The methodology should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality, as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data.
Coverage
The Further Education Workforce in England publication provides the latest information at national and regional level on the number and characteristics of staff that work in further education providers in England.
The publication and it's underlying data files provide information on:
Workforce numbers and characteristics - there are various breakdowns of these; post held, further education provider type, gender, age, disability and ethnicity.
Workforce pay - the statistics provide an age, gender and provider type breakdown of annual salary for full time staff on permanent and fixed term contracts. Where appropriate, average mean and median salaries are provided for comparison purposes.
Workforce contracts and working patterns - there are various breakdowns of these; post held, further education provider type, contract type, and whether they work full/part-time.
Subjects taught - the number of teachers teaching each subject in each provider type.
Teacher vacancies - the number and proportion of vacancies for each role type. Vacancies are recorded if they occurred at any point in the academic year.
Governor characteristics - the characteristics of governors by various breakdowns: age, ethnicity, years of service.
In most cases, underlying data files include national and regional information for schools in England.
File formats and conventions
Symbols used in the underlying data files are:
x = not available - information has not been collected or there are no estimates available at this level of aggregation.
z = not applicable - statistic cannot be produced. For example where a denominator is not available to produce a percentage.
c = confidential - where presentation of data would disclose confidential information, for example being able to identify details about a single respondent, this data must be suppressed and given this marker to maintain confidentiality clauses.
u = low reliability - values of the potentially low quality, for example where values of statistical significance have been calculated.
Data files
All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.
Data files
All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.
Characteristics of further education workforce
Filename
characteristics_further_education_workforce.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2023/24
Content
Characteristics of the further education workforce. There are breakdowns for gender, ethnicity, disability status and age.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
age_group
Age group
contract_type
Contract type
disability_status
Disability status
ethnicity_minor
Ethnicity minor - Select the particular ethnicity you are interested in.
gender
Gender
main_role_type
Type of staff member role
number_staff
Number of staff
percentage_of_staff_within_category
Percent of staff within category
provider_sub_type
Sub group of private sector public funded or other public funded
provider_type
Name of provider type
staff_count_type
Staff count type
Footnotes
This release shows data for further education providers in England. The location that a provider is based in has been determined from the main site/head office recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) database in the Department for Education. This records the main site only and may not cover all locations or regions that a provider operates.
All percentages and rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. Where figures have rounded to 0.0%, this may not necessarily indicate zero staff present for this measure.
National figures have been scaled to account for providers who did not respond to the Further Education Workforce Data Collection. Therefore national figures are an estimate. Regional figures have not been scaled and are based on responding providers only.
Management roles may include some teaching staff with additional responsibilities, or some managers of staff in support or admin roles. The types or number of managers may differ across provider types.
Independent Training Provider (ITP), Local Authority with an Education Remit, School Based Providers and Special Post-16 Institutions are a subgroup of Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded. Some providers within Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded do not fit into either of these four sub groups.
Contract and working patterns of the further education workforce
Filename
contract_info_of_further_education_workforce.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2023/24
Content
Contract and working patterns of further education staff, by provider type. There are breakdowns for contract types and working pattern (e.g. full time or part time).
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
contract_type
Contract type
gender
Gender
main_role_type
Type of staff member role
number_staff
Number of staff
percentage_of_staff_within_category
Percent of staff within category
provider_sub_type
Sub group of private sector public funded or other public funded
provider_type
Name of provider type
staff_count_type
Staff count type
working_pattern
Working pattern
Footnotes
This release shows data for further education providers in England. The location that a provider is based in has been determined from the main site/head office recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) database in the Department for Education. This records the main site only and may not cover all locations or regions that a provider operates.
All percentages and rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. Where figures have rounded to 0.0%, this may not necessarily indicate zero staff present for this measure.
National figures have been scaled to account for providers who did not respond to the Further Education Workforce Data Collection. Therefore national figures are an estimate. Regional figures have not been scaled and are based on responding providers only.
Management roles may include some teaching staff with additional responsibilities, or some managers of staff in support or admin roles. The types or number of managers may differ across provider types.
Working patterns and contract types are presented for a staff member's main contract only.
Independent Training Provider (ITP), Local Authority with an Education Remit, School Based Providers and Special Post-16 Institutions are a subgroup of Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded. Some providers within Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded do not fit into either of these four sub groups.
Characteristics of college governors. There are breakdowns for gender, ethnicity, disability status and age
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
age_group
Age group
disability_status
Disability status
ethnicity_major
Ethnicity major
ethnicity_minor
Ethnicity minor
gender
Gender
number_governors_in_responding_colleges
Number of governors (responding colleges only)
percentage_of_governors_within_category
Percent of governors within category
provider_type
Name of provider type
type_of_governor
Type of governors on the board
years_spent_in_role
Years governors have spend in role since appointed
Footnotes
This release shows data for further education providers in England. The location that a provider is based in has been determined from the main site/head office recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) database in the Department for Education. This records the main site only and may not cover all locations or regions that a provider operates.
All percentages and rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. Where figures have rounded to 0.0%, this may not necessarily indicate zero staff present for this measure.
An independent governor is a governor appointed from outside the college.
Number of unfilled governor vacancies by the end of the academic year (responding providers only)
number_governors_in_responding_colleges
Number of governors (responding colleges only)
provider_type
Name of provider type
unfilled_governor_vacancy_rate
Unfilled governor vacancy rate per 100
Footnotes
All percentages and rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. Where figures have rounded to 0.0%, this may not necessarily indicate zero staff present for this measure.
Mean and median pay of further education staff, by provider type. There are breakdowns for age, gender and roles.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
age_group
Age group
contract_type
Contract type (permanent and fixed term only)
gender
Gender
main_role_type
Type of staff member role
main_subject_taught
Main subject taught
mean_pay
Mean annual salary (permanent and fixed term staff only)
median_pay
Median annual salary (permanent and fixed term staff only)
number_staff_in_group
Number of staff in sample used to determine mean or median pay
provider_sub_type
Sub group of private sector public funded or other public funded
provider_type
Name of provider type
working_pattern
Working pattern
Footnotes
This release shows data for further education providers in England. The location that a provider is based in has been determined from the main site/head office recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) database in the Department for Education. This records the main site only and may not cover all locations or regions that a provider operates.
Management roles may include some teaching staff with additional responsibilities, or some managers of staff in support or admin roles. The types of managers may differ across provider types and this could drive differences in management staff pay across provider types.
Mean and median salary figures shown are estimates from the providers that returned data to the further education workforce data collection. We have not attempted to estimate the salaries for staff in the providers who did not return data.
Management roles may include some teaching staff with additional responsibilities, or some managers of staff in support or admin roles. The types or number of managers may differ across provider types.
Independent Training Provider (ITP), Local Authority with an Education Remit, School Based Providers and Special Post-16 Institutions are a subgroup of Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded. Some providers within Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded do not fit into either of these four sub groups.
Where "no data" is displayed, this is because this subject is no longer collected on the further education data collection. See the methodology section "Subjects taught by teaching staff" to show which subjects are no longer collected.
This field shows the number of staff in the providers that responded to the data collection. These staff salaries were then used to create the mean/median salary. This is presented here because average pay is calculated from the responding providers only. If you would like estimates of the number of staff in all providers, these data can be found in tables titled 'Characteristics of further education workforce', 'Size of the further education workforce' or 'Subjects taught by teachers in further education providers'.
Proportion of providers returning data to the further education workforce data collection.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
provider_sub_type
Sub group of private sector public funded or other public funded
provider_type
Name of provider type
response_rate
Percentage of providers that returned data
total_providers
Total providers asked to return data
Footnotes
Independent Training Provider (ITP), Local Authority with an Education Remit, School Based Providers and Special Post-16 Institutions are a subgroup of Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded. Some providers within Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded do not fit into either of these four sub groups.
Proportion of providers returning data to the further education vacancy data collection.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
provider_sub_type
Sub group of private sector public funded or other public funded
provider_type
Name of provider type
response_rate
Percentage of providers that returned data
total_providers
Total providers asked to return data
Footnotes
Independent Training Provider (ITP), Local Authority with an Education Remit, School Based Providers and Special Post-16 Institutions are a subgroup of Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded. Some providers within Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded do not fit into either of these four sub groups.
Proportion of providers returning data to the further education governor data collection.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
provider_type
Name of provider type
response_rate
Percentage of providers that returned data
total_providers
Total providers asked to return data
Footnotes
National figures have been scaled to account for providers who did not respond to the Further Education Workforce Data Collection. Therefore national figures are an estimate. Regional figures have not been scaled and are based on responding providers only.
