Member Article

Deloitte suggests education system causes confusion for employers

Deloitte has warned that changes in the education system have the potential to cause confusion to North West businesses looking for students with skills the region needs.

Now a range of education options, including studio schools, academies, City Technology Colleges and University Technical Colleges, could leave businesses unsure of the differences, and how each will affect the skills of their future workforce, the business advisory firm suggests.

Richard Barrett, director of education and skills consulting at Deloitte, said: “The UK’s education system has been constantly evolving with a series of changes in policy over the past few of years.

“Students have gone from having mainly GCSEs, NVQs, A-Levels and undergraduate degree pathways to an enormous offering of different qualifications.

“Whilst this may be considered an advantage, it has made it harder for employers to assess what different types of school do and the relevance of the various qualifications with which they are confronted.

“Research we carried out for the Education and Employers Taskforce showed that where young people have ongoing contact with employers in schools they are much more motivated, far less likely to drop out of learning and much more likely to make better choices about jobs.

“As a result they are less likely to leave a job in the first few months. This represents a real saving for employers in recruiting replacements and carrying additional training costs.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .