At the end of 2013, three out of ten private sector workers who completed their studies at least five years ago report that they have not received any vocational training since completing their initial training. Mainly manual workers and low-skilled employees, they are more likely than others to have had a long interruption or a period of part-time work in their employment history, and are less likely to have changed jobs.

The vast majority of employees who gain access to training do so through their employer. For those who have been furthest removed from stable, full-time employment during the course of their career, the rate of access to in-company training is lower. They may have accessed training through the employment agency, but this still does not offset the fact that they have had fewer opportunities to participate in workplace training. However, employees who have experienced redundancy - a process which often involves training activities - are more likely to have received training either through the employment agency or their employer. Others have adopted a more personal approach, for example they have taken time off work for training or attended evening classes.

In any event, those who report never having pursued training in the past are less likely to do so in the future: the presence – and, conversely, the absence of training – tend to accumulate in the same persons. Nonetheless, most ‘untrained’ people say that they would like to take part in a training course in the next few years.