User Engagement

General Feedback

The Statistical First Release (SFR) is an evolving product, and we welcome feedback. If you have comments or feedback on the SFR, these can be sent to: servicedesk@thedataservice.org.uk, or alternatively you can call 0870 267 0001. If you have a statistical question around the content or presentation of National Statistics in the Release, please contact Jessie Evans, at Jessie.Evans@bis.gsi.gov.uk

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SFR Review

This Statistical First Release (SFR) covers post-16 education and skills, showing learner participation, outcomes and the level of highest qualification held. Its aim is to present the performance of the further education system, and to hold the Government to account over delivery of policy. This is a Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Data Service Statistical First Release.  The SFR is a National Statistics publication. For more information on National Statistics, please visit here.

An external review of the format, content and timing of post-16 learning SFRs was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in September 2007. The review report can be found here and the Action Plan in response to the review can be found here. A key recommendation of the review was to move to publishing an SFR once every quarter, covering the range of government-funded learning.

Having been through an annual cycle of quarterly publications, we have conducted a small review of the timing and presentation of the Release. This is to ensure that the timing of the SFR is best aligned with when further education data becomes available, and to ensure that the presentation of statistics is relevant to any new policies introduced.

A summary of the key findings of this review can be found here. As a result of the review, the next SFR in this series will be published in January. For more information on this forthcoming release click here.

User Engagement and the Code of Practice

We encourage feedback from users, and aim to be transparent about how we manage any requests for changes to the format or scope of the SFR. The attached document shows how we comply with the User Engagement practices listed in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Any decisions made on changing the content of the SFR lie with the Head of Profession for Statistics within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Requests for change are managed on a quarterly basis, and reviewed independently by Government Statistical Service staff.

Other ad-hoc user groups are also held to discuss changes to data and methodologies as required. A recent example of this was the user group that met to discuss changes to the methodology used to calculate estimates of adult educational attainment using the Labour Force Survey. More information on this work can be found here.

The Data Service Steering Group is a scrutiny group that oversees the activities of the Data Service in relation to its role of providing the further education data collection service and in making data available from this source.

There is also an Education & Theme Working Group that is made up of Government Statisticians. This Group discusses and co-ordinates how data is presented relating to education and skills.

Requests for Data

The SFR and accompanying supplementary tables provide a wide range of data on Further Education and Skills. If you cannot find the information you need, or have suggestions on how we could improve the information we publish, please contact the Data Service Service desk, with details of your request if relevant, at: servicedesk@thedataservice.org.uk; or alternatively, you can call 0870 267 0001.

User Consultation on UK Statistical Volume
 
The Department for Education have launched a user consultation for their publication: 'Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom'. This publication provides statistics relating to education and training in the UK and includes Chapters relating to schools, post-compulsory education & training and qualifications & destinations, with annexes containing figures on education expenditure and UK population numbers. The latest version of the publication was published on the 26th November 2009, and can be found at: http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000891/index.shtml

If you would like to take part in this user consultation, please click here to complete an online survey.

User Consultation on UK Statistical Volume
 
The Department for Education have launched a user consultation for their publication: 'Education and Training Statistics for the United Kingdom'. This publication provides statistics relating to education and training in the UK and includes Chapters relating to schools, post-compulsory education & training and qualifications & destinations, with annexes containing figures on education expenditure and UK population numbers. The latest version of the publication was published on the 26th November 2009, and can be found at: http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000891/index.shtml

If you would like to take part in this user consultation, please click here to complete an online survey.