Policy Hub
On 10 February 2009, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) published a report which argues that publicly-funded education and training should help ‘recession-proof’ learners by making them more employable.
The report finds that, although some schools, colleges, universities and training providers prepare their students well for the workplace, too many do not. Consequently, employers have to spend time and money on new recruits to provide them with everyday skills, such as how to take a telephone message or write a report.
UKCES challenges publicly-funded providers of education and training to put employability at the heart of everything they do. The report also urges government and funding bodies to encourage learning providers to assign the development of employability skills a higher priority.
After examining the approaches and experience of more than 200 different learning providers, the report focuses on 20 case studies giving concrete examples of how employability skills can be effectively developed. It also identifies six key features which distinguish the most successful programmes. The report finds that the best programmes are: