The estimable National Centre for Vocational Education Research has analysed job ads to identify the skills employers want. The unique collection comes from internet jobs-posting data, collected by US labour market analytics provider  Burning Glass.

This can be immensely useful, giving higher education providers hard data on the job market their graduates will compete in. In the case of VET it could give public and private trainers a guide to what programmes to fund and what elements to update in their packages.

First data releases include specialised skills employers asked for in 2014-17. Fastest growing demand was in transport logistics, with logistics analysis accelerating off a low base. There is also industry based data for ICT and telecommunications, childcare and personal care. While the NCVER’s focus is on training, the potential for higher education planners looking for new markets, especially in the micromasters, short course market is immense.