respondents a summary report of the findings which we will send once results are published in January
2016.

An email address is only collected here if they want a summary report sent and we have not already
collected their email address in regards to I3. Again, 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 it in on screen accurately with no typos
and correct spelling.

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

186
ASK ALL
I2
If the UK Commission and their partners in this survey wish to carry out follow-up
research within the next 2 years on related issues, would it be ok for them or their
appointed contractors to contact you?
REASSURE IF NECESSARY: We would keep this separate to the responses you have
given in this survey; it will not be possible for the UK Commission, its partners or its
contractors to identify your survey responses from the information.
INTERVIEWER – IF RESPONDENT ASKS: “Partners in this survey” include the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, [ENG: Skills Funding Agency NI: DELNI SC:
Scottish Government WA: Welsh Government], Department for Work and Pensions, and the
Sector Skills Councils.
Yes – both client and/or their contractors may recontact
1
Only the client may recontact
2
No
3

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

I5
THERE IS NO QUESTION I5

ASK IF
I1=1 OR I2=1 OR 2 OR I3=1
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

187
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

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 ESS, and we determine all regional variables from the postcode.

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.

188
OCCUPATION PROMPTS
ROUTING:
IF ((D5A=2 OR
A1DUM=2-3) AND
A6=1) AND…
IF (D5A=1 OR (D5A=2
AND A6=2) OR
(A1DUM=2-3 AND A6=2)
AND…

SIC on sample = 45 to
53, 95
D5B=1 OR D5D=1
Use this
prompt list:
Transport, Retail or
Wholesale
SIC on sample = 58 to
74, 76 to 78, 80 to 82,
94, 9603
D5B=2 OR D5D=2
Use this
prompt list:
Business & Other Services,
Finance or Insurance
SIC on sample = 01 to 44
D5B=3 OR D5D=3
Use this
prompt list:
Manufacturing, Construction
or Agriculture
SIC on sample = 55 to
56, 79, 8130, 90, 92 to
93, 9601, 9602, 9604 to
9609
D5B=4 OR D5D=4
Use this
prompt list:
Hospitality, Catering or
Leisure Services
SIC on sample = 75, 86
to 88
D5B=5 OR D5D=5
Use this
prompt list:
Health or Social Care
SIC on sample = 84 to
85, 91
D5B=6 OR D5D=6
Use this
prompt list:
Public Sector or Education

D5B=7 OR D5D=7
Use this
prompt list:
None of the above

Transport, Retail or Wholesale

Example job roles
Managers,
Directors & Senior
Officials
ADD IF 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.

Including:

Direction and co-ordination of organisations and
businesses

Management of internal departments and sections
Admin &
secretarial
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations undertake general admin,
clerical, secretarial work and perform a variety of specialist client
orientated clerical duties. Most occupations will require a good
standard of general education.

Including:

Secretaries, receptionists, PAs, telephonists

Book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks

Office assistants, office managers

Database assistants

Stock control clerks & assistants

Transport & distribution clerks & assistants
Elementary
occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Covers occupations that involve mostly
routine tasks usually involving use of simple hand held tools and in

189
some cases physical effort. Most do not require formal educational
qualifications.

Includes:

Cleaners, security guards

Labourers

Kitchen/catering assistants

Packers, goods handling

Storage staff, shelf fillers

Postal workers, messengers & couriers
Process, plant &
machine
operatives
ADD IF NECESSARY: Operate vehicles and other mobile and
stationary machinery, monitor industrial and plant equipment, or
assemble products. Most will not have a particular standard of
education but will usually have formal experience related training.

Includes:

Vehicle operators / drivers, including train / HGV / van / fork
lift / bus / taxi drivers

Machine operatives

Routine inspectors and testers

Food, drink & tobacco process operatives

Tyre, exhaust & windscreen fitters
Sales & 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.

