Learner Destinations
Applicability All learners on a priority programme who achieved at least one relevant qualification will be included in this indicator. These learners are investing significant time and energy in a programme of learning which is designed to affect their lives in a significant way, and are defined as follows:
• all learners aged 16–18
• all learners on Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships
• all learners on Train to Gain programmes
• all learners on target-bearing Skills for Life programmes
• all adults on programmes contributing to a full Level 2 or full Level 3 qualification, as flagged on the ILR.
Exemptions
This PI does not apply to employers who deliver training to their own employees only or to fewer than 10 learners from other employers. Where an employer delivers training to 10 or more learners from other employers, it will be in scope for those learners (but not for its own staff).
Definition
The performance measure for Learner Destinations is the proportion of priority learners completing an LSC-funded programme in one academic year, and progressing in the next academic year to a destination defined in codes 1–5 of the Destination Code table.
In 2008/09 these destinations are:
• enrolled in priority learning with the same level of highest learning aim
• progressed to learning with a higher level of highest learning aim
• remained in employment or self-employment with improved job security or enhanced career prospects
• entered employment or self-employment having been in learning prior to ‘year’ where the ‘year’ learning had an impact
• entered employment, self-employment or training having previously been outside the labour market.
Data Source
For the year 2008/09, the Learner Destinations PI will relate to the 2007/08 destinations of those learners completing in 2006/07. ILR data will be used to match priority learners from one year into the next. Only completers of courses are included. Learners attending the second year of a course are not included. Other sources of data being considered are HEFCE records and the providers’ own records of HE progression.
Data Submission Requirements
The LSC already has the ILR records for the two years in question (that is, 2006/07 and 2007/08). The other sources of data under consideration would be supplied by HEFCE and the providers. In the pilot, there were a significant number of learners whom we could not trace. In 2008/09, we will be looking for your help in increasing the number of learners we can include in this measure.
To achieve this you need to ensure that:
• learner contact details are updated regularly and are as accurate and complete as possible
• as many learners as possible have an opportunity to participate in the Learner Destinations survey by appropriate use of ILR L27 responses.
A major area where we will be asking for your help is your awareness of your completers in 2006/07 who entered HE in 2007/08. As was successfully trialled in the pilot, we will be writing to all providers in scope for the Framework in 2008/09 in July 2008, asking them to supply, on a voluntary basis, any data they may have regarding these learners.
This data will greatly reduce the burden of work on the telephone survey, and will ensure that providers are credited with the appropriate number of learners who progressed to the HE positive destination. This data will be provisional, and we will be able to verify the final position using data from HEFCE records later in the year.
Assessment Criteria
The assessment criteria are based on the views of the development team and pilot providers. They are shown in the following table:
| Grade |
Assessment criteria |
| 1 (Outstanding) |
85% or greater |
| 2 (Good) |
72.5% to less than 85% |
| 3 (Satisfactory) |
60% to less than 72.5% |
| 4 (Inadequate) |
Less than 60% |
Calculating the Score
The total number of qualifying priority learners is identified through a variety of methods; these learners are then classified into one of the codes in Destination Code table. After classification, a calculation is made to determine the overall Learner Destinations score.
Analysis of the pilot data has shown that the age of the learner and their mode of study (full-time or part-time) could be significant factors in determining whether the learner progresses to a positive destination. The small sample of data available in the pilot is not sufficient to allow reliable corrections for these factors to be determined at present. Work is in progress to investigate how these factors might be included in the Learner Destinations PI through the assessment criteria, as recommended by a recent contextualisation study of the pilot outcomes.
Although a score is calculated for each provider, quality threshold checks are then made to see if this score is robust enough to be graded. It may not be possible to calculate a score that passes the quality threshold checks for several reasons, these include:
• an ILR L27 field preventing the LSC from contacting the learner
• a missing telephone contact number
• an incorrect or incomplete telephone contact number.
Please see an example of the
Learner Destinations Scoring Methodology for Version 1.
Destination Codes
| Code |
Description |
Code1m
Code 1i |
Enrolled in priority learning with the same level of highest learning aim |
Code 2m
Code 2p
Code 2i
Code 2h |
Progressed to learning with a higher level of highest learning aim |
Code 3
|
Remained in employment or self-employment with improved job security or enhanced career prospects |
| Code 4 |
Entered employment or self-employment having been in learning prior to ‘year’ where the ‘year’ learning had an impact |
| Code 5 |
Entered employment, self-employment or training having previously been outside the labour market |
| Code 6 |
Not in employment, education or training but activity category neutral for the purposes of the measure |
| Code 8 |
Not tracked into further learning and ILR L27 field prevented further contact |
| Code 9 |
No contact made with the learner |
| Code 10 |
Current activity does not meet any of the criteria for a positive outcome |
Note: The suffix for Codes 1 and 2 merely describes the source of the data. Code 7 is used for administrative purposes only.
