UK Faces Skills Shortage as Youth Choose Alternatives to University

The UK is facing a lack of skilled workers as many young people are choosing other ways to learn instead of going to university. A report from the Financial Times mentioned that many teenagers are not just thinking about university after getting their A-level and BTEC results.

At London South Bank University’s sixth form college, which has students from places like Nigeria, more are interested in apprenticeships instead of university.

Derwyn Kennedy, the assistant vice-principal at LSBU, pointed out that ten years ago, nearly every student wanted to go to university. Now, most of them want apprenticeships. The problem is that there are not enough apprenticeship spots for everyone who wants one.

Challenges for the Government

The new Labour government is trying to improve training for the 50% of young Britons who don’t go to university. They plan to invest more in training for important areas like life sciences and professional services.

 However, there’s not enough money to fund all the apprenticeships needed, according to Lord Richard Layard, a Labour peer.

High Demand for Apprenticeships

There are three times more applications for apprenticeships than there are spots available. This means that by the age of 18, over one-third of young people in the UK don’t have any training. 

This problem is bigger in the UK than in other well-off countries. For example, Grace Dela Cruz, a healthcare assistant at LSBU, said that many are interested in apprenticeships at her trust, but they can only support a few.

UK students do well at age 15 but fall behind their peers in Europe by age 24 due to not enough training. Nearly 20% of working-age adults in the UK don’t have upper secondary qualifications, which is more than in Canada and the US.

The Labour Party blames the previous Conservative governments for not focusing enough on developing skills, which led to fewer apprenticeships and adult education opportunities. They want to change this by setting up Skills England to replace the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

This new agency will try to match training with important government goals like housing and green energy.

Labour also wants to change the apprenticeship levy to a “growth and skills levy” to give employers more freedom in how they spend training money.

Jane Gratton from the British Chambers of Commerce mentioned that many businesses want simpler training like coaching and short courses, and the system needs to encourage them to invest in training.