Job-Related Training in Scotland: January to December 2022

About this publication

This publication contains Scottish labour market statistics for January to December 2022. Estimates presented are for those in employment who participated in job-related training and from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS).

The APS combines the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the English, Welsh and Scottish LFS boosts. This provides a larger annual sample of households in Scotland and the United Kingdom. Compared to the quarterly LFS, the annual APS provides more statistically robust estimates. This is especially true for local areas and smaller populations such as breakdowns by protected characteristics. The APS is the National Statistics source for labour market indicators by region and smaller groups of the population.

Important Note

Since August 2021, APS responses for periods April 2019 to March 2020 and onwards use weights derived from new populations. The new populations incorporate growth rates from HM Revenue and Customs Real Time Information (RTI). This was to allow for the different trends during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The new weightings gave improved estimates for both rates and levels.

In July and September 2022, APS responses for the periods outlined above were reweighted again using updated HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Real Time Information (RTI) data. The ONS have written an article which provides further information on the reweighting exercise.

The UK and Scottish Governments introduced policies in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Some of these policies were still in place during the periods of the 2021 and 2022 APS estimates. The impact of these policies are likely to be seen in the estimates for these years.

Between April 2020 and the end of September 2021 some employees were furloughed. These employees were classed as employed, but temporarily away from work. This definition is consistent with labour market definitions as outlined by ONS.

The population totals used for the 2021 and 2022 APS estimates use projected growth rates from real-time information (RTI) data for UK, EU and non-EU populations based on 2021 patterns. The total population used for the APS therefore does not take into account any changes in migration, birth rates, death rates, and so on since June 2021, so levels estimates may be under or over estimating the true values and should be used with caution. Estimates of rates will, however, be robust.

ONS carried out the original collection and analysis of the Annual Population Survey data. ONS bear no responsibility for their further analysis and interpretation.

Labour Market Transformation

ONS are transforming the LFS. They have published a Labour market transformation article providing an update on the transformation of labour market statistics.

ONS also welcome any feedback on this latest update and their plans. Please email them at labour.market.transformation@ons.gov.uk to tell them what you think.

Job-related training Definition

Estimates for job-related training are presented using self-reported information to questions on the ONS Annual Population Survey.

Job-related training is a combination of work and preparing for work. It can include the number of people in employment who have reported participating in on-the-job training, training away from the job and pre-employment training.

In this publication, job-related training refers to the proportion of people in employment aged 16 to 64 who reported they had participated in job-related training in the last three months. This excludes full-time students.