WIREDGOV

The Learning Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) is the sector-led improvement and development body for the further education and skills sector. It provides a comprehensive series of programmes and services to support quality improvement and strategic change in the Learning and Skills sector including leadership and management, teaching and learning, learner support, resource utilisation, and peer review and development.
 
Supporting the sector to develop its own capacity for self-improvement, engaging those employed in the sector to deliver improvement services, and promoting the range and scope of peer learning are key elements of our approach. These are particularly effective in ensuring cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the services offered.
 
LSIS is a unique organisation, in that it is led by the learning and skills sector through its board and an elected council which is made up of principals and CEOs of its leading organisations.  Thus services and priorities are developed through close engagement with the sector itself, ensuring their relevance to immediate needs. In addition, through providing virtual credit in the form of LSIS Accounts to pay for our services, we are moving towards a system in which colleges and training organisations commission the quality and improvement support services they want, from LSIS.
 
Some facts about LSIS:
 
• In the last year 92 per centof the organisations that failed one or more aspects of their inspection were judged to be satisfactory or better following support from LSIS through its Improvement Advisory Service.

• From 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010’ LSIS engaged with over 3,000 providers.
301 of these providers were FE colleges; this equates to 83 per centof the total number of FE colleges Source: Statistical First Release, 24 June 2010.  

• There are 165 LSIS Beacons, 38 of which have been trained to work with LSIS to pass on their expertise to other institutions.  

• LSIS is increasingly using the sector itself to deliver improvement services with at least 60 per cent of delivery by the sector for the sector in 2010-11, rising to 70 per cent in 2011-2012 and 80 per cent in 2012-2013.  This year over 200 sector providers are engaged in the delivery of four major LSIS programmes.

• Across programmes, in the last quarter LSIS achieved an overall satisfaction rate of 99 per cent based on more than 10,000 survey returns.

• Since the creating of LSIS and its predecessor organisations,  the success rates of learners in the learning and skills sector have increased from 72 per cent (2003-04 figure) to 81 per cent (2008-09 figure).

• Over the past year there have been over 1.5m visits to the LSIS “Excellence Gateway” and to the LSIS virtual learning environment (VLE).  Each month over 120,000 people access information and resources – which represents nearly 25 per cent of the sector workforce. In addition, there were 86,524 registered users on the Gateway and the VLE as at 30 June 2010, demonstrating an ongoing relationship and in depth learning activity with LSIS by these users.

• Between 1 April 2010 to 31 August 2010, 1,100 LSIS accounts have been activated and 680 providers have paid for LSIS programmes and services.

• A total of 175 FE principals have completed or are currently enrolled on the Principals Qualifying Programme (PQP).  These principals represent almost 50 per cent of all FE colleges.
 
For more information about LSIS, you can download an electronic copy of our annual review of progress and achievements.