Includes:

Sales assistants, sales supervisors

Customer care occupations

Call centre agents

Merchandisers & window dressers

Pharmacy & other dispensing assistants


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: Sales representatives)
Caring, Leisure &
Other Service
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations that involve provision of service
to customers whether in a public protective or personal care
capacity. Main tasks involved usually include the care of sick,
elderly and children and the provision of travel care and hygiene
services.

Includes:

Air / rail travel assistants

Beauticians, hairdressers & barbers

Ambulance staff (excluding paramedics)

Caretakers

Care assistants, nursery nurses / childminders
Skilled Trades
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: these 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.

Includes:

Electricians, plumbers

Butchers, bakers, fishmongers

Vehicle technicians, mechanics & electricians

IT engineers

Florists

Chefs

190

(NOT THE FOLLOWING: science and engineering
technicians)
Associate
Professional and
Technical
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Main tasks require experience and knowledge
to assist in supporting professionals or managers. Most will have
relevant high level vocational qualifications involving a substantial
period of full time training or further study.

Includes:

Accounting technicians

Health and safety officers

Human resources officers

Sales representatives, sales accounts managers, business
sales executives

Business development managers

Buyers, buying and purchasing officers

Graphic designers, photographers, writers

Estate agents, auctioneers

IT / science / engineering / lab technicians
Professional
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations will usually require a degree or
equivalent formal qualification. Main tasks will involve practical
application of theoretical knowledge and increasing stock of
knowledge through communicating and teaching.

Includes:

Programmers, software development and IT professionals

Web design & development professionals

Accountants

Solicitors, lawyers

Economists

Business & financial project managers

Journalists, newspaper editors

Engineering professionals

Business and Other Services, Finance or
Insurance

Example job roles
Managers,
Directors & Senior
Officials
ADD IF 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.

Includes:

Direction and co-ordination of organisations and
businesses

Management of internal departments and sections
Admin &
secretarial
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations undertake general admin,
clerical, secretarial work and perform a variety of specialist client
orientated clerical duties. Most occupations will require a good
standard of general education.

Including:

Secretaries, receptionists, PAs, telephonists

191

Book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks

Office assistants, office managers

Pension and insurance clerks

Database assistants

Legal secretaries

Library clerks & assistants
Elementary
occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Covers occupations that 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.

Includes:

Cleaners, security guards

Labourers

Kitchen/catering assistants

Postal workers, messengers, couriers

Launderers, dry cleaners & pressers
Process, plant &
machine
operatives
ADD IF NECESSARY: Operate vehicles and other mobile and
stationary machinery, monitor industrial and plant equipment, or
assemble products. Most will not have a particular standard of
education but will usually have formal experience related training.

Includes:

Vehicle operators / drivers

Machine operatives

Routine inspectors & testers

Driving instructors
Sales & 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.

Includes:

Sales assistants, sales managers

customer care occupations, customer service managers

Call centre agents, telephone salespersons

Market research interviewers


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: Sales representatives, buying and
purchasing officers, estate agents or auctioneers)
Caring, Leisure &
Other Service
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations that involve provision of service
to customers whether in a public protective or personal care
capacity. Main tasks involved usually include the care of sick,
elderly and children and the provision of travel care and hygiene
services.

Includes:

Caretakers

Care assistants, nursery nurses / childminders

Care workers and home carers

Hairdressers & barbers, beauticians
Skilled Trades
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: these 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.

Includes:

Electricians, electronic trades

192

Chefs, cooks

Catering and bar managers

Printers

TV engineers, IT engineers

Gardeners / groundsmen


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: science and engineering
technicians)
Associate
Professional and
Technical
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Main tasks require experience and knowledge
to assist in supporting professionals or managers. Most will have
relevant high level vocational qualifications involving a substantial
period of full time training or further study.

