Quality Assurance report - Education, labour market and travel to work

This report accompanies the publication of Scotland’s Census 2022 labour market, travel to work and education topic data. It builds on the quality assurance reports published so far.  

Information on imputation rates for this topic have also been published on the Scotland’s Census website.   

Topic expert quality assurance panels 

We invited analytical colleagues from the Scottish Government to participate in quality assurance panels on the labour market, travel to work and education data. We held separate panels for each of the three sub-topics within this publication. Panel sessions assessed the coherence of 2022 Census statistics with previously published census estimates for Scotland, England & Wales and Northern Ireland as well as with other available data on the topics. The panel concluded that there were no remaining quality concerns which required investigation before publication. 

COVID-19 impacts

Census day was on 20th of March 2022. There were limited COVID related restrictions in place in March 2022, outside of health and social care settings. The COVID pandemic did bring about changes to how people in Scotland lead their lives. Some of these were temporary and some may be longer lasting. These changes may be relevant to the work people do, where they do it and how they travel to get there.

For example on method of travel to work, the census shows there has been a decrease in the proportion of people travelling to work by bus from 10.0% in 2011 to 5.7% in 2022. Other data from Transport Scotland Scottish Transport Statistics 2023 shows that bus passenger journeys decreased from 430 million in 2010-11 to 361 million in 2019-20 before decreasing significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic to 125 million in 2020-21. Bus passenger journeys then increased 29% from 2021-22 to 2022-23, indicating that the number of people travelling to work or study by bus in Scotland may have increased since the census took place. 

Quality information for labour market variables

Economic activity 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) carried out the England & Wales and Northern Ireland Censuses respectively in 2021. At this time, the COVID-19 furlough scheme was still active. Extra guidance was provided to help furloughed individuals complete the census labour market questions. The guidance indicated that they should consider themselves ‘temporarily away from work’ which would ensure they were still included in the economically active population. 

More information about this issue is available in ONS’ quality information and NISRA’s quality information for their Census labour market topic. As ONS and NISRA have stated, users should consider this when using census labour market data because of the additional uncertainty for the public on how they should have completed the form. 

By the time Scotland’s Census took place in 2022, the furlough scheme had ended and did not impact on the way individuals completed the census. When comparing census economic activity data across the UK, users should be aware of this. 

Occupation 

Occupation data is not comparable between 2011 and 2022. In 2022, Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) 2020 codes were used to classify occupations instead of the SOC2010 codes used in 2011. There are a number of changes between the two sets of codes, most notably an increase in occupations coded to major group 2 (Professional occupations) in recognition of the change in requirements for certain roles. More information about these changes can be found in this ONS guide. These changes mean it is not possible to make direct comparisons in occupations between 2011 and 2022 as some changes may be due to coding changes rather than actual changes in the workforce. 

Industry 

Where people did not answer a census question or where there were inconsistencies between answers, a process known as edit and imputation was used to iron out inconsistencies and fill in gaps in census data. More information about our edit and imputation process is available on our website.  

Industry had a relatively high rate of imputation at 12.9%. This is similar to the 2021 England & Wales Census, which had an imputation rate of 10.1% for current industry (for people in work in the week before census) and 14.1% for former industry (for people not in employment in the week before census who had previously been employed). 

A further 12.1% of records had their lower level industry code imputed. These were cases where a respondent provided vague or partial information that allowed them to be assigned to a higher level industry code, but the low level code required imputation. Users working with the extended industry categories due to be released in Winter 2024/25 should be aware that the low level categories rely on a higher rate of imputation than the higher level categories. 

Additional quality assurance checks were performed to check that the imputed distribution of industry was similar to the distribution of responses received by respondents who did answer the employer name and activity questions. The imputation for this variable has also been challenging historically, in 2011 the non-response rate for this variable was 8.5%. More information on imputation rates for this topic has also been published on the Scotland’s Census website. 

National Statistics – Socio-economic classification (NS-SeC) 

NS-SeC is based on an individual’s occupation in combination with their employment status. Due to the changes in occupation coding between SOC2010 and SOC2020 made to capture the higher qualifications now needed for certain roles, NS-SeC estimates are not generally comparable between 2011 and 2022. Also, changes to the never worked question mean the NS-SeC categories, long-term unemployed and never worked are also not comparable. The data for full-time students are not based on an individual’s occupation or employment status and can be compared between censuses. 

