How to Find and Use Statistics on Education, Skills & Employment Emma Charnock - Regional Observatory Manager Adam Crockett – Senior Economic Analyst

The Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU) The Team has the cross-cutting theme of providing support to NWDA colleagues and regional partners. This is achieved by: Data & Analysis Monitoring & Benchmarking Data Consultations/Small Scale Surveys Commission Research Economic Assessment Briefings on Research/Policy Helping to disseminate and widen access to data and intelligence

Education Data Department for Children, Schools & Families (DCSF) Examples – GCSE & A Level results, class sizes, key stage performance Search by Key Word or Subject Category Data available at different geographies

Education - Example Proportion of children who receive at least 5 GCSEs graded A* to C CAUTION: Data often ‘lags’ real time Source: Important to source the data correctly – Acknowledges the data supplier and helps you to re trace your steps! Title of Dataset, Year and Provider

Skills Data Office for National Statistics (ONS) NOMIS Search using the Wizard or Advanced Query Examples – NVQ Qualifications, by working age population, economically active or those in employment, also splits by age group

Skills Data - Example Proportion of working age people who have no qualifications CAUTION: Unfortunately constrained by the options available in the public domain The smaller the sample the more unreliable the data Some data is available on request

Skills Data – Other Sources Connexions and NEET data LSC NESS 2007 Northwest Summary Report: onal+Employer+Skills+Survey+2007.htm Analyse NESS Data: HESA – Higher Educational Statistical Agency RIU Pocket Databank

Labour Market Data - definitions Employment rate – the proportion of a population that are in employment -anyone who does at least one hour’s paid work Unemployment rate – generally use the ILO definition -those who haven’t got a job but would like a job as a the proportion of the labour force Economic inactivity -Economically active persons are those, who are either in employment or unemployed, the remainder of the population are economically inactive.

Labour Market Data - sources The Annual Population Survey (APS) - NOMIS -Easy to use with comprehensive coverage -6-9 months old Labour Market Statistics - ONS -Very timely but most data is only available at a regional level -Less user friendly and time consuming for comparison Job seekers allowance - NOMIS and ONS -Timely proxy of unemployment at low geographical levels -Doesn’t capture all unemployment

Unemployment data Example The latest unemployment rates in Liverpool and Manchester now and a year ago Points to consider: Due to small samples, unemployment is unavailable for some small districts Estimates of large groups or areas are robust The data is considerably lagged – latest data Sept 2008!

Labour Market Statistics - example Collecting the most timely JSA data and unemployment figures at a regional level Points to consider: This is very timely Geographical disaggregation is poor The data not user friendly

Labour Market Data – points to consider Robust data -Confidence levels -Small samples -Timely data is often based off smaller samples – less robust -Look at proxies, JSA often used as a timely robust proxy for unemployment Disaggregation -Can get employment data split by gender, occupation, ethnicity, age, disability, self employment, full time, part time -Can mix these but need to be mindful of confidence levels -May need to use a high level of geography

Key Messages Finding data can be a mine field - building up your confidence re what is available and how to use it Time lags Data not reliable or available at lower levels e.g. geographies or ethnicity Remember: Source data correctly & save the raw data ANY QUESTIONS?