This presentation was delivered by Seamus McGuinness, Research Professor, ESRI at the launch of a new ESRI report titled "Evaluation of PLC Programme Provision" on 9 January 2018. The report is available to download here: http://www.esri.ie/publications/evaluation-of-plc-programme-provision/.

1. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications
@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie
Evaluation of PLC
Programme Provision
DATE
Tuesday, 9th January 2018
VENUE
Liberties College, Dublin 8
AUTHORS
Seamus McGuinness,
Adele Bergin, Elish Kelly,
Selina McCoy, Emer Smyth,
Dorothy Watson and Adele
Whelan

2. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie2 9 January 2018
INTRODUCTION

3. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications9 January 20183
• Profile of PLC programme provision
• Disaggregated by course type and geographical location
• Analysis of the views of principals on PLC provision
• Profile of PLC participants
• Descriptive information on PLC students compared to other leavers
• Descriptive analysis of outcomes for participants
• Estimates of progression rates
• Counterfactual analysis relative to comparator groups
• Assessment of learner experiences
• Access to relevant work experience and skill formation; take-up of learner
supports, reflections on guidance process and quality of experiences.
Key Objectives

4. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie4 9 January 2018
ESRI Approach
Four Strands of Research:
(i) Desk-based research
 Information sourced from DES from PLC survey on enrolments at
school/college level and Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS)
(ii) Comprehensive survey of principals
 All principals
(iii) Comprehensive survey of learners
 Survey sample drawn from the DES Post-Primary Pupil Database in
2010, with information collected for 2010, 2012 & 2015
(iv) Consultative research

5. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications9 January 20185
• Geographical spread of current PLC provision and trends in
provision over time
• A range of indicators related to educational provision
• course completion and accreditation, the take-up of learner supports, access to
relevant work experience and skill formation, levels of preparedness, perceptions
of teacher quality/course content, reflections on guidance process and quality of
experiences etc.
• Information on the perceptions of principals with respect to a
range of education variables
• including a comparative analysis of the nature and role of the PLC planning
process, the number of new and discounted courses over recent years, teacher
and tutor qualifications, links with employers, and the influence of “Conditions of
Approval” and occupational forecasting data, etc.
Broad Range of Issues Addressed

6. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie6 9 January 2018
SOME OF THE
MAIN FINDINGS

7. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie7 9 January 2018
I. Outcomes for PLC Learners
In terms of labour market outcomes:
• The employment outcomes in 2015 show that the PLC treatment
group were, on average, 16% more likely to be in employment
compared to the direct LM entrants;
 No significant differences in employment outcomes in 2012
 Various measures of job quality such as job satisfaction, underskilling or
overskilling, showed no significant differences
• PLC learners are 27% more likely to progress to HE than the direct LM
entrants control group with similar characteristics;
 This impact is highly significant and results indicate that the effect is stronger for
those PLC learners in more general rather than job specific programmes
• In terms of the wage impacts, results from NES suggest that the L-R
returns to PLC education over LC will tend to be cyclical in nature.

8. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie8 9 January 2018
II. PLC Programme Objectives
• Principals saw PLC courses in general as fulfilling a range of
roles, including progression to employment, progression to HE,
lifelong learning and social inclusion, with principals placing
relatively equal weight on each component
• This contrasted somewhat with the views of learners who were
more likely to indicate a primary rationale for taking a PLC course
(progression to employment or HE)
• Findings suggest a need for greater clarity around the purpose
of specific courses
 In particular, a stronger distinction is required between courses focused on
preparing students for immediate entry to the LM and those where the
emphasis is on facilitating progression to HE

9. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie9 9 January 2018
III. PLC and the Labour Market
• Types of PLC courses offered have not changed markedly over time
 even though there has been a dramatic shift in the kinds of jobs available in the
Irish labour market
• Decisions around which course to offer tend to be driven by
student demand rather than skill needs in the economy
 need to develop systems to ensure that those PLC courses focused on the
labour market are aligned with employer requirements and responsive to
changing labour market needs
 employer engagement at local level emerges as crucial
• Not all PLC learners feel prepared for the world of work
 over a fifth report not having taken part in a work experience placement during
the course of their studies
 almost a third felt that their learning did not contribute to their employability
and a quarter considered that they did not acquire job-related knowledge and
skills

10. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie10 9 January 2018
IV. Learner Characteristics & Experiences
• PLC provision tends to provide access to educational opportunities for a
socially diverse group
 PLC learners are more likely to be from less educated family backgrounds, are
more likely to be older and have children, and have a higher incidence of
special educational needs than those who go on directly to HE
• PLC students were largely satisfied with the relevance of course design
 the vast majority felt their teachers and tutors had the required knowledge
and were supportive
• PLC courses are still seen as a compromise
 in a context of not achieving sufficient grades to pursue HE, highlighting the
continued lower status of FET in Ireland
• Financial challenges was the single greatest difficulty for PLC students
 largely because of less financial support from family and a higher incidence of
caring responsibilities (compared to HE students) which restricted their
employment chances

11. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications@ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications www.esri.ie11 9 January 2018
CONCLUSIONS

12. www.esri.ie @ESRIDublin #ESRIevents #ESRIpublications
Overarching Conclusions
• The findings show positive outcomes for those who have
completed PLC courses
• At the same time, more could be done to ensure that PLC
provision responds to on-going changes in the Irish labour
market
• It is also important to challenge the idea that PLC courses
are ‘second-best’ compared to higher education