A popular training and work experience scheme for the unemployed helps four in 10 participants into work, data has revealed.
The Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) aims to match jobseekers with employers in need of staff via a short combination of training, work experience and a job interview.
But scant evidence exists to show the impact of SWAPs since 2020, when the previous government revived the programme under its Plan for Jobs initiative.
Data obtained exclusively by FE Week via a freedom of information request reveals officials used personal tax information to track how many unemployed people were earning money after taking part.
The earnings data, accessed from HMRC and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) systems, suggests that as of July last year about 40 per cent of SWAP participants were earning after six months.
This rate has steadily fallen from 55 per cent in April 2021 when the government began its analysis.
The data FE Week secured does not show earnings levels despite the department seemingly having access to this information.
Data release reluctance
It is the first time the DWP has released statistical evidence that offers clues about the scheme’s impact on the 98,000 participants who start each year in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
The department initially claimed data was unavailable due to being “held clerically at a local level”, before admitting it tracked participants’ earnings using “administrative data provided by HMRC”.
Eventually, it shared the earnings tracking data with FE Week, adding the disclaimer that while it provides “some insight”, it does not give “an accurate assessment of the true impact” of the impact of SWAPs.
The department also confirmed that a detailed study, described as a “counterfactual impact assessment” of the outcome of SWAPs for participants between April 2021 and March 2023, will be published.
‘The verdict’s out’
Stephen Evans, chief executive of Learning and Work Institute, said: “It’s good DWP have released this data, though it doesn’t tell us how much people earned after completing a SWAP, nor whether they likely would’ve found a job without the provision.
“I’m pleased they plan to publish an evaluation estimating how many people would’ve got jobs without support. Until then, the verdict’s out on its effectiveness.”
The unemployed are referred to SWAPs by Job Centres. Each programme, delivered by independent training providers or further education colleges, should include training funded by the adult education budget, now known as the adult skills fund, unpaid work experience and a guaranteed job interview.
But a qualitative study released in May suggested “few” participants were offered work placements and some were “disappointed” because there was no job interview at the end.
The Department for Education declined to comment when asked whether it viewed SWAPs as a worthwhile use of adult education funding.
FE Week also obtained DWP statistics that suggest fewer than two-thirds of SWAP starters finished the programme in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Success rate similarities
Ian Ross, chief executive officer of Whitehead Ross Training and Consulting, said the SWAPs 40% success rate was similar to the 36% rate achieved by DfE-coordinated skills bootcamps, while 38 per cent of participants in the DWP’s Restart scheme secure a job.
Steve Morris, commercial director at Learning Curve Group, which delivers SWAPS, stressed the scheme is a “good idea” as it ensures training is tailored to employers’ recruitment needs.
He said: “The reducing success of SWAPs recently, if that is the case, needs to be measured against the backdrop of an increasing rate in unemployment, a growth in economic inactivity and a constant and steady decline in the number of vacancies.”
Morris added that while a job should be the “hard measure” of success, moving people “closer to the job market” is a beneficial outcome.
Gary Durant, vice principal of Weston College, stressed the need for regional data showing starts, achievement and progression into work, to feed into local benchmarks that would help the government and combined authorities measure success.
History and future
The SWAPs scheme began in 2011 when the then prime minister David Cameron funded 330,000 starts over seven years.
But it faced controversy and a high-profile legal challenge known as the ‘Poundland case’ due to the use of benefits sanctions by Job Centres to stop people quitting what some viewed as unpaid work.
Rishi Sunak pumped £60 million into the scheme in mid-2020 to counter unemployment during the pandemic.
In its recent Get Britain Working white paper, the Labour government said it would fund the programme until at least 2026, pledging to “build on our experience of what works”.
A DWP spokesperson said: “SWAPs provide people from all backgrounds invaluable opportunities to gain on the job experience with local businesses across a wide range of industries.
“We are currently on course to meet our target for the number of SWAP starts for this year. Alongside this, our Get Britain Working reforms will transform Jobcentres into a truly public employment service, guaranteeing every young person the chance to earn or learn, delivering the growth and jobs our country needs.”
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