Evaluating flexible funding for career progression and workforce skills through Personal Learning Accounts.

Wavehill evaluated the Personal Learning Accounts (PLA) programme to understand, how funded, flexible training supported employed adults to retrain and progress, and how employers used the offer to strengthen workforce skills. The evaluation examined the design, implementation and rapid expansion to the PLA programme in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. It also sought to provide an understanding of the outcomes of PLA, and to identify lessons as to how the scheme could be improved.

The evaluation drew on primary research with c. 500 learners and 75 employers, stakeholder engagement alongside analysis of programme data for over 16,000 unique learners to explore patterns of engagement, progression and achievement. Fieldwork focused on how individuals accessed training, the skills they developed, and what happened after participation. The evaluation also involved the design of an impact and cost benefit analysis framework for the PLA programme to help shape a future assessment of the programme’s return on investment.

The evaluation showed strong uptake and clear learner benefits through successful outcomes such as gaining new qualifications, increasing confidence, and improved employability which, in some cases, supported progression into better roles or new career pathways. Where the programme was particularly effective was in support for reskilling in priority sectors and flexibility that enabled rapid response to changing needs.

The final report (published here) provided Welsh Government a structured evidence base that has informed future development of the programme and supported ongoing consideration of how skills investment aligned with labour market and economic needs change. It also provides a clear framework through which to measure the impact of PLA as part of a summative evaluation.