Home > News > June 2005 > 15-Jun-2005

More could be done to prepare young people for work, says survey

According to a new poll commissioned by Ofsted, young people believe employers have a strong part to play in developing the skills they need to do their job, and that their education equipped them well in basic literacy skills but not well enough in areas such as problem solving.

Ofsted commissioned independent researchers to interview more than 500 working people between 20 and 30 years old to obtain their views on how well education prepared them for working life. The interviewees were from a variety of industries, with 55% of respondents holding professional qualifications that related to their work.

Two thirds of those polled felt more could have been done to prepare them for the world of work, with 23% suggesting they would have benefited from more work experience and 8% believing that more vocational training would have been useful.

Whilst around 80% of those polled felt that their education provided them with good numeracy and literacy skills, nearly 50% thought their education did not put enough emphasis on attention to detail, meeting deadlines and team working.

Ofsted’s Director of Corporate Services, Robert Green, said yesterday: "Businesses need employees with a ‘can-do’ attitude, a willingness to take on responsibility, a creative and innovative approach to solving problems and the ability to cope with uncertainty. The question is how do we ensure young people develop these skills?

"We commissioned this poll because this area is of huge importance for those in education and the business world. We decided to focus on the views of 20-30 year-olds because we wanted to hear from those at the sharp end.

"It’s no secret that employers and educationalists have had, at best, a piecemeal relationship in the past. Current government thinking aims to rectify this."

Ofsted’s poll also found that just 38% of respondents believe education alone should prepare young people for working life, suggesting that employers have a key role in developing the necessary skills required for industry. Many of those interviewed felt education prepared them better for their general working life than their first job. Those who stayed in education until they were at least 22 were much more positive about being prepared for work. Many 16 and 17 year olds are less confident about starting work.

Employers fare well when it comes to filling in knowledge gaps, with 80% of respondents saying they felt their employer provided strong support in providing skills specific to their working environment. Half of respondents said they attended training provided by their employer and 44% had on-the-job training. 55% of those polled said they had taken active steps themselves, through self-teaching, to address any gaps in knowledge.

75% of respondents believe employers are best placed to develop skills such as teamwork and most believe written communication and numeracy are best developed while at school or college (79% and 82% respectively).

Green concluded: "We all agree that businesses must focus on their bottom line but, ultimately, their employees are their biggest asset and we must invest in them."

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