Britain's Skills Record

Britain’s economic future is in peril due to a massive skills shortage. So says a new report quietly published by the Treasury.

Five million adults with no qualifications. One in six adults with less reading and writing ability than the average eleven year old.  Compared to the USA, Sweden and Canada, our skills record is appalling. Look at the competitive challenge from China and India: they are upgrading their skills fast - producing 4 million graduates every year.

This matters. To your pension and to your children’s chances. In today’s global economy a nation’s hope is its people’s talents, and how they are nurtured by schools, colleges, universities and employers. British people have talent, but too much is wasted.  

Labour have tried to sort this. Yet 8 years on the report finds “the UK must raise its game” and improving skills is “an urgent task”.

We need radical change. Young adults need a curriculum for the real world – covering academic and vocational. Pupils should be able to mix maths and physics with skills courses like engineering and car maintenance, and learn languages, alongside tourism and international commerce.

We must invest in adult education – basic skills and more. Anyone under 40 will probably retire later than 65, so we need opportunities for adults to gain the basics and re-train. We’ll never afford decent pensions if we don’t improve the nation’s skills now.