CHAPTER FIVE TYPES OF COURSES
5.1 This chapter looks at the types of course undertaken by learners, in terms of the subject, learning provider and qualifications. It is important to bear in mind the timing of the survey: most of the courses described in this chapter were taken in 2005 and 2006. As noted in Chapter, the range and number of providers, courses and venues increased between 2005 and 2007.
Course subjects
5.2 The most common subject of ILA funded courses was information or communication technologies ( ICT). The ILA100 offer was originally restricted to ICT courses only, and other subjects were only included from August 2006. As a result, at wave 1 (November-December 2006), the vast majority of ILA100 courses were in ICT (78%), this number falling to 48% by wave 2. Around half of ILA200 learners booked or undertook courses in ICT (48% at wave 1, 44% at wave 2).
5.3 Other ILA200 courses included health and welfare; social sciences, business and law; and humanities, language and art. In ILA100, humanities, language and art was the only subject area (other than ICT) that was taken by sizeable numbers of learners. Details are shown in Charts 5.1 and 5.2. Note that the number of respondents covered at wave 2 is very small (particularly for ILA100), because of the small number of respondents who had booked or started a new course between the two waves; figures should therefore be treated with caution.
Chart 5.1: Subject of courses undertaken or booked: ILA200 funded
Base: All successful applicants on ILA200 who had undertaken or booked a course using ILA funding (wave 1 = 587, wave 2 = 76)
Chart 5.2: Subject of courses undertaken or booked: ILA100 funded
Base: All successful applicants on ILA100 who had undertaken or booked a course using ILA funding (wave 1 = 541, wave 2 = 43)
5.4 ICT courses had an older age profile. At wave 1, 91% of those aged over 50 studied ICT in their most recent course on ILA100 (compared with 72% 50 or under), and on ILA200 this applied to 59% of those aged over 40 (compared with 39% 40 or under). On ILA200, courses in humanities, language and art also had an older age profile (24% of those aged 60 or over studied this). By contrast, health and welfare tended to be studied by younger people on ILA200 (21% aged 30 or under compared with 11% aged over 30).
5.5 The one difference by gender was that on ILA200 men were more likely than women to study engineering (15% compared with 2%).
5.6 On both offers, courses taken at a local learning centre were most likely to be in ICT (70% for ILA200 and 93% for ILA100), while colleges included a relatively high proportion of courses in humanities, language and art (16% for ILA200 and 13% for ILA100) and (in the case of ILA200) health and welfare (18%). On ILA200, a relatively high proportion of distance learning courses were in social sciences, business and law (18%).
5.7 Where learners had taken courses that were not covered by ILA funding, they were less likely to be in ICT, and more likely to be in health and welfare, and teacher training and education. This pattern applied to both offers, with the proportion of non ILA funded courses in health and welfare particularly high amongst ILA200 participants (36%).
Type of learning provider
5.8 In both offers, around half of ILA funded courses were based at a college, while around one in four learners used a local learning centre. Between the two waves of the survey, both offers saw an increase in the number of courses provided by universities (up from 3% to 12% in ILA200 and from 2% to 13% in ILA100), reflecting the increased involvement of universities in ILA over time. Details are shown in Charts 5.3 and 5.4. Note that the number of respondents covered at wave 2 is very small (particularly for ILA100), because of the small number of respondents who had booked or started a new course between the two waves; figures should therefore be treated with caution.
5.9 The proportions mentioning a private provider are very small. This is because respondents who used a private provider are likely to have described it under one of the other categories ( e.g. college).
Chart 5.3: Learning provider used for courses undertaken or booked: ILA200 funded
Base: All successful applicants on ILA200 who had undertaken or booked a course using ILA funding (wave 1 = 587, wave 2 = 76)
Chart 5.4: Learning provider used for courses undertaken or booked: ILA100 funded
Base: All successful applicants on ILA100 who had undertaken or booked a course using ILA funding (wave 1 = 541, wave 2 = 43)
5.10 On ILA200, women were more likely than men to attend a course at a college (48% compared with 35%), while the opposite was true of block study/short courses (3% of women compared with 11% of men). The only differences for ILA100 were by age: those aged 40 or below were more likely than older learners to attend a course at a college (62% compared with 49%), and less likely to go to a local learning centre (14% compared with 27% of over 40s).
5.11 Non ILA funded courses were less likely to be at a college, and more likely to be distance learning or at a university (in the case of ILA200 learners) or in the workplace ( ILA100 learners). It is not surprising that non- ILA funded courses take place at a greater range of locations than ILA-funded courses.
Qualifications
5.12 As shown in Chart 5.5, the majority of respondents said that the course they had undertaken or booked had led or would lead to a qualification (this despite the fact that qualifications are not a requirement for ILA200 funding). There was no difference between those using ILA funding for their course and those not using ILA funding.
Chart 5.5: Whether course led to a qualification
Base: All successful applicants who had undertaken or booked an ILA funded course ( ILA200 wave 1 = 587, wave 2 = 142; ILA100 wave 1 = 541, wave 2 = 125)
5.13 Further analysis of wave 1 findings showed that, on ILA200, those aged 50 or below were more likely to be doing a course leading to a qualification (85% compared with 70% of those aged over 50). On ILA100, this variation was apparent when comparing learners aged 40 or below with those aged over 40 (88% compared with 77%). There was also a gender difference on ILA100, with women more likely than men to study for a qualification (84% compared with 77%).
5.14 Where courses included a qualification, the vast majority (88% in ILA200 and 89% in ILA100) said that the qualification was important to them.
5.15 The wave 2 interviews examined the types of qualification attached to courses undertaken or booked since wave 1. On ILA200, the most common qualifications were "vocational" qualifications (22%), HNC/ HNDs (18%), intermediate qualifications (12%) or Advanced Highers (11%). On ILA100, the most frequently mentioned qualifications were intermediate qualifications (25%), Highers (25%) and "vocational" qualifications (14%). Respondents mentioning "vocational" qualifications did not provide any further details (all qualifications were described in respondents' own words); survey respondents often have difficulty giving precise details of qualifications.
Future courses
5.16 When respondents were asked at the wave 2 interview about courses they were planning to do in the next 12 months, the profile of these courses was very similar to those already undertaken as part of ILA. As with courses already undertaken, ICT was mentioned more frequently by those on ILA100 than ILA200 (40% compared with 29%), with health and welfare more common among those on ILA200 (20% compared with 6% on ILA100).
5.17 Gaining a qualification from future learning was more likely to be seen as important by those on ILA200 than those on ILA100 (84% compared with 70%).