Between 2011 and 2022, we see an 88.3% increase in the number of individuals classified as ‘Never worked’. The increase is concentrated amongst older people (Figure 1). Individuals are classified as never worked if they ticked ‘No, have never worked’ to the question ‘Have you ever done any paid work?’ The wording of this question has changed since 2011 when it was asked ‘Have you ever worked?’ It is possible that some individuals have interpreted the question differently in each census. For example, in 2011 individuals may have considered volunteering, charity work or working in the home as work even if they were not paid. 

This has also affected the long-term unemployed category. Some people counted as long-term unemployed in 2011 may now be included in the never worked category in 2022 if they answered the never worked question differently between censuses. 

Quality information for travel to work variables

Method of travel to place of work or study 

The proportion of people working from home increased from 10.8% in 2011 to 31.6% in 2022 and those studying from home increased from 12.4% to 18.4%. There is currently no more recent evidence for Scotland on the proportion of people working or studying from home. However, looking across the UK, data from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey for Great Britain suggest that there has been little change in the proportion of people working from home some (i.e. hybrid working) or all of the time since March 2022. Further evidence from England for 2023 showed that the average number of commuting trips remained relatively unchanged from the previous year and below pre-pandemic levels. These results suggest there has not been a large change in the proportion of people working from home at least some of the time since 2022. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people travelling by public transport decreased significantly, as discussed in the COVID-19 impacts section above for bus travel. This also affected data on people travelling by train, with census data showing a decrease in people travelling to work by train from 3.7% in 2011 to 2.3% in 2022. Data from Transport Scotland Scottish Transport Statistics 2023 shows that ScotRail passenger journeys increased from 78 million in 2010-11 to 97 million in 2019-20 before decreasing significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic to 14 million in 2020-21. ScotRail passenger journeys then increased by 36% from 2021-22 to 2022-23, indicating that the number of people travelling to work or study by train in Scotland may have increased since the census took place. 

For method of travel to place of study, around 91,000 children aged under 16 are in the study from home category. These are people who responded their place of study was ‘Distance learning, home schooled or equivalent'. In 2011, this figure was around 74,000. There is not a central source for number of children that do not attend school or another fixed place of learning in Scotland. However, evidence from the pupil census and the private school census compared with the estimated number of children in Scotland would indicate that this figure is likely to be an overestimate of the number of children studying from home. 

Distance travelled to place of work or study 

This variable provides information on the straight-line distance between people’s usual residence and their place of work or study. It does not account for the actual distance travelled, for example by road, which is likely to be further. 

Information about the quality of the working from home category is included under the method of travel to place of work or study section in this report as the people in this category for both variables are the same. 

8.3% of people travelling 60km and over to work and 24.9% travelling to study reported that they did so on foot. The number of people reporting these combinations was relatively small (3,000 travelling to place of work and 2,800 travelling to place of study). Some of these people are individuals who temporarily stay away from home during the week (e.g. people from remote communities who stay in school accommodation during the week to attend secondary school) then return to their usual residence at the weekend, so their method of travel is not for their journey from their usual residence to their place of work or study. There may also be some respondent error in either the work or study address provided or in the method of travel. 

For distance travelled to place of work, the other category includes people who work outside of the UK, at an offshore installation and people with no fixed place of work. Of these, those with no fixed place of work is by far the largest category. The growth of the proportion of people in this category since 2011 (increasing from 12.3% in 20211 to 21.4% in 2022) is largely driven by people with no fixed place of work, for example food delivery drivers. 

For distance travelled to place of study, the other category only includes those with no fixed place of study. The proportion of people with no fixed place of study decreased from 1.7% in 2011 to 0.4% in 2022. 

Quality information for education variables

Highest level of qualification 

The census question on qualifications asked people to tick all the qualifications they had from a list of options.  The category of highest qualification that each of these fall into is included in the table below:

The highest level of qualification is a hierarchy in the following order: degree level qualifications or above, Further Education and sub-degree Higher Education including HNCs/HNDs, apprenticeship qualifications, upper school qualifications, lower school qualifications and no qualifications. If a person holds qualifications in more than one of these categories, they will only be counted in the category that appears first in this list. For example, a person who holds a Modern Apprenticeship and a National 5 qualification will only be counted in the Apprenticeship Qualifications category. 

