DfE has a framework of performance metrics for its portfolio of skills programmes which includes system-level measures, such as participation in FE and skills training by 7 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.17, 2.21, Figure 8 8 Qq 12, 14, 16 9 Qq 14, 32 10 DWE0002 Federation of Small Businesses, Developing workforce skills for a strong economy, 17 October 2022 11 DWE0001 Association of Employment and Learning Providers, Developing workforce skills for a strong economy, 17 October 2022 10 Developing workforce skills for a strong economy adults aged 19 and over, and measures for individual programmes such as the number of apprenticeship starts.12 We asked how DfE would use the large amount of data at its disposal to determine whether its FE and skills interventions are successful as a whole. DfE said that ultimately it was reliant on measuring learners’ subsequent wages as a proxy indicator of whether it was increasing the value of government-funded training and better meeting the skills needs of the labour market.13