Northern Ireland
Access to training
Key points
- People with no academic qualifications are unlikely to receive training once at work - only 10% do so. By contrast, those with higher education qualifications are far more likely to get training - 30% of people with degrees get training at work.
- There is a marked variation in training opportunities available to different professions: essentially, those jobs that require qualifications to enter are then the ones that are most likely to provide in-work training. So, for example, professionals are more than three times as likely to receive in-work training as those working as plant or machine operatives (35% compared to 10%).
- Access to training differs significantly by industry, with the best access being in the public sector.
Graph 1: By level of qualification
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Graph 2: By occupation
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Graph 3: By industry
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Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the proportion of employees who have received some job-related training in the last three months according to the level of the employees' highest qualification. Equivalence scales have been used to translate vocational qualifications into their academic equivalents.
The second graph shows how the proportion of employees who have received some job-related training in the last three months varies by occupation group. Note that the major occupations under the title 'personal service' are related to healthcare and childcare services. Those under 'elementary' relate to routine occupations.
The third graph shows how the proportion of employees who have received some job-related training in the last three months varies by broad industry group.
The data source for all the graphs is the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the data is the average for the latest three years. The training includes both that paid for by employers and by employees themselves.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: medium. The LFS is a well-established, quarterly government survey, designed to be representative of the population as a whole. But a single, undifferentiated notion of 'training,' without reference to its length or nature, lessens the value of the indicator.