• Skills for Life core curriculum training programmes 2001/03: characteristics of teacher participants - Report
• Skills for Life core curriculum training programmes 2001-03: characteristics of teacher participants – Summary

This research report gives a picture of teachers who took part in the Skills for Life core curriculum training for literacy, numeracy and ESOL teachers from 2001–03.

The training programmes included were:

• Literacy core curriculum training.
• Numeracy core curriculum training.
• ESOL core curriculum training.
• Pre-Entry Curriculum Framework training.
• Access for All Training.

The researchers used as their data, information on the teachers who participated in the programmes during this period. The data had some limitations. For example, not all literacy, numeracy and ESOL teachers had access to the programmes, particularly those who were very part-time or who were working in the community and voluntary sectors. Nevertheless the numbers participating in the training made the findings interesting.

The report details the sources of the data, outlines the limitations of the study and then analyses statistics of teachers by ethnicity, gender, age, workplace, experience and qualifications.

It notes that NRDC has a major longitudinal study of Skills for Life teachers and trainers underway which should give a far more detailed picture.

• More than 80 per cent of literacy, numeracy and ESOL teachers are female.
• More than half of literacy and numeracy teachers are aged over 46.
• 75 per cent of ESOL teachers, and over 90 percent of literacy and numeracy teachers are white.
• 79 per cent of teachers have a qualification of some sort at Level 4 or above. 90 per cent at Level 3 or above.
• 53 per cent have a full teaching qualification, such as Cert Ed/PGCE. However, over 80 per cent have other specialist teaching qualifications beyond an introductory teaching certificate.
• 7 per cent have only an introductory teaching certificate in the form of the City and Guilds 9281, and no other teaching qualifications.
• 5 per cent have no teaching qualifications at all.