Home > News > August 2004 > 26-Aug-2004

Deficient education system forces firms to give school leavers remedial training, says CBI

The CBI has warned of growing dissatisfaction with the quality of school leavers as a new survey shows one in three firms give remedial training to compensate for failures in the education system.

Ahead of today's GCSE results, excerpts from a new survey of over 500 firms revealed that 37 per cent of firms are not satisfied with the basic literacy and numeracy of school leavers. This compares with 34 per cent in the 2003 survey and illustrates growing business concern about the ability of the education system to effectively deliver basic skills.

The annual CBI-Pertemps employment trends survey - due for full release next month - will also show that the vast majority of employers - 83 per cent - believe the government should focus on ensuring all young people leave school literate and numerate.

The latest figures suggest that employers spend over £23bn each year on training and CBI research shows this amount is rising year on year. But the employers' organisation is concerned that a significant proportion of this is being spent ironing out basic problems which should have been resolved by state education.

The CBI survey will show that 33 per cent of firms needed to give school leavers basic training in literacy and numeracy over the past twelve months.

"Too many school leavers are failing to make the business grade", said Digby Jones, CBI Director-General. "A fundamental working knowledge of English and Maths provides a vital foundation for every day-to-day business task. But the education system is letting down many young people and leaving them unprepared for the world of work.

"Employers are left to pick up the pieces and the bill, with many resorting to basic training to compensate for the short-comings of an education system that they have already paid for through increased business taxation.

"Too many leave school without the understanding that being well-turned-out, prepared to work hard, being positive and prepared to keep learning are not for other people - they are the 'here and now' for teenage Britain."

The employers' organisation says firms are looking for motivated and independent school leavers that are alive to the needs of the modern workplace. But the CBI survey will also show that 41 per cent of firms are not satisfied with school leavers' business awareness and 46 per cent are not satisfied with their self-management skills.

The survey will also show that 59 per cent of companies run work experience placements for 14-16 year-olds.

Digby Jones said: "Today's workplace is a challenging and fast-moving environment and young recruits must be able to hit the ground running. The globalised economy in which the UK operates takes no prisoners.

"The hard work of many young people and teachers will be rewarded on Thursday when this year's GCSE results are published. But I hope that the overall trend shows an improvement on last year when 48 per cent of pupils failed to achieve grade C or above in Maths and 56 per cent failed to get grade C or above in English."

Earlier this month the CBI published its response to the interim report of the Tomlinson Working Group on 14-19 education reform. It urged the government not to let radical reform divert attention from the absolute priority of improving basic skills and said business was "not yet convinced" by the group's proposals.

Training and development books

Discover books on a variety of training and development topics at the Training Reference Bookshop

Source suppliers

Visit the Training Reference Directory to view supplier details for a wide range of courses, products and services.

Sponsored links

Back to top