Full Time and Part Time Adult Skills Learners – Destinations (2022-23 Year-End)

All levels

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Destination of unemployed adults

The destination data included in this report relates to leavers in academic year 2022/23. We use J2Research and Purlos to collect adult destination data. The college employs both a Destinations Officer and Adult Support Mentor to enable us to more proactively pursue and support learners who have left us to improve overall outcomes and tracking data.

The destinations of adult learners studying Level 4 programmes demonstrates 89.9% positive destinations, Level 3 increases to 92.1%, Level 2 drops slightly to 86.3% and Entry and Level 1 sits at 78.1.%.

Our Into Employment/SWAP provision has been particularly strong at moving significant numbers of unemployed learners into sustainable jobs – including 42 learners moving into Retail and Hospitality, 24 becoming teaching assistants and 23 security guards and stewarding jobs in the region. As a result, we continue to support around 75% of previously unemployed adults to find a positive destination after completing their programme with us.

Impact on Regional Skills and the Regional Economy

Breakdown of Learner Type

Our adult education provision can be broadly categorised into three strands:

• Strand 1: Young Adults Completing Full Time Programmes. This provision is for a small group of learners usually aged between 19 and 21 years old who complete their full-time technical education programme alongside full time learners aged 16-18 years.
• Strand 2: Professional and Technical Updating Programmes for Adults. These programmes will help adults develop skills for progression in their careers or for entry into higher education.
• Strand 3: Essential Skills Programmes for Adults. These are programmes aimed at developing essential skills for adults to support them progressing in work and life.

Adult learners by strand

The chart shows how our adult learners are split between these three strands. The table demonstrates an encouraging trend in the numbers of adult studying technical and professional programmes from 45% in 21/22 and 46% in 2022/23 stabilising at 46% in 2023/24 demonstrating our continued work to meet local and regional skills needs of adults in the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Having an Impact Locally

The chart below shows the proportion of our adult learners that reside in the Dudley Local Authority, in the neighbouring authorities (Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Sandwell & Walsall) and outside of the region. More than half of our adult learners live in the Dudley borough (56%.) 99% of our adults are from Dudley or the neighbouring borough demonstrating the impact we are having locally.

Adult learners based within region

Adult Classroom % STEM

The local economy relies on a workforce with high level skills and skills in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

The chart above shows the percentage of qualifications completed by adult learners that were in STEM related subjects. In 2023/24, 44% of our adults followed STEM programmes of study, slightly down on the previous year but the second highest over a five-year trend.