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CHAPTER TWO CHARACTERISTICS OF APPLICANTS

2.1 This chapter examines the characteristics of the successful ILA applicants interviewed in the survey, as well as those of unconverted enquirers; specifically, it examines demographic characteristics, educational background and qualifications. This chapter also looks at general attitudes to learning.

Demographic characteristics

2.2 Tables 2.1 and 2.2 compare those on the ILA200 and ILA100 offers with the adult population in Scotland, in terms of gender and age.

Table 2.1 Gender comparison

Base: ILA200 - All wave 1 respondents (successful applicants): 1,000; ILA100 - All wave 1 respondents (successful applicants): 1,000; Adults in Scotland from 2001 Census data

Table 2.2 Age comparison

Base: ILA200 - All wave 1 respondents (successful applicants): 1,000; ILA100 - All wave 1 respondents (successful applicants): 1,000; Adults in Scotland from 2001 Census data

2.3 While the gender profile of ILA100 respondents was similar to the adult population in Scotland, those on ILA200 were more likely to be female.

2.4 ILA200 had a younger age profile than the Scottish population, whereas those on ILA100 were more concentrated between the ages of 31 and 60.

2.5 On both ILA100 and ILA200, a greater proportion of older people (aged over 60) were male, compared with successful applicants as a whole: on ILA100, 61% of those aged over 60 were male, as were 41% of over 60s on ILA200.

2.6 Unconverted enquirers tended to be younger than successful applicants: 38% of those enquiring about ILA200 were aged 18-30 (compared with 26% of successful applicants for ILA200), while 22% enquiring about ILA100 were in this age group (compared with 13% of successful applicants for ILA100). The gender profile of unconverted enquirers was the same as for successful applicants in the case of ILA100, but there were more men in the sample of unconverted enquirers for ILA200 compared with the ILA200 successful applicants (36% compared with 29%).

2.7 Table 2.3 compares the social grade profile of successful applicants with known characteristics from BMRB's large scale TGI (Target Group Index) survey (16,000 interviews in Scotland per year). TGI is a postal survey which follows up on a sample of BMRB's general public Omnibus survey, and is representative of the adult population. The TGI questionnaire covers a range of issues relating to the public's characteristics, behaviour and attitudes, which can be used (as here) for comparative purposes.

Table 2.3 Social grade comparison

Base: ILA200 - All wave 1 respondents (successful applicants): 1,000; ILA100 - All wave 1 respondents (successful applicants): 1,000; Adults in Scotland from BMRB's TGI data

2.8 The profile of those on ILA200 was similar to the Scottish population, despite the eligibility criteria which limited the offer to people on low incomes and/or receiving state benefits. This suggests that within the eligible population, ILA200 may have attracted fewer people in the lower social grades, and may therefore have been less successful than intended in widening learning participation amongst more deprived groups of the population.

2.9 ILA100 contained more people in the B and C1 social grades and fewer in the D and E grades, compared with ILA200 and with the population as a whole. This is not surprising, given that people on ILA100 will have been ineligible for ILA200 by virtue of having a higher income.

2.10 More detailed analysis shows that, in ILA200, older people (over 50) were more likely to be in the AB social grades than younger people (22% compared with 17% overall), while the DE social grades had a stronger male profile than higher social grades (33% of men were DEs compared with 23% of women). In ILA100, C2s had a relatively young age profile (27% of 18-30s were C2s), while those in E social grade were mostly retired. Women were more likely than men to be in the AB social grade (37% compared with 25%).

2.11 Table 2.4 shows the working status of successful applicants, again in comparison with TGI data.

Table 2.4 Working status comparison

Base: ILA200 - All wave 1 respondents (successful applicants): 1,000; ILA100 - All wave 1 respondents (successful applicants): 1,000; Adults in Scotland from BMRB's TGI data

2.12 Compared with the general population, those on ILA200 and ILA100 were both more likely to be in work and less likely to be retired. The proportion in work was considerably higher among those on ILA100 than those on ILA200, and most on ILA100 were working full-time.

2.13 On both offers, women were more likely than men to be in part-time work (35% compared with 13% in ILA200, and 12% compared with 3% in ILA100) and, amongst those in work, the prevalence of part-time work increased with age: on ILA100, those aged over 50 were more likely than those aged 50 or below to be in part-time work (13% compared with 8%), while on ILA200, the difference was that those aged 30 or below were more likely to be working full-time (74% were working full-time compared with 59% overall).

