It was recently announced that most graduates are in non-graduate jobs, a statistic that has raised further awareness of the skills gap crisis the UK is facing.
Many recent reports have backed this up; a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) study showed the UK has the worst-equipped school leavers when it comes to essential employment skills, particularly in regards to careers in business.
Following the report, the Executive Director of CIMA Education, Noel Tagoe, said: “In the UK the school and the work systems are divorced from each other and this leads to schools not providing learners with the skills that companies need.
“The realities of the workplace must be better reflected in the classroom through discussion and practical experience."
We reported back in 2013 that England’s 16-24 year olds were falling behind the rest of the world in relation to English and maths skills; of 24 nations surveyed, England ranked 21st for literacy skills and 22nd for numeracy skills.
Many have pointed to high-quality Apprenticeships as a way to solve the skills gap; not only do our Apprenticeships equip learners with practical, on-the-job training that helps them gain employment in the area of their choice, they also come with optional Functional Skills qualifications in English and maths.
The rounded learning experience offered by Apprenticeships not only benefits learners, but also the employers who hire them. Aside from filling the skills gap within their hiring companies, two-thirds of consumers have more trust in businesses that hire apprentices than those that don’t. A quarter would be prepared to pay more for goods and services as a result of this.
Employers are now beginning to take tackling the skills gap into their own hands, with a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development showing over half of companies surveyed intend to tackle vacant and ‘hard-to-fill’ job roles by upskilling their existing staff. A third of employers surveyed are looking at hiring apprentices.
Once again, it appears vocational education is the solution. With that comes the need for learners to be fully informed about their options after leaving school or college. University is still seen as the default final step of a young person’s education, but as long as this ideology is upheld, the skills gap will continue to grow. Vocational routes with a work experience element, such as Apprenticeships and Traineeships, prepare learners for the world of work. Many people believe academic and theory-based university courses are lacking this vital element.
The vocational route is supported by a number of our European counterparts; less than 10% of graduates in Germany, the Netherlands and Slovenia are in non-graduate roles, with a strong focus on vocational options in their education systems.
What are your thoughts on the skills gap?
