Department For Education
Our social research aims to provide high-quality evidence to inform policy development and delivery.
Fieldwork begins for DfEs 2022 employer skills survey
The Department for Education (DfE) has started fieldwork for the 2022 employer skills survey.
The employer skills survey will interview approximately 86,000 employers across all sectors and sizes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The survey collects information on apprenticeships, T Levels, vacancies, recruitment, training, skill shortages and future skill needs. The information is used by policy makers and industry to decide how to invest in national and local skills systems.
Research for the survey is being carried out between June 2022 and March 2023 by IFF Research, Ipsos MORI and BMG Research on behalf of:
- Department for Education
- Scottish Government
- Welsh Government
- Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland
The success and accuracy of the survey depends on employers taking part. If selected, employers can choose a time that suits them to be interviewed.
If you have any questions, email Employer.surveys@education.gov.uk.
We have already published findings from the previous employer skills survey in 2019.
Areas of research interest
DfEs areas of research interest sets out the topics we would like to engage external researchers with. We expect to release further areas of research prompted by the challenges posed by coronavirus (COVID-19) shortly.
DfE data for research
Read our guidance on accessing DfE data extracts from the National Pupil Database (NPD), School Workforce, Individualised Learner Record and Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Research projects
Routes to market for social and economic research
All new projects are being procured via 2 Crown Commercial Service dynamic purchasing systems:
- Low Value Purchase System - provides public sector buyers with a new route to market for their below threshold common goods and services (under 120,000)
- Research and Insights Marketplace - enables central government and the wider public sector to commission social, market and economic research expertise and services
If you want to be invited to tender for research commissioned by DfE, you should register as a supplier on both systems.
Registration is free and there is no limit to the number of suppliers who can join.
Jaggaer: theDfEe-tendering portal
Jaggaer is an e-tendering system used byDfEand its executive agencies. It is a password-protected online service.
As a potential supplier, you should register with Jaggaer so that you can:
- view opportunities to tender
- submit tender responses
For help with registration, use the support links on the Jaggaer portal.
Publications
Use the style guide and template to write your research publications.
You can find our research reports published since May 2010 in GOV.UKs publications section.
Research published before May 2010 is available from the UK Government Web Archive.
Quality assurance framework
The framework sets out a standardised approach to quality assurance to ensure that analysis is:
- fit for purpose
- reliable
- accurate
- transparent
- accountable
Read the .