Formative evaluation of the Employability Skills Pilot programme

This report presents the findings of a formative evaluation of the Employability Skills Pilot (ESP) programme, a Welsh Government programme to support unemployed adults to get a job and stay in work. Arad Research was commissioned by the Welsh Government to undertake an independent evaluation of the design and initial implementation of the programme. This report presents findings from the evaluation fieldwork undertaken between October 2016 and January 2017. The aims of the ESP are to support unemployed adults into sustained employment by improving their employability skills. It specifically targets unemployed adults who are within six months of reaching the labour market. The programme is delivered by four main training providers who offer work preparation training, essential skills if required1 , and a work placement or employer specific training to those referred to them by Jobcentre Plus (JCP) and others. The aim of this evaluation is to provide a formative assessment of the design and initial implementation of the ESP in order to inform the future development of the programme. The qualitative evidence used to inform the evaluation findings were gathered from deskbased research; interviews with the four main training providers and four subcontractors; interviews with Welsh Government, JCP and Careers Wales; interviews with 11 participating individuals and three employers.