With economic growth becoming more securely based and employment on a rising trend, the UK must strengthen its education and skills systems to meet future demand and avoid being outpaced by international competitors.
Young people need to build their workplace skills on solid educational foundations, but many are still leaving school with poor literacy and numeracy skills: in 2014, 38.3% did not achieve a grade C or better in GCSE English and 37.6% did not reach this standard in maths. Careers guidance and support must be improved to aid young people in their transitions from school into work and to minimise the risk of their falling into unemployment: more than 940,000 of those aged 16-24 are currently not in education, employment or training.
Most jobs created in the decade to 2022 will be high skilled ones – filling these and improving the UK’s productivity track record will mean many people already at work will need to add to their skills.