This report explores the links between trade unions and workplace training, and the potential benefits of social partnership in the skills system.
The UK is relatively unusual in having no formal role for trade unions in the training system. In most advanced economies, trade unions and employers work alongside government in shaping the skills system.
There is significant evidence – both in the UK and internationally – linking trade unions and collective bargaining to higher employer investment in skills. There is also evidence to suggest that unions are particularly effective at engaging low skilled workers in training.
The report sets out how building a social partnership approach could help deliver the government’s aim of levelling up skills and prosperity across the UK after the coronavirus crisis.
20 January 2026
Labour market dashboard
Every month, Learning and Work Institute produces detailed and timely analysis of the latest labour market statistics from ONS. Explore our interactive charts.
24 December 2025
Falling short: Understanding further falls in employer training
This briefing looks at how employer investment in training continues to fall – now down 36% per employee since 2005 – and argues that we must turn this around to improve economic growth.
22 December 2025
From confusion to clarity: rethinking England’s 670 occupational standards
L&W’s Stephen Evans and Pearson’s Donna Ford-Clarke reflect on findings from our recent research on England’s occupational standards – of which there are now more than double the number in countries like Germany and Switzerland.
27 November 2025
Responding to the full year apprenticeships data release
Learning and Work Institute’s Deputy Head of Research Dr Corin Egglestone responds to the full year apprenticeships data released on 27 November 2025.
18 November 2025
Responding to higher technical skills needs
Supported by Gatsby Charitable Foundation, this report explores employer and employee decision making about training and the development of higher technical skills.
7 November 2025
No train no gain
This research, supported by Multiverse, finds that access to training is a boon for people’s pay and careers. The training dividend is greatest for those on the lower rungs of the occupational ladder, helping them go further, faster.
7 November 2025
Working class people paid more when they get training from their employer
Experts are calling on the Government to do more to get employers investing in training, as research reveals it’s a “boon for people’s pay and careers” – particularly for working class people.
5 November 2025
Investing in skills: International policy insights for the UK
This report is the first in a series of three publications supported by the Nuffield Foundation that present the findings from multi-year research into employer investment in upskilling and reskilling in a changing economy.
5 November 2025
New international case studies reveal how the UK can boost employer investment in skills
A study identifying international practice among employers and in public policy could help the UK increase employer investment in training, which has fallen by 30% per employee since 2011.