Includes:

Human resources & industrial relations officers

Accounting technicians

Health and safety officers

Insurance underwriters

Investment analysts / advisors

Sales representatives

Sales account & business development managers, business
sales executives

Buyers, buying and purchasing officers

Writers / journalists

Graphic designers / artists / musicians

Estate agents, auctioneers

Conference / exhibition managers, organisers

IT / science / engineering / lab technicians
Professional
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations will usually require a degree or
equivalent formal qualification. Main tasks will involve practical
application of theoretical knowledge and increasing stock of
knowledge through communicating and teaching.

Includes:

Programmers, software development and IT professionals

Web design & development professionals

Accountants

Solicitors, lawyers, barristers & judges

Economists

Management consultants & business analysts

Architects

Chartered / Quantity surveyors

Advertising accounts managers / creative directors

Engineering professionals

193
Manufacturing, Construction or Agriculture

Example job roles
Managers,
Directors & Senior
Officials
ADD IF 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.

Includes:

Direction and co-ordination of organisations and businesses

Management of internal departments and sections
Admin &
secretarial
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations undertake general admin,
clerical, secretarial work and perform a variety of specialist client
orientated clerical duties. Most occupations will require a good
standard of general education.

Including:

Secretaries, receptionists, PAs, telephonists

Book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks

Office managers

Database assistants, office assistants

Stock control clerks and assistants
Elementary
occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Covers occupations that 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.

Includes:

Cleaners, security guards

Labourers

Kitchen/catering assistants

Packers, goods handling

Storage staff

Farm / forestry / fishing workers
Process, plant &
machine
operatives
ADD IF NECESSARY: Operate vehicles and other mobile and
stationary machinery, monitor industrial and plant equipment, or
assemble products. Most will not have a particular standard of
education but will usually have formal experience related training.

Includes:

Vehicle operators / drivers

Machine operatives

HGV / van / fork lift drivers

Sorters, assemblers

Scaffolders / stagers / riggers

Routine inspectors / testers

Metal / plastics / rubber / wood / textile process operatives

Quarry workers
Sales & 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.

Includes:

Sales assistants, sales supervisors

Customer care occupations (including customer service
managers and supervisors)

194

Call centre / contact centre occupations


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: Sales representatives)
Caring, Leisure &
Other Service
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations that involve provision of service
to customers whether in a public protective or personal care
capacity. Main tasks involved usually include the care of sick,
elderly and children and the provision of travel care and hygiene
services.

Includes:

Caretakers

Care assistants, nursery nurses / childminders

Animal care services

Veterinary nurses
Skilled Trades
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: these 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.

Includes:

Electricians, electrical trades

Plumbers, heating & ventilating engineers

Printers

Farmers

Carpenters, furniture makers

Mechanics

Machine setters / tool makers

Painters & decorators

Plasterers, roofers, glaziers

Bricklayers and masons

Metal working production and maintenance fitters

Welding trades

Gardeners / landscape gardeners


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: science and engineering
technicians)
Associate
Professional and
Technical
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Main tasks require experience and knowledge
to assist in supporting professionals or managers. Most will have
relevant high level vocational qualifications involving a substantial
period of full time training or further study.

Includes:

Science and engineering technicians

IT technicians, lab technicians

Accounting technicians

Human resources officers

Health and safety officers

Sales representatives, sales accounts managers, business
sales executives

Business development managers

Draughtspersons

Building & civil engineering technicians

Estimators, valuers & assessors

Product designers
Professional
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations will usually require a degree or
equivalent formal qualification. Main tasks will involve practical
application of theoretical knowledge and increasing stock of
knowledge through communicating and teaching.

195

Includes:

Software and IT professionals

Accountants

Solicitors, lawyers

Economists

Professional engineers

Chemists

Scientific researchers

Architects

Quality control & planning engineers

Construction project managers

Quantity / Chartered surveyors

Programmers & software developers

Hospitality, Catering or Leisure Services

Example job roles
Managers,
Directors & Senior
Officials
ADD IF 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.

Includes:

Direction and co-ordination of organisations and businesses

Management of internal departments and sections
Admin &
secretarial
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations undertake general admin,
clerical, secretarial work and perform a variety of specialist client
orientated clerical duties. Most occupations will require a good
standard of general education.

