Local Skills Dashboard
The Local Skills dashboard provides published local data from a variety of sources in an easy to navigate format. To support local skills planning, the dashboard covers topics such as employment, qualifications, and education outcomes across England.
Data is available to view and download for various geographies, including: local authority (LA), local skills improvement plan (LSIP) area, local enterprise partnership (LEP), Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA), regional and national.
This dashboard is produced by the Unit for Future Skills, an analytical and research unit within the Department for Education. For more information on the Unit's aims and to access additional dashboards and data to help users further understand the labour market outcomes of training visit our webpage.
How to use this dashboard
Use the navigation bar on the left to select the tab you want to view.
Dashboard structure
- Overview - this tab provides a time series summary of employment, qualifications, and further education outcomes for the selected geographic area. Metrics are divided into two columns: Labour market and Skills. Labour market includes employment, online job adverts (experimental), and micro business count (0-9 employees). Skills covers education and training ahcievements, apprenticehsip achievements, highest qualification level, and Key Stage 5 positive destinations.
- Local skills - the Local Skills tab provides additional metrics and breakdowns for the selected geographic area.
- Data information and download - includes details on the sources of data used in this dashboard, and includes options to download some or all of the data.
- Further resources - provides information and links to additional data sources and cross-government tools for exploration of local labour market and education system.
- Accessibility - provides the Local Skills dashboard accessibility statement, compliance requirmeents, limitations and opportunity to feedback on accessibility of the dashboard.
- Support and feedback - provides links to the Unit for Future Skills and Department for Education Statistics Development inboxes for feedback and if you hve any questions about the dashboard or the data it contains. There is also a link to the GitHub repository if you wish to view the dashboard source code.
Local skills metrics
Where published figures are not available, area totals for LEP, LSIP or MCA are calculated by adding up the relevant local authorities - rounding errors may be present in these geographic areas where local authority total volumes are rounded and small volumes are suppressed.
The ONS have announced that, due to a coding error, their occupational data should be used with caution. For more information see this ONS article.
Local skills
The Local skills tab provides additional metrics and breakdowns for the selected geographic area. Using the various filters you can select the metric of interest, primary area from the England map, and multiple comparison areas alongside the default England comparator. The chart in the bottom left provides additional breakdowns specific to the metric, for example:
- Occupation and industry for employment volumes
- Size and industry for business count
- Learner age, level, provision and sector subject area for further education achievement rates
Employment
This group of metrics provide information on employment, self-employment and inactivity for the selected geographic area including data on employment rates over time, the share of employment by occupation, and the share of employment by industry
Jobs
This is an experimental metric of online job advert data, split by profession, for the selected geographic area, and the option to compare against another area in England at the same geographic level.
Businesses
This group of metrics provide data on the count of new and no longer trading enterprises and count of enterprises by employment size and industry for the selected geographic area, and the option to compare against another area in England at the same geographic level.
Skills
This group of metrics provide information on training activity for the selected geographic area including data on achievements for further education and skills training, with breakdowns for type of training over time and subject area for the latest time period.
Where the LEP, LSIP and MCA area totals are not published, area totals are calculated by aggregating the relevant local authorities (see Data sources tab for more information).
Destinations
These two metrics provide information on the destinations of young people after Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 education for the selected geographic area. It includes data on destinations, with breakdowns by level and key stage group.
Employment projections
Projected employment growth until 2035. Sector, industry, occupation and qualification projected growths are available. LA level data is not available for this dataset.
Update history
Latest update
25 March 2024 (1.3.9)
- Calculate the bar chart splits based on percentage of the whole area (previously percentage of subgroups with data present).
Previous updates
25 January 2024 (1.3.8)
- Update to latest APS employment data.
12 January 2024 (1.3.7)
- Update to latest ILR FE data data. This includes using some data now published at LEP and LSIP level.
- Update geographies to latest LEPs and LAs. This includes the closure of Black Country and Coventry & Warwickshire LEPs.
19 December 2023 (1.3.6)
- Update to latest business demographies data.
25 October 2023 (1.3.5)
- Update to latest KS4 and KS5 destinations data.
- Update to latest APS employment data.
19 October 2023 (1.3.4)
- Update to latest business count data.
