Value of skills
Making the business case for investing in skills starts with identifying the value of skills.
This was the focus of a project we undertook between 2008 and 2010. This project culminated in the publication of 2 reports.
- The Value of Skills research report (PDF, 4.0 Mb) – this Evidence Review shows that prosperity depends on employment and productivity growth and that skills are an essential part of achieving higher levels of both.
Skills are of economic value to individuals as workers; to the organisations that employ them; and to the country as a whole through greater productivity and competitiveness. There are also considerable social benefits that accrue to individuals and communities which aid the development of a more equitable and better functioning society.
The Value of Skills helps to make ‘the business case’ for individuals, employers and governments to invest in skills and training.
- The Economic Value of Intermediate Vocational Qualifications report (PDF, 1.4 Mb) examined the financial benefit to individuals of acquiring vocational qualifications at NQF Levels 2 and 3 as their highest qualification.
It reviews the available evidence on the economic value of intermediate vocational qualifications, looking at the private wage returns (and briefly the improved likelihood of being in employment) associated with such qualifications.
The question that the review aimed to answer was: ‘what is the economic value of acquiring intermediate vocational qualifications to a particular individual, on average? That is, by how much will his or her wages increase following the acquisition of such a qualification?’
This value could differ, according to whether the new qualification acquired is the individual’s new highest qualification and so takes them to a higher level of attainment than they had previously reached, or whether the individual already held qualifications at the same level or even at a higher level than the new qualification acquired. The review will therefore distinguish between such situations. This is particularly important when considering vocational qualifications, since they can often be acquired at a level at or below individuals’ existing highest academic qualification.
