Britain needs more graduates to boost the economy

Last updated at 11:05 12 September 2006


Britain is in danger of slipping behind its competitors in the all important race to boost the qualifications of its workers, a report warns

today.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said our high school drop-out rate and

failure to equip school leavers with decent exam results could produce a "serious bottleneck" that threatens the supply of graduates needed to

drive economic growth.

The think tank added that the number of people

doing degrees in Britain jumped by 20 per cent between 1995 and 2003.

However, this contrasts with 38 per cent across the OECD, which represents the 30 biggest industrialised nations.

The warning comes after Education Secretary Alan Johnson admitted the Government was unlikely to hit its target of getting half of under-thirties through university by 2010.

University participation has stalled at about 43 per cent. Critics say the target is unnecessary and resources should be focused on job-related

training rather than encouraging sixth-formers to take "Mickey Mouse

degrees".

However, this year’s edition of the OECD’s Education At A Glance report makes clear that UK graduates enjoy a big salary advantage over people in any country who left school with few or no qualifications.

Graduates earn 58 per cent more on average than people who left school with the equivalent of five GCSEs at grades A* to C, a rate of return bettered in only America, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The OECD said the demand for graduates showed no signs of falling and warned: "The UK has significantly improved its relative standing in the share of adults with high-level qualifications but progress has levelled off and, with below-average entry rates to higher

education, there is the prospect

that the UK could slip below the

average."

Andreas Schleicher, head of the OECD’s indicators and analysis division, said countries which had

a "flexible" qualifications system that gave equal value to both academic and vocational study were more successful.

Ministers rejected this kind of system when they refused to replace A-levels and GCSEs with the diploma recommended by a government review led by former chief schools inspector Sir Mike Tomlinson last year.

Headteachers said ministers’ decision to introduce vocational diplomas alongside A-levels was a "step in the right direction".

But John Dunford, general secretary

of the Association of School and College Leaders, added: "The bigger step — to bring all qualifications into a unified structure — would do more than anything to raise the esteem of vocational qualifications, which for far too long

have been the Cinderella in this

country."

The Government’s decision to scrap student grants in 1998 and introduce tuition fees could be one

reason for the drop-off in numbers going to university, according to the OECD.

The report added: "Another, perhaps more important, factor may be an insufficient pool of individuals who are suitably qualified to enter higher education and the related challenge for the UK that lies in ensuring that young people

leave school with strong baseline qualifications."

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