Including:

Secretaries, receptionists, PAs, telephonists

Book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks

Office assistants, office managers

Database assistants
Elementary
occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Covers occupations that 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.

Includes:

Cleaners, security guards

Labourers

Kitchen/catering assistants,

Bar staff, waiters & waitresses

Dry cleaners, launderers

Leisure & theme park attendants
Process, plant &
machine
operatives
ADD IF NECESSARY: Operate vehicles and other mobile and
stationary machinery, monitor industrial and plant equipment, or
assemble products. Most will not have a particular standard of
education but will usually have formal experience related training.

196
Includes:

Vehicle operators / drivers, including HGV / van / fork-lift
drivers

Machine operatives

Food, drink & tobacco process operatives
Sales & 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.

Includes:

Sales assistants, retail cashiers

Sales / customer service managers

Customer care occupations

Telesales, call centre agents


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: Sales representatives)
Caring, Leisure &
Other Service
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations that involve provision of service
to customers whether in a public protective or personal care
capacity. Main tasks involved usually include the care of sick,
elderly and children and the provision of travel care and hygiene
services.

Includes:

Travel agents, travel assistants

Sport and leisure assistants

Hairdressers and beauticians

Care assistants, nursery nurses / childminders

Housekeepers, caretakers
Skilled Trades
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: these 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.

Includes:

Chefs, cooks

Catering and bar managers

Butchers, bakers

Gardeners / landscape gardeners

Groundsmen & greenkeepers

Electricians, plumbers, printers


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: Science and engineering
technicians)
Associate
Professional and
Technical
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Main tasks require experience and knowledge
to assist in supporting professionals or managers. Most will have
relevant high level vocational qualifications involving a substantial
period of full time training or further study.

Includes:

Sales representatives, sales accounts managers

Fitness instructors, sports coaches, instructors and officials

Conference & exhibition managers & organisers

Buying and purchasing officers

Human resources officers

Accounting technicians

Health and safety officers

197

IT / science / lab technicians
Professional
Occupations
IF NECESSARY: Occupations will usually require a degree or
equivalent formal qualification. Main tasks will involve practical
application of theoretical knowledge and increasing stock of
knowledge through communicating and teaching.

Includes:

Therapy professionals, nurses

Programmers, software development and IT professionals

Web design & development professionals

Accountants, economists

Solicitors, lawyers

Health or Social Care

Example job roles
Managers,
Directors & Senior
Officials
ADD IF 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.

Includes:

Direction and co-ordination of organisations and businesses

Management of internal departments and sections
Admin &
secretarial
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations undertake general admin,
clerical, secretarial work and perform a variety of specialist client
orientated clerical duties. Most occupations will require a good
standard of general education.

Including:

Secretaries, receptionists, PAs, telephonists

Book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks

Office assistants, office managers

Database assistants
Elementary
occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Covers occupations that 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.

Includes:

Cleaners, security guards

Kitchen/catering assistants

Launderers, dry cleaners & pressers

Hospital porters
Process, plant &
machine
operatives
IF NECESSARY: Operate vehicles and other mobile and stationary
machinery, monitor industrial and plant equipment, or assemble
products. Most will not have a particular standard of education but
will usually have formal experience related training.

Includes:

Vehicle operators / drivers

Machine operatives

198
Sales & 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.

Includes:

Sales assistants, sales supervisors

Call centre agents

Customer care occupations
Caring, Leisure &
Other Service
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations that involve provision of service
to customers whether in a public protective or personal care
capacity. Main tasks involved usually include the care of sick,
elderly and children and the provision of travel care and hygiene
services.

Includes:

Care assistants, nursery nurses / childminders

Housekeepers, caretakers

Home carers

Ambulance staff

Teaching assistants

Dental / veterinary nurses

Nursing auxiliaries and assistants

Houseparents & residential wardens


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: Professional medical nurses,
midwives, physiotherapists and social workers or
paramedics)
Skilled Trades
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: these 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.

Includes:

Chefs, cooks

Catering managers

Gardeners, landscape gardeners, groundsmen &
greenkeepers
Associate
Professional and
Technical
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Main tasks require experience and knowledge
to assist in supporting professionals or managers. Most will have
relevant high level vocational qualifications involving a substantial
period of full time training or further study.

Includes:

Paramedics

Youth and Community workers

Human resources officers

Sports coaches, instructors & officials

Medical & dental technicians

Pharmaceutical technicians

Accounting technicians

Health and safety officers

IT / science / engineering / lab technicians
Professional
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations will usually require a degree or
equivalent formal qualification. Main tasks will involve practical
application of theoretical knowledge and increasing stock of
knowledge through communicating and teaching.

Includes:

Doctors, nurses, midwives

199

Psychologists

Social workers

Occupational therapists

Medical practitioners

Speech and language therapists

Pharmacists

Veterinarians

Dental practitioners

Software and IT professionals

Accountants, solicitors, lawyers

Public Sector or Education

Example job roles
Managers,
Directors &
Senior Officials
ADD IF 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.

Includes:

Direction and co-ordination of organisations and businesses

Management of internal departments and sections
Admin &
secretarial
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations undertake general admin,
clerical, secretarial work and perform a variety of specialist client
orientated clerical duties. Most occupations will require a good
standard of general education.

Including:

Secretaries, receptionists, PAs, telephonists

Book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks

Local government officers, civil service officers

Office managers, office supervisors, office assistants

Library assistants, database assistants

HR administrators

Library clerks and assistants
Elementary
occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Covers occupations that 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.

Includes:

Cleaners, security guards

Labourers

Kitchen/catering assistants

Road sweepers, traffic wardens

School midday and crossing patrol occupations
Process, plant &
machine
operatives
ADD IF NECESSARY: Operate vehicles and other mobile and
stationary machinery, monitor industrial and plant equipment, or
assemble products. Most will not have a particular standard of
education but will usually have formal experience related training.

Includes:

Vehicle operators / drivers

200

Machine operatives
Sales & 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.

Includes:

Customer service managers, call centre agents

Customer care occupations

Sales / retail assistants, sales supervisors
Caring, Leisure &
Other Service
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations that involve provision of service
to customers whether in a public protective or personal care
capacity. Main tasks involved usually include the care of sick,
elderly and children and the provision of travel care and hygiene
services.

Includes:

Caretakers, housekeepers

Care workers, home carers

Educational support assistants

Nursery nurses and assistants

Teaching assistants

Pest control officers

Animal care occupations

Sport and leisure assistants


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: social workers, youth workers,
welfare officers)
Skilled Trades
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: these 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.

Includes:

Electricians, plumbers

Chefs, cooks

Printers

Gardeners & landscape gardeners

Groundsmen and greenkeepers

IT engineers

Construction and building trades


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: science and engineering
technicians)
Associate
Professional and
Technical
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Main tasks require experience and knowledge
to assist in supporting professionals or managers. Most will have
relevant high level vocational qualifications involving a substantial
period of full time training or further study.

Includes:

Accounting technicians

Human resources officers

Health and safety officers

Junior police/fire/prison officers

Community workers

Careers advisors

Welfare / Housing officers

Youth and community workers

Vocational / Industrial trainers and instructors

IT / science / engineering / lab technicians

201
Professional
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations will usually require a degree or
equivalent formal qualification. Main tasks will involve practical
application of theoretical knowledge and increasing stock of
knowledge through communicating and teaching.

Includes:

Programmers, software development and IT professionals

Web design & development professionals

Accountants

Solicitors, lawyers, barristers & judges

Economists

Teachers

Social workers

Librarians

Engineers

Occupational therapists

Writers/journalists

None of the above / Other

Example job roles
Managers,
Directors & Senior
Officials
ADD IF 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.

Includes:

Direction and co-ordination of organisations and businesses

Management of internal departments and sections
Admin &
secretarial
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations undertake general admin, clerical,
secretarial work and perform a variety of specialist client orientated clerical
duties. Most occupations will require a good standard of general education.

Including:

Secretaries, receptionists, PAs, telephonists

Book-keepers, credit controllers/wage clerks

Office assistants, office managers

Local government officers

HR administrators
Elementary
occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Covers occupations that 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.

Includes:

Cleaners

Packers, goods handling / storage

Kitchen/catering assistants

Waiting staff, bar staff

Security guards

Launderers, dry cleaners & pressers

Farm / forestry / fishing workers

Postal workers, messengers & couriers

202
Process, plant &
machine operatives
ADD IF NECESSARY: Operate vehicles and other mobile and stationary
machinery, monitor industrial and plant equipment, or assemble products.
Most will not have a particular standard of education but will usually have
formal experience related training.

Includes:

Vehicle operators / drivers

Machine operatives

Assemblers and sorters

Quarry workers

Scaffolders
Sales & 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.

Includes:

Sales assistants, sales managers / supervisors

Call centre agents, telesales

Customer care occupations, customer service managers /
supervisors


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: Sales representatives)
Caring, Leisure &
Other Service
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations that involve provision of service to
customers whether in a public protective or personal care capacity. Main
tasks involved usually include the care of sick, elderly and children and the
provision of travel care and hygiene services.

Includes:

Care assistants, nursery nurses / childminders

Housekeepers, caretakers

Travel agents / assistants

Hairdressers and beauticians

Educational support assistants

Animal care services

Air / rail travel assistants


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: Professional medical nurses, social workers
or paramedics)
Skilled Trades
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: these 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.

Includes:

Electricians, plumbers, carpenters

IT engineers, TV engineers

Mechanics

Chefs, cooks, butchers, bakers

Catering and bar managers

Gardeners / groundsmen, florists

Construction and building trades


(NOT THE FOLLOWING: science and engineering technicians)
Associate
Professional and
Technical
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Main tasks require experience and knowledge to assist
in supporting professionals or managers. Most will have relevant high level
vocational qualifications involving a substantial period of full time training
or further study.

Includes:

203

Human resources officers

Accounting technicians

Health and safety officers

Sales representatives, accounts managers

Estate agents, auctioneers

Conference / exhibition managers, organisers

Sports coaches, instructors & officials

Product designers, graphic designers

IT / science / engineering / lab technicians
Professional
Occupations
ADD IF NECESSARY: Occupations will usually require a degree or
equivalent formal qualification. Main tasks will involve practical application
of theoretical knowledge and increasing stock of knowledge through
communicating and teaching.

Includes:

Programmers, software development and IT professionals

Doctors, nurses, midwives

Solicitors, lawyers, accountants

Social workers

Teachers

Management consultants & business analysts

Engineering professionals

Construction project managers

Journalists, newspaper editors

204
Appendix G: Reassurance email

REF: [KEY NUMBER]

Employer Skills Survey 2015

Thank you for considering participating in this important research.

The Employer Skills Survey 2015 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.

More information about the survey (including FAQs) can be found at http://www.skillssurvey.co.uk.

For results from the previous 2013 survey please see the Gov.UK website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2013.

If you have any queries concerning the format or content of the interview, please contact
Christabel Downing or Mark Tweddle at IFF Research, tel: xx-xxxx-xxxx or e-mail:
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,

Mark Tweddle
Senior Research Executive
IFF Research

205
Appendix H: Response Rates by subgroup

Interviews
achieved
Response
Rate
England
75,129
42
Northern Ireland
4,019
50
Scotland
6,035
42
Wales
6,027
44

2-4
20,527
39
5-9
21,709
41
10-24
27,875
43
25-49
11,657
49
50-99
5,836
44
100-249
2,689
41
250+
917
33

Agriculture
3,632
28
Mining and Quarrying
171
35
Manufacturing
6,827
38
Electricity, gas and water
1,041
36
Construction
7,474
37
Wholesale and retail
16,126
44
Hotels and restaurants
8,920
51
Transport and storage
4,680
34
Information and communications
4,256
35
Financial services
2,549
32
Business activities
13,143
39
Public administration
947
51
Education
5,515
61
Health and Social Work
8,556
62
Arts and Other Services
7,373
47

206
Appendix I: Edit specification

ESS2013 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.

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.
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.

207
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
respondent 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.
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.

208
EDIT
13
To ensure that all
SOC codes are
valid at B3
(4 DIGITS)
If SOC at B3 is not in full
SOC file provided
To ensure that all SOC codes are
valid at B3
(4 DIGITS)
EDIT
14
To ensure that all
SOC codes are
valid at D16
(4 DIGITS)
If SOC at D16 is not in full
SOC file provided
To ensure that all SOC codes are
valid at D16
(4 DIGITS)
EDIT
15
To ensure that the
SOC codes D16
falls into an
occupation in which
they currently have
staff
If SOC at D16 does not fall
into an occupational group
mentioned at D5/6/7 / D5C.

Managers:
If SOC code at D16 begins
with number 1 then the
record would fail the edit
check if: (D5C_1=0 or
D5C_1CODES=1) or
(D5=0)

Admin / secretarial:
D16 SOC code begin with 4,
fail edit if: (D5C_2=0 or
D5C_2CODES=1) or
(D6=0)

etc. through to:

Elementary:
D16 SOC begin with 9, fail
if: ((D5C_3=0 or
D5C_3CODES=1) or
(D7_1=2)) or
(((sysmis(D5C_3) and
sysmis(D5C_3CODES) and
sysmis(D7_1)))
To check whether the SOC codes
at D16 fall into an occupation in
which they currently have staff.

Appendix J: Investment in Training datasheet

211

212
Appendix K: 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
1,766,838
91,210
+/-0.32
By country

England
1,488,171
75,129
+/-0.36
Northern Ireland
54,518
4,019
+/-1.55
Scotland
142,947
6,035
+/-1.26
Wales
81,202
6,027
+/-1.26
By size of establishment

2-4
302,665
20,527
+/-0.68
5-24
334,309
49,584
+/-0.44
25-49
101,082
11,657
+/-0.91
50-99
50,432
5,836
+/-1.28
100-249
26,900
5,836
+/-1.28
250+
11,812
917
+/-3.24

213

Population
Number of
interviews
(Maximum)
Sampling
Error

By sector

Agriculture
97,359
3,632
+/-1.63
Manufacturing
98,627
6,827
+/-1.17
Electricity, Gas and Water
10,151
1,041
+/-3.04
Construction
158,790
7,474
+/-1.13
Wholesale and Retail
371,231
16,126
+/-0.77
Hotels & Restaurants
159,893
8,920
+/-1.04
Transport and Communications
51,719
4,680
+/-1.04
Financial Services
38,259
2,549
+/-1.94
Business Services
363,790
13,143
+/-0.85
Public Administration
19,814
947
+/-3.18
Education
58,124
5,515
+/-1.32
Health and Social Work
132,505
8,556
+/-1.06
Arts and Other Services
127,871
7,373
+/-1.14

214

Evidence Reports present detailed ﬁndings of
the research produced by the UK Commission for
Employment and Skills. The reports contribute to
the accumulation of knowledge and intelligence on
skills and employment issues through the review of
existing evidence or through primary research.

UKCES
Renaissance House
Adwick Park
Wath-upon-Dearne Rotherham
S63 5NB
T xx-xxxx-xxxx

This document is available at
www.gov.uk/ukces

ISBN 978-1-908418-73-9
© UKCES 1st Ed/01/16

UKCES
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith St. Westminster London
SW1P 3BT
T xx-xxxx-xxxx