Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Acknowledged
Overall, the FE Skills Index fell from 100 in 2012/13 to 54 in 2020/21, a...
Conclusion
Overall, the FE Skills Index fell from 100 in 2012/13 to 54 in 2020/21, a decrease of 46%, which means that the FE system was estimated as having a declining impact on productivity over the period. However, in 2020/21, the annual change in the Index was a rise of 7%. DfE analysis indicated that this increase was a result of learners shifting towards more economically valuable training, with the number of learners achieving their qualification remaining broadly flat.15
Government Response Summary
The department advises against using the FE Skills Index as a sole indicator to measure performance, believing that stipulating an arbitrary target level of improvement for this index would not be a valuable measure of performance and could create issues about achievability.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
2.2 The department advises against using the FE Skills Index as a sole indicator to measure performance. The department publishes the FE Skills Index annually – estimating how the economic value added by the 19+ FE and Skills system changes over time. 2.3 This is influenced by a range of factors including the number of achievements at different levels and in different subjects, and their associated earnings returns. It is not intended to be a timely measure for evaluating specific policy changes. The department believes that stipulating an arbitrary target level of improvement for this index would not be a valuable measure of performance and could create issues about achievability.