DWE0006
Written evidence submitted by the Edge Foundation
We are writing from the Edge Foundation where our mission is focused on making education relevant. By this, we wish to support all young people to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to flourish in their future life and work.
At Edge, we publish a series of skills shortages bulletins (2 per year). These bulletins bring together the latest research and discussion on the skills shortages in the UK economy and the future of work. Our bulletins cover a variety of sectors including digital, green, health, construction and creative industries and are read by a wide audience including policy makers, practitioners (in education, e.g. careers advisors, teachers) and other researchers.
Here we highlight some key messages from our bulletins which we hope are of help to the committee.
Key message 1: Overall labour market changes
Looking to the future, the impact from the Coronavirus pandemic is still continuing to have an impact on jobs and the economy, research highlights that its impact on employment and the labour market has been profound, with the impacts unevenly spread:
- Workers in lower-level occupations and with fewer qualifications are more vulnerable to unemployment.
- The number of older workers seeking unemployment related benefits doubled. This is particularly concerning given that older workers who lose their jobs are far more likely to slip into long-term worklessness.[1]
- A third of Britons (34%) want to change careers, yet only 16% of respondents understand exactly how their skills would be useful in another career. Many Britons lack the confidence and know-how when it comes to recognising the potential of transferable skills as a route to changing careers.[2]
- The number of older workers seeking unemployment related benefits doubled during the pandemic. This is particularly concerning given that older workers who lose their jobs are far more likely to slip into long-term worklessness.[3]
Key message 2: Skills shortages are numerous and have grown significantly
- The 2022 Business Barometer report found that 86% of large organisations are currently facing skills shortages, with 72% of organisations stating that the impacts of these shortages have increased the workload on other staff.
- The UK skills mismatch is reinforced by the Industrial Strategy Council’s report which highlighted that by 2030, 7 million additional workers could be under-skilled for their job requirements - this would currently constitute about 20% of the labour market.[4]
- Research from Lloyds Bank Group / IPSOS MORI (Bulletin 8) illuminated that digital skills are of particularly acute shortage, emphasising that around 11.7 million people aged 15+ across the UK lack the ‘essential digital skills’ needed for day-to-day life online.
Key message 3: The rate of skills investment is in decline
- Findings from the Learning and Work Institute found that Government spending on adult learning in England declined by 47% in the decade from 2009-10 to 2018-19, and that employers spend comparably less in this area than their international counterparts.
- Meanwhile, the DfE Employer Skills Survey (2020) highlighted that fewer employers had arranged or funded training (61%) for staff in the last 12 months in 2019 - the lowest proportion since 2011, and that the total number of training days has reduced by 9m since 2015 (a fall of 8.3%).
Key message 4: Skills shortages have a significant cost for UK businesses
- 61% of organisations currently believe they have a skills shortage in their organisation[5]
- As a result, there has been an increase in the amount spent by businesses to find, secure and develop talent, with employers spending out on recruitment fees, increased salaries, temporary staff, and training to upskill those hired at a lower level to a total tune of £6.1 billion per year
Key message 5: The skills employers are seeking are overwhelmingly technical and transferable
- Over half of employers (60%) value broader skills such as problem solving and nearly three quarters (75%) say they prefer a mix of academic and technical qualifications or that they view all qualifications equally.[6]
- 92% of employers said that so-called ‘soft skills’ (like management, leadership and planning) are equally or more important than hard skills. [7]
- There is work to be done to help young people understand the skills that employers are looking for - currently only 34.4% of young people thought they understood the skills employers are looking for, and 53% believe they have some idea[8]
Key message 6: The skills employers are seeking are not being prioritised within the education system
- Despite the clear evidence from employers, the development of broader skills and attributes above are, in some cases, being actively deprioritised by current education policy.
- Indeed, the OECD has said that one of the biggest risks to national education systems today is that traditional ways of educating are losing currency and relevance and are not adapting quickly enough to the needs of a dynamic economy.
- Between 2010 and 2018, with the introduction of the EBacc, there was a fall of 154,000 (57%) in entries to Design and Technology GCSEs and a reduction of 77,000 (20%) in entries into creative subjects. These are subjects that support the development of key skills and competencies that employers seek, such as creativity, team working and digital skills.[9]
- Nearly half (47%) of teachers surveyed believed that they have fewer opportunities to develop employability skills since the introduction of reformed GCSEs and A-Levels in 2014, a third stating that the new syllabus required a focus on rote learning, leaving less space for developing creativity.[10]
- Young people do not feel that there are enough opportunities for extra-curricular activities or work experience. This year’s Youth Voice Census (2022) highlighted only 36% of young people had an option of work experience during their time in secondary school.
Questions for the DfE
- Education and skills spending is seen as a cost not an investment by HM Treasury. Is that the right or wrong approach?
- Is it the case that the apprenticeship levy is being used by large firms to train their existing workforce at the expense of opportunities for young people and letting them off the hook for other training? What is the overall impact of that change on UK productivity?”
- This current government continues to emphasise the importance of growth in the economy. So how can we incentivise ‘shared responsibility’ and co-investment in skills from the state, employers, educational institutions, and individuals, to drive the kind of lifelong learning revolution necessary to support future economic success and social prosperity for all?
- Significant changes are required in the education system to meet the needs of employers and to support young people to develop the essential skills that the economy needs. Reforming assessment is one way to drive change – what work is being undertaken in the DfE to explore the reform of assessment?
- Evidence suggests that the EBacc has led to a decline in subjects such as Design and Technology and creative subjects – which are linked to hugely profitable sectors of the economy. What economic impact assessment has DfE made of the future reduction in GDP as a result of the narrowing of the curriculum?”
- Evidence from organisations such as the Edge Foundation highlight feedback from teachers who worry that the curriculum is prioritising knowledge cramming and squeezing out opportunities for the development of broader skills. Given that the National Curriculum has not been reviewed for over 10 years – does the DfE agree that we should be launching a full review into the National Curriculum?
- A number of young people are calling for more work experience options. Does the DfE agree that more needs to be done to embed work experience within the curriculum, including putting work experience back on a statutory footing?
October 2022