Educational background

2.14 The ILA scheme aimed to introduce new learners (those who had not done any learning since leaving school) to adult learning, and to provide an opportunity for those who have not recently participated in learning to do so. For the purposes of the survey, the latter group (referred to as "returners") are defined as those who have not done any learning in the last three years). Chart 2.1 shows the proportions in these two groups for the two offers.

Chart 2.1 Proportion of new learners and returners in the ILA scheme

Base: All successful applicants at wave 1 ( ILA200: 1,000, ILA100: 1,000)

2.15 Around one in six successful applicants had not undertaken any learning since leaving school (16% for ILA200 and 14% for ILA100) and, in addition, around one in four had not studied in the previous three years - this was higher for ILA200 (27%) than ILA100 (21%).

2.16 In ILA200, one in five respondents (20%) were undertaking other learning when they applied for ILA funding, and the proportion was similar for ILA100 (17%).

2.17 Those in lower social grades were more likely than those in higher social grades to be "new learners": in ILA100, 24% of C2s and 26% of Ds were new learners, while the same applied to 19% of C2s and 28% of Ds on ILA200. On ILA200, men were more likely than women to be "returners" (26% compared with 19%); however, this is balanced to some extent by a lower proportion of new learners (14% of men compared with 17% of women). Those aged 31-40 were more likely to be returners on ILA200 (27%). There were no differences by age or gender on ILA100.

2.18 Unconverted enquirers had generally studied less recently than successful applicants: those enquiring about ILA200 were less likely to have studied in the previous three years than ILA200 successful applicants, while those enquiring about ILA100 were less likely to have done any studying since school than ILA100 successful applicants.

2.19 The wave 1 interview also asked respondents for the highest qualification that they had attained ²². Results are shown in chart 2.2, which is limited to answers given by 5% or more on either offer. As with any survey questions about qualifications, findings are limited by respondents' ability to describe the type of qualification accurately (for example some respondents said they had a "vocational qualification, but were unable to specify the exact type of qualification or its relation to the S/ NVQ framework.

Chart 2.2 Highest level of qualification attained

Base: All successful applicants at wave 1 ( ILA200: 1,000, ILA100: 1,000)

2.20 As might be expected, those on ILA100 were more likely than people on ILA200 to have a degree or postgraduate qualification (equivalent to SCQF level 9 or above) - 32% compared with 18%. A comparison with the Scottish working-age population ²³ shows that those on ILA200 had similar levels of qualifications to the population as a whole. In the working-age population, 16% are qualified to degree level/ SCQF level 9 or above (compared with 18% on ILA200), while 14% are qualified to SCQF level 8 (equivalent to the 19% on ILA200 who said they had a College HNC or HND). As noted above in the analysis of social grade, this means that within the target group for ILA200 (those on state benefits or low incomes), more deprived groups of the population (including those with lower qualifications) may have been under-represented. These figures on the Scottish working-age population also confirm that those on ILA100 were more highly qualified than the population as a whole.

2.21 On ILA100, women and younger people were more likely to have obtained a university degree or postgraduate qualification (40% of women compared with 24% of men, and 41% of 18-30 year olds compared with 31% of those aged over 30). On ILA200 too, younger people were more likely to have degree level qualifications (20% of 18-30 year olds); the only difference by gender was that women were more likely than men to have a Higher or A level as their highest qualification (14% compared with 6%).

2.22 The unconverted enquirers were similar to successful applicants in terms of their highest qualification, with the exception that those enquiring about ILA100 were less likely to be qualified to degree level or above than ILA100 successful applicants.

General attitudes towards learning

2.23 The wave 1 interview also examined general attitudes towards learning, and found that those on both offers expressed very positive attitudes; for example 99% of respondents in each offer agreed that "it is important to learn new things", and the same proportion agreed that learning about new things is enjoyable". Details are shown in Table 2.5.

2.24 The unconverted enquirers were also positive in their general attitudes towards learning, although slightly less positive than successful applicants on some items: they were less likely to agree strongly than "learning new things is enjoyable" and (in the case of ILA200) more likely to agree that "getting a qualification takes too much effort".

Table 2.5 Agreement with statements about learning

Base: All wave 1 respondents ( ILA200 successful applicants: 1,000; ILA100 successful applicants: 1,000; ILA200 unconverted enquirers: 746; ILA100 unconverted enquirers: 250)

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