2011 Census Comparison 

The highest qualification variables from the 2011 and 2022 Censuses are not fully comparable due to the inclusion of apprenticeship qualifications in 2022 Apprenticeships were not included in 2011. 

Further Education and sub-degree Higher Education including HNCs/HNDs (Level 3 in 2011) and Degree level qualifications or above (Level 4 in 2011) are comparable across the two censuses. Other categories such as No qualifications, Lower School Qualifications (Level 1 in 2011), and Upper School Qualifications (Level 2 in 2011) are not fully comparable. Figure 2 shows that 7.6% of people had a highest level of qualification of apprentice in 2022; some of these people will have been recorded in the No qualifications, Lower School Qualifications or Upper School Qualifications categories in 2011 if they were resident in Scotland and aged over 16. This partly explains the reduction in the percentage of individuals in the No Qualifications, Lower School Qualifications, and Upper School Qualifications categories between 2011 and 2022. 

England & Wales and Northern Ireland 2021 Census Comparison 

The data on highest level of qualification from the 2021 England & Wales and Northern Ireland Censuses are not entirely comparable to Scotland’s Census 2022. There were differences in the qualifications options on the questionnaires between Scotland and elsewhere in the UK. For example, HNC, HND and NVQ level 4 or equivalent qualifications are grouped in one tickbox option with degree level or above qualifications in the England & Wales and Northern Ireland questionnaires. In Scotland there were separate tickboxes on the questionnaire and HNC, HND and SVQ level 4 or above are included in the Further Education and sub-degree Higher Education category. 

School-level qualifications (Levels 1 and 2 in the rest of the UK, Lower and Upper School in Scotland) are also classified differently in Scotland from the other UK Censuses. There is no distinction made between the number of qualifications and grades in Scotland, whereas the rest of the UK sometimes makes this distinction. This affects which category qualifications of similar levels are assigned to in the different censuses. For example in the rest of the UK, 1 to 4 GCSEs grade A* to C or Any GCSEs at other grades are assigned to Level 1 (broadly equivalent to Lower School Qualifications in Scotland), whereas 5 or more GCSEs (A* to C or 9 to 4) are assigned to Level 2 (broadly equivalent to Upper School Qualifications in Scotland). In Scotland, a person with any number of GSCEs at any grade as their highest level of qualification would be in the Lower School Qualifications category. 

There are also differences across the UK in the way in which international qualifications are handled. In the rest of the UK, foreign qualifications are grouped into a broad ‘other’ category. This grouping does not differentiate between levels of international qualifications and as a result foreign qualifications are not automatically aligned with a specific level of qualification. In Scotland, however, foreign qualifications are integrated into various categories based on their assessed equivalence to Scottish qualifications. This may result in difficulties when comparing the highest qualification variable between the three censuses. 

The no qualifications category is broadly comparable across the UK. 

Apprentice qualifications 

In 2022 data on apprenticeship qualifications was collected for the first time with the following options: 

• Apprenticeship (trade or equivalent) 
• Apprenticeship (Foundation or equivalent) 
• Apprenticeship (Modern or equivalent) 
• Apprenticeship (Graduate or equivalent)

Foundation Apprenticeships were introduced in 2016. These qualifications enable pupils to embark upon work-based learning while still at secondary school. Only around a third of people with these qualifications were aged under 25. Given their recent introduction and the age at which they are studied, it is likely that most people aged 25 and over with a Foundation Apprenticeship may have confused this option with other types of apprenticeship that existed in the past, in another country or with another type of qualification. 

Graduate Apprenticeships were launched in 2017 for work-based learning opportunities up to Master’s degree level for new and existing employees. Similar to Foundation Apprenticeships, there are more older people with these qualifications than expected given their relatively recent introduction. Around 60% of people with a Graduate Apprenticeship were aged 50 and over, again indicating that some respondents may have confused this option with other types of apprenticeship that existed in the past, in another country or with another type of qualification. 

Users should be aware of these issues when interpreting the results for Apprenticeship Qualifications. Overall, around 85% of people with a highest level of qualification of apprenticeship hold a Trade Apprenticeship and a further 10% hold a Modern Apprenticeship. These did not have similar issues, therefore the overall quality of this data is still high.