12 September 2023 (1.3.3)
- Updated FE souces table.
- Updated map colours for clarity.
- Corrected the breakdown table comment text.
23 August 2023 (1.3.2)
- Updated Nomis employment rates, employment by industry and occupation data to the latest quarter.
- Started using SOC2020 data (replacing SOC2010 data) following the ONS correction to the data.
23 June 2023 (1.3.1)
Corrected the Worcestershire LEP and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP LA level map to include all areas.
16 June 2023 (1.3.0)
Started using the Nomis API to get NOMIS data. More information on the API here.
10 May 2023 (1.2.2)
- Updated Nomis employment rates and employment by industry data to the latest quarter.
- Updated ILR data with the latest revision (time period covered has stayed the same)
- Corrections to Dorset LSIP, Enterprise M3 LEP (including all of Surrey) LSIP, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP, and Worcestershire LEP. In the case of of the Enterprise M3 LEP (including all of Surrey) LSIP we have used a temporary fix where we compile the Skills Imperative and job advert data from other LEPs and LSIPs. There may therefore be some rounding issues with this LSIP. We are working on republishing that data with the correction. All other data shown in the dashboard is accurate.
- Correction to include data for some LAs which used discontinued LA naming.
- Code refresh and tidy.
21 Mar 2023 (1.2.1)
Added Skills Imperative 2035 data to the dashboard. This projects employment to 2035 with sector, industry, qualification and occupation splits.
28 Feb 2023 (1.1.1)
Dashboard redesign including:
- More granular breakdowns within geographic areas
- More area comparison options
- Bespoke download option including geographies and all published breakdowns
- Expanding on role as ‘local skills hub,’ hosting links to local skills sources and tools
9 Feb 2023 (0.4.3)
Updated destinations data with the February revision.
25 Jan 2023 (0.4.2)
Updated employment rates and employment by industry figures with Oct-Sep 2022 Annual Population Survey data.
12 Jan 2023 (0.4.1)
Included ONS-Textkernel online job adverts by profession data.
20 Dec 2022 (0.3.1)
Addition of three new data sources:
- Highest qualification by age and gender
- KS4 and KS5 destinations
- Enterprise count by employment size and industry
29 Nov 2022 (0.2.3)
Applied various improvements and updates, including:
- Included MCA areas.
- Employment data for LEPs, LSIPs and MCAs taken directly from the APS data (previously aggregated from LAs).
- Industry (SIC 2007) breakdown added to the Employment page.
- Characteristic and course breakdowns added to the Skills page.
- Updated ILR data to the final AY21/22 data.
25 Oct 2022 (0.2.2)
Applied fixes and included new datasets to the data sources page.
18 Oct 2022 (0.2.1)
Added option to view LSIP geographies, included new data download page, and updated dashboard styling.
16 Sep 2022 (0.1.2)
Applied fixes to improve background performance.
8 Aug 2022 (0.1.1)
Release initial prototype.
Future development
The dashboard will be kept up to date with the latest data shortly after it is released – check the data downloads page for dates when new data is published. If there are further data or dashboard features that you would find useful please contact us at ufs.contact@education.gov.uk.
Choose a LEP, LSIP or MCA
Change metrics are measured against the same period in the previous year. NB non-zero axes.
Labour market
People employed
Employment rate
Online job adverts (experimental)
Share of businesses with 0-9 employees (micro)
Year on year projected employment growth
Skills
Education and training achievements
Apprenticeship achievements
Key Stage 5 positive destination rate
People with a qualification at level 3 or above
Choose a LEP, LSIP or MCA
What are you interested in?
Data notes
Caveats:
Data sources
Data information
Annual Population Survey
The Annual Population Survey (APS) is a continuous household survey covering the UK. Topics included cover employment and unemployment, and education as well as housing, ethnicity and religion. This dashboard currently shows employment volumes and rates for each geographic area and by occupation (SOC2020) and industry (SIC 2007).
The ONS previously identified a coding error in the collection of SOC20, although this occupational data has been revised, it is advised to continue to use caution when interpreting these data particularly when looking at year-on-year changes as they may continue to be impacted by this coding issue as well as wider factors such as Covid-19, the UK's exit from the EU, and changes to the economy. For more information see this ONS article.
Each estimate from the Annual Population Survey carries a margin of error. These are available in the original data via NOMIS. Large margins of error are usually associated with groups with only a small number of respondents. Therefore, please take caution when interpreting data from small subgroups.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) supplies data for the APS. The ONS have highlighted increased uncertainty around the LFS estimates due to falling response rates. As a result, ONS have begun to offer alternative sources of employment data, but these are yet to be published in the form used in this dashboard. For more information see this article.
Qualification estimates for the Jan 2022-Dec2022 survey period are temporarily suspended. The coding of qualifications has been changed to reflect an updated qualification framework. ONS have temporarily suspended the publication of these series while they update their datasets to reflect this change. They will reinstate qualification outputs as soon as they have made this update.
ONS-Textkernel online job adverts
These data tables are based on experimental data based on Textkernel online job adverts. Textkernel data is web-scraped from job advert information from approximately 90,000 job boards and recruitment pages. The dashboard shows the monthly average number of live adverts from 2017 to 2022.
Advert volumes are shown split by profession. Textkernel have derived these professions from the job advert job title. These professions do not align directly to the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC2020). ONS are working on using SOC coding in future releases of this data.
Counts have been rounded to the nearest 5 and so totals may not add due to this rounding. The scope of online job adverts does not fully capture the scope of UK economic activity because of differing advertising methods, for example, casual work may be advertised by word-of-mouth or in shop windows as opposed to online.
As this data is experimental, there are some quality issues with the data. The ONS dataset has a full rundown on its cover sheet (link on downloads page). In brief:
- There are methodological changes throughout the time series (classification of profession and location) that may result in step-changes.
- When job location information is limited, the centroid of the region is used. This may lead to clustering of job counts.
There are errors in the published data for two areas: Dorset LSIP and Enterprise M3 LEP (including all of Surrey) LSIP. This is due to the incorrect mapping of LAs. In the dashboard we have corrected Dorset LSIP (by using the values for the Dorset LEP which has the same geography) so this is accurate in the dashboard but will not match the published data. For the Enterprise M3 LEP (including all of Surrey) LSIP we have estimated the value by looking the broader region and calculating the value of the Enterprise LSIP having removed other LSIPs in the region. This will come with some rounding issues. We are working to get the published data corrected.
Individualised Learner Record
The Individualised Learner Record (ILR) is an on-going collection of data about learners from training providers in the further education and skills sector in England. The dashboard shows further education and skills learner achievements over time split by apprenticeships, community learning, education and training.
DfE have published LEP level statistics for the past six years. However, since the geography of the LEP areas has changed over that period we do not have a consistent timeline. In the cases where LEP geography has not changed, we use the published statistics for all historic data points. Where the geography has changed we calculate the statistics by compiling the LA level data based on the latest mapping of LA to LEP for all years. Therefore the statistics shown will not always match the published statistics.
For LSIPs, only the most recent year's data is published. We therefore compile the statistics from LAs for all years except the most recent.
No MCA level data is published. However, most MCAs match an LSIP in their geography and so we can use the corresponding LSIP published values for the most recent year. Where there is no matching LSIP (West of England MCA and West Midlands MCA) we compile the statistics from the LAs.
Rounding errors may be present in these geographic areas as local authority total volumes are rounded and small volumes are suppressed. Per 100,000 figures for LEP/LSIP/MCA areas are based on subgroup populations calculated from the ILR dataset.
KS4 and KS5 destinations
Statistics compiled from the National Pupil Database (NPD) showing the number of young people going into education, employment or an apprenticeship in the academic year following completion of their qualification:
- Key Stage 4 (year 10 and 11 students) includes GCSEs and equivalent qualifications
- Key Stage 5 (students 16-18 years) includes A Levels, T levels and other 2-year vocational education programmes.
LEP, LSIP and MCA area totals are calculated by adding up the relevant local authorities, rounding errors may be present in these geographic areas as local authority total volumes are rounded and small volumes are suppressed. Some new local authorities due to boundary changes are not included due to these changes not being updated in data publications.
The dashboard currently shows the number of young people going into education and, employment or apprenticeship in the year following completion of their qualification by level, KS4 and KS5.
UK Business Counts (UBC)
The UK Business Counts (UBC) is a record of the number of enterprises from the Inter Departmental Business Register (IDBR). Topics included cover employment size band, detailed industry (5 digit SIC 2007) and legal status. The dashboard currently shows the count of enterprises by employment size and industry.
ONS Business Demography 2021
The business demography data comes from the IDBR and the main administrative sources for the IDBR are VAT trader and PAYE employer information passed to the ONS by HM Revenue & Customs under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 for VAT traders and the Finance Act 1969 for PAYE employers; details of incorporated businesses are also passed to ONS by Companies House.
The dashboard currently shows the number of new and no longer trading enterprises from 2016 to 2021. Business demography measures businesses that were active throughout the reference year. The reference period is December, and therefore the 2021 publication measures businesses that were active between December 2020 and December 2021.
LEP, LSIP and MCA area totals are calculated by adding up the relevant local authorities, rounding errors may be present in these geographic areas as local authority total volumes are rounded and small volumes are suppressed.
Skills Imperative 2035 employment projections
The occupation projections are based on ONS survey data that has been impacted by a coding error, so should be used with caution. For more information on the miscoding of occupation data see this ONS article.
Skills Imperative 2035 projects the future size and shape of the labour market by considering employment prospects by industry, occupation, qualification level. The dashboard shows the year on year growth of employment as well as the long term growth from 2023 to 2035. The employment volumes are available in the data downloads.
The projections are calculated from a number of different data sources, and as such precise margin errors have not been assigned. Care should be taken when using projections with small volumes of individuals (see Skills Imperative 2035 datasets for more detail).
There are errors in the published data for four areas: Dorset LSIP, Enterprise M3 LEP (including all of Surrey) LSIP, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP, and Worcestershire LEP. This is due to the incorrect mapping of LAs. In the dashboard we have corrected Dorset LSIP, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP, and Worcestershire LEP (by using the values for the Dorset LEP, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LSIP, and Worcestershire LSIP which have the same geographies) so these are accurate in the dashboard but will not match the published data. For the Enterprise M3 LEP (including all of Surrey) LSIP we have estimated the value by looking the broader region and calculating the value of the Enterprise LSIP having removed other LSIPs in the region. This will come with some rounding issues. We are working to get the published data corrected.
Data download
Use the filters to create a bespoke dataset. * fields are mandatory.
Geography
Data
Output
Data sources
Other data sources which cover Further Education and local skills.
Data tools
Publicly available online tools relevant to local skills.
Accessibility statement
This accessibility statement applies to the Local skills dashboard. This dashboard is run by the Department for Education. We want as many people as possible to be able to use this application, and have actively developed this dashboard with accessibilty in mind.
WCAG 2.1 compliance
We follow the reccomendations of the WCAG 2.1 requirements. This application has been checked using the Shinya11y tool , which did not detect accessibility issues. This dashboard also fully passes the accessibility audits checked by the Google Developer Lighthouse tool . This means that this dashboard:
- uses colours that have sufficient contrast
- allows you to zoom in up to 300% without the text spilling off the screen
- has its performance regularly monitored, with a team working on any feedback to improve accessibility for all users
Limitations
We recognise that there are still potential issues with accessibility in this dashboard, but we will continue to review updates to technology available to us to keep improving accessibility for all of our users. For example, these are known issues that we will continue to monitor and improve:
- Keyboard navigation through the interactive charts is currently limited, and some features are unavailable for keyboard only users
- Alternative text in interactive charts is limited to titles and could be more descriptive (although this data is available in csv format)
Feedback
If you have any feedback on how we could further improve the accessibility of this dashboard, please contact us at statistics.development@education.gov.uk
Give us feedback
This dashboard is a new service that we are developing. If you have any feedback or suggestions for improvements, please contact us at ufs.contact@education.gov.uk.
If you spot any errors or bugs while using this dashboard, please screenshot and email them to statistics.development@education.gov.uk.
Contact us
If you have questions about the dashboard or data within it, please contact us at ufs.contact@education.gov.uk.
See the source code
The source code for this dashboard is available in our GitHub repository.