Adult education
Participation data
Where are we now?
The Adult Learners dashboard displays data relating to the enrolment of West Midlands residents over the past four years to Adult Skills Fund programmes. Data is structured and filterable by the six broad subject categories which align to the sectors which are deemed to have the highest intensity of green jobs: Automotive, Construction and the Built Environment, Electrical Installation, Energy and Utilities, Environmental Services and Manufacturing.
When creating these green skills dashboards, a filter has been applied to select only learning aims which match to a list of green key words.
- Despite a recent decline, the West Midlands is the top performing region for adult Automotive Colleges have 89% of the market share.
- Enrolments to green Construction and Building Services aims fell by 17%, following steady growth over previous years. Private providers dominate the market for adults learning green construction skills.
- The West Midlands remains the top performing area nationally for adult Electrical Installation provision and colleges have 96% of the market.
Key data
Automotive
Despite the sharp decline in Automotive enrolments in 2023/24, the West Midlands remains the region with the highest density of learners in this subject area nationally, with 11 per 100,000 of working age adults engaged in learning. All learners studied at a college.
Predominantly, the offer consists of sector-based work academies, boot camps, and short programmes focusing on electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. The top two aims had a very slight year-on-year increase in numbers
- Vehicle Vehicle/Hybrid SWAP
- Award in Electric /Hybrid Vehicle System Repair
Half of enrolments in 2023/24 were at level 1 and level 2, an increase from the 35% the previous year. Correspondingly enrolments at level 3 and level 4 fell from 73% to 50%.
Construction & Buildings Services
The West Midlands continues to use the adult education budget to offer green upskilling opportunities for adults in construction and building services. After sharp growth in numbers in 2022/24, numbers declined by 17% in 2023/24.
Benchmarked nationally, the West Midlands fell from being the region with the highest proportion of adults on green construction courses (12 in every 100,000) in 2022/23 to mid-table in 2023/24 with 10 in every 100,000.
Key changes over the past two years were
- A drop in the proportion of learners enrolled to a college which fell from 60% to 12%a
- The proportion of learners at level 1 and level 2 rose from 6% to 25%, with corresponding decline in enrolments at level 3 and above from 88% to 68%
- The proportion of female learners increased by 3%
Electrical Installation
Electrical skills are a prerequisite for the installation of green technologies across many sectors and have therefore been classified as focused green skills courses. The West Midlands has historically high levels of adult participation in electrical installation courses and leads the way in all regions in this initiative, but numbers declined by 1.8% in 2023/24 to 1,177.
The vast majority of learners are on one of three programmes: Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures), Award in the Requirements for Electrical Installation and Advanced Technical Diploma in Electrical Installation.
FE colleges are the main providers with 96% of enrolments and 53% study at level 3.
The learner profile has remained unchanged: 96% male, 56% White and two thirds over 35.
Energy & Utilities
The West Midlands has little adult participation in adult courses in energy and utilities and is significantly behind other regions.
The small amount of provision is almost exclusively at Level 1 and in the Warwickshire region and delivered by independent training providers.
Just one learning aim matches to the Energy and Utilities sector: Award in Understanding Carbon Awareness and Energy Management. In 2023/24 there were 56 enrolments to this course, up from 21 the previous year.
Environmental Services
The West Midlands has relatively little adult participation in adult courses in environmental and is behind other regions, but there was an increase in 2023/24.
All delivery is by private providers.
The small amount of provision is almost exclusively predominantly at Level 1 and in the Birmingham area and principally cover waste management skills and knowledge. The top learning aims were Award in Waste and Recycling and Award in Recycling and Waste Management.
Manufacturing
The number of enrolments to adult provision that matches the key words relating to green manufacturing is very low in the West Midlands. In 2023/24 there were 34 enrolments, down from 43 the year before and all are learning beginners and intermediate robotics courses with a college provider in the Black Country.
Specialist manufacturing courses in this subject are relatively new. Manufacturing topics are included in longer programmes where the numbers of learners are strong 209 Manufacturing Apprenticeship starts in 2023/24, over 2,500 young people on Engineering programmes and over 600 adults on more generic Engineering courses.
Nationally adult education budgets are not used to support programmes in green manufacturing.
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Case Studies
Partnering with Dyson Energy Services and Westdale Midlands Ltd, Coventry College has developed a green skills insulation technician bootcamp to address skills shortages in energy-efficient retrofit services. The bootcamp, funded through the Strategic Development Fund, offers training in various insulation measures and in giving energy efficiency advice. Learners are recruited from referral networks across the West Midlands. They undergo rigorous training and interviews with around half of bootcamp participants securing permanent employment in retrofit because of the programme.
Attending the insulation bootcamp and then joining Dyson Energy Services has been career changing for me. Being able to help communities very similar to the one I was raised in has such a rewarding feeling – that feeling of making a difference!
North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College has seized the opportunity presented by the emerging hydrogen fuel cell technology. With a grant from the Strategic Development Fund, the college collaborated with hydrogen technology industry leaders in the development of tailored training programmes for local businesses, particularly those in logistics and transport. These include a one-day introduction to hydrogen course, a more comprehensive three-day programme covering operational skills for hydrogen vehicles, and with the support of National Express, an advanced three-day course on hydrogen vehicle systems.
I reached out to National Express and Hydrogen Vehicle Systems as they are industry leaders in research, development, and the operation of hydrogen vehicles. Collaborating closely with employers helps us keep up to speed with the ever-evolving landscape of decarbonising transportation in the UK.
