Adult skills - who gets invested in and how has this changed over time?

See 'Attachments' for a Word version. The Social Mobility Commission is commissioning a short piece of analysis to explore whether there is any link between social background and the likelihood of an individual increasing their qualifications after they have entered the labour market in England. The analysis will shed light on the following areas:

• Possible correlations between the social background of individuals and the level of investment in skills levels. This should explore how this differs by individual characteristics including; area of residence, gender, ethnicity, age, skills level and type upon leaving formal education and type of post-16 education (vocational, higher, apprenticeship), and occupation characteristics including; employment status (including unemployed), working patterns, occupational class, earnings.
• Within this, it would be helpful if distinctions were drawn between the investment in adult skills by type of learning (such as e-learning, formal qualifications) and source of funding (different sources of government funding via the adult skills budget, employer investment, individual's self-funding, charity or voluntary sector investment).
• Exploration of how the findings can inform policy goals of improving social mobility, in light of the government agenda of this Parliament (apprenticeship levy, Opportunity Areas, Career Learning, devolution of the adults skills budget and the role of the LEPS) and longer term changes to jobs and skills, and any recommendations about measuring and monitoring data going forward.

Where possible the analysis could include

• The impact of the level of investment in an individual's skill level on their experience in the labour market, for example in their job and/or wage progression, this may also draw upon returns data of qualifications.
• Analysis of how this has changed over time, ideally considering a time period back to 2010 or earlier, but with the overall intention of drawing out trends and changes over time.
• Relevant learning or conclusions for the adult skills systems in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.