Headcount and Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) of staff by further education provider type.
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
contract_type
Contract type
main_role_type
Type of staff member role
maximum_number_staff_grossed_estimate
Upper estimate of number of staff
minimum_number_staff
Lower estimate of number of staff
provider_sub_type
Sub group of private sector public funded or other public funded
provider_type
Name of provider type
staff_count_type
Staff count type
Footnotes
Figures have been scaled to provide an upper estimate for the size of the further education workforce.
This release shows data for further education providers in England. The location that a provider is based in has been determined from the main site/head office recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) database in the Department for Education. This records the main site only and may not cover all locations or regions that a provider operates.
National figures have been scaled to account for providers who did not respond to the Further Education Workforce Data Collection. Therefore national figures are an estimate. Regional figures have not been scaled and are based on responding providers only.
Management roles may include some teaching staff with additional responsibilities, or some managers of staff in support or admin roles. The types or number of managers may differ across provider types.
Independent Training Provider (ITP), Local Authority with an Education Remit, School Based Providers and Special Post-16 Institutions are a subgroup of Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded. Some providers within Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded do not fit into either of these four sub groups.
Subjects taught by teachers in further education providers
Filename
subjects_taught_teachers_further_education.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2023/24
Content
Subjects taught by teachers in further education providers
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
main_subject_taught
Main subject taught
national_subject_rank
Rank by provider type of number of teachers teaching subject
number_staff
Number of staff
percentage_of_teachers_teaching_subject
Percentage of teachers teaching the subject by provider type
provider_sub_type
Sub group of private sector public funded or other public funded
provider_type
Name of provider type
subject_type
Type of subject being taught
Footnotes
This release shows data for further education providers in England. The location that a provider is based in has been determined from the main site/head office recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) database in the Department for Education. This records the main site only and may not cover all locations or regions that a provider operates.
All percentages and rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. Where figures have rounded to 0.0%, this may not necessarily indicate zero staff present for this measure.
Independent Training Provider (ITP), Local Authority with an Education Remit, School Based Providers and Special Post-16 Institutions are a subgroup of Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded. Some providers within Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded do not fit into either of these four sub groups.
Teacher, management and leadership vacancies in further education providers
Filename
vacancies_further_education_providers.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2023/24
Content
Unfilled vacancies for teachers and managers and leaders. Also gives the number of unfilled vacancies by subject for teachers
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
main_role_type
Type of staff member role
main_subject_taught
Main subject taught
number_staff
Number of staff (responding providers only)
number_vacancies_unfilled_responding_providers
Number of unfilled vacancies by the end of the academic year (responding providers only)
provider_sub_type
Sub group of private sector public funded or other public funded
provider_type
Name of provider type
unfilled_vacancy_rate
Unfilled vacancy rate per 100
Footnotes
This release shows data for further education providers in England. The location that a provider is based in has been determined from the main site/head office recorded in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) database in the Department for Education. This records the main site only and may not cover all locations or regions that a provider operates.
All percentages and rates are rounded to 1 decimal place. Where figures have rounded to 0.0%, this may not necessarily indicate zero staff present for this measure.
Management roles may include some teaching staff with additional responsibilities, or some managers of staff in support or admin roles. The types or number of managers may differ across provider types.
Independent Training Provider (ITP), Local Authority with an Education Remit, School Based Providers and Special Post-16 Institutions are a subgroup of Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded. Some providers within Other Public Funded Provider and Private Sector Public Funded do not fit into either of these four sub groups.
This field shows the number of staff in the providers that responded to the data collection. This is presented here because vacancy rates are calculated from the responding providers only. If you would like estimates of the number of staff in all providers, these data can be found in tables titled 'Characteristics of further education workforce', 'Size of the further education workforce' or 'Subjects taught by teachers in further education providers'.
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
contract_type
Contract type
main_role_type
Type of staff member role
number_staff
Number of staff
provider_type
Name of provider type
staff_count_type
Staff count type
Footnotes
If the number of staff is 0 for a particular row, then this could either indicate the provider has zero staff in that category or it could also indicate an incomplete submission to the data collection for that measure.