Almanac Online Frequently Asked Questions
1 Definitions
1.1 What do we mean by skills?
1.2 What do qualifications levels mean?
2 Technical queries
2.1 When I tried to access the Almanac website, it asked for a user ID and password
2.2 I cannot access the workbooks in Excel format
2.3 How did you make the word clouds on the chapter pages?
2.4 How do I access the data?
3 Sources
3.1 Where does the UK Commission get this data?
3.2 How can I use this data?
3.3 How should I cite the Almanac Online in a paper or report?
3.4 Where can I go for further information?
4 Sector skills councils
4.1 What is a sector skills council?
4.2 How is an SSC footprint defined?
4.3 How do I find my company’s SSC?
For definitions of common terms used in the Almanac, please see the Glossary.
As noted in the UK Commission’s 2009 report Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK, there are several different meanings of ‘skills’, and different organisations define ‘skills’ in different ways. These disparate meanings pose problems for organisations like the UK Commission, whose role often involves quantifying skill levels. There is no one perfect measure of skills, but qualifications are the most widely available and measurable metric, and are generally seen as a good indicator of skill levels. For this reason, the UK Employment and Skills Almanac uses qualification level as its key indicator of skill levels.
For more information, please see the information at “What do we mean by skills”.
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With many qualifications in use, it is useful to categorise them into broadly equivalent levels. The Almanac uses a five-level system to classify qualifications. For information on this, please see the information at “What do qualifications levels equate to?”
For more information on the National Qualifications Framework, please see the Ofqual page “Explaining the National Qualifications Framework”.
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This was an issue when attempting to access the website using alternative browsers (e.g. Mozilla Firefox, Opera) in the first few days of the website going live. This issue has been resolved. Should a dialogue box ask for a User ID or password, please click Cancel to continue to your requested page. The Almanac Online team would appreciate you reporting any such bugs to us via the [email protected] email address.
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The workbooks are provided in Microsoft Excel 97-2003 compatible .xls format as this is the most widely used spreadsheet program. We regret that we cannot provide the workbooks in any other format. Microsoft provides a free Excel viewer which allows viewing and printing of Excel workbooks. Other free software and web services are available which can open Excel format files. Please note that the UK Commission cannot be held responsible for your use of unaffiliated software or web services.
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The animated word clouds were a collaboration between the UK Commission’s website manager and the design team who worked on the printed version of the Almanac. They were based on originals made at Wordle.
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Data are presented in five broad themes: Context; Productivity; Employment; Skills; and Inequality. Within these themes, data are broken into multiple sub-themes. Within sub-themes, data are presented in Excel workbooks. These workbooks are presented in a consistent format, with hyperlinks throughout and between the books to aid navigation.
For more information on using the Almanac Online, please see the Using the Almanac page.
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The UK Commission works with its contractor to compile, collate, cut, and format data from a range of official statistics, data sources, and surveys. Some surveys, such as the Labour Force Survey, are run by the Office for National Statistics. Others, such as the National Employer Skills Survey, are run by the UK Commission itself.
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All data published in the Almanac Online are in the public domain and can be downloaded, copied, transferred and worked with as you wish. All we ask is that, if used in any publication, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills and the UK Employment and Skills Almanac Online should be properly cited as a source.
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This will depend on your referencing style; refer your organisation’s style guide, report template, or librarian. The author and publisher is the UK Commission for Employment and Skills; the website title is the UK Employment and Skills Almanac Online; the publishing date is December 2010; the place of publishing is Wath-upon-Dearne, Yorkshire. In case of updates to data, the date of update is stated on the contents page of each workbook.
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3.4 Where can I go for further information?
The original source of any data is always cited and linked to in Metadata, the final tab of each workbook. Following these links provides a useful resource for further information.
Other sources of labour market and economic information include:
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Nomisweb (for online access to the Labour Force Survey, the Census online, the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, among others)
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For rich, detailed labour market information on a specific sector, we recommend visiting the homepage of the sector skills council responsible. For a list of all 25 SSCs, please see the SSC page of the UK Commission website.
For analysis, evidence reports, and intelligence, please see the main UK Commission publications page.
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Sector skills councils (SSCs) are independent, employer-led, UK–wide organisations designed to build a skills system that is driven by employer demand. SSCs and the UK Commission are committed to working in partnership across the four nations to create the conditions for increased employer investment in skills which will drive enterprise and create jobs and sustainable economic growth. They share a belief that the sectoral approach is the most effective way to do this. There are currently 22 SSCs covering over 90% of the economy.
The network of licensed Sector Skills Councils provides the employer leadership to address skills needs within and across sectors. The SSC licence is the unique identifier which signals to employers and government that they are a focal point for raising skills in sectors to drive enterprise, jobs and growth.
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- To make and win the economic argument for greater investment in skills
- To enhance the value and accessibility of vocational training especially apprenticeships
- To galvanise industries and sectors to improve the skills and productivity of their workforces
- To work with sectors to ensure the creation of more and better jobs, maximising opportunities for unemployed people
SSCs and the UKCES will take distinctive and complementary roles and responsibilities in delivering on these priorities.
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4.2 How is an SSC footprint defined?
SSCs use the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system to define specific areas of the economy they cover (for more information on SIC, please see the Glossary).
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