Employers as customers of Higher Education for growth through people Moira McKerracher – Deputy Director UK Commission for Employment and Skills

Contents  About UKCES  The Employer Perspective  What employers want – employability of new recruits  What employers want – when training their staff  When it works well – Forging Futures  How to achieve Growth through People

UKCES

What do employers want? Employability of Higher Education leavers: the headlines  31% of all employers in England have recruited any education leavers in the last 2-3 years  14% of all employers in England have recruited HE leavers  81% of employers who recruited HE leavers found them well prepared for work  This compares to 71% for FE leavers, 60% for school leavers (aged 17-18) and 53% for school leavers (aged 16)  15% of employers who recruited a HE leaver found them to be poorly prepared or very poorly prepared for work  This compares to 25% for FE leavers, 36% for school leavers (aged 17-18) and 42% for school leavers (aged 16)  Of those employers who recruited a HE leaver 10% found them lacking working world or life experience

Forging Futures Looks at why universities and employers collaborate to develop alternative pathways to higher level skills in a range of contexts Practically considers how successful examples of collaboration can be set up, delivered and sustained Promotes the need for increased collaboration of this kind Showcases 12 case studies in six industrial sectors across the UK

Growth through people – five priorities Employers should lead on skills and government should enable them Workplace productivity should be recognised as the key route to increasing pay and prosperity Education and employers should be better connected to prepare people for work Success should be measured by a wider set of outcomes, not just educational attainment ‘Earning and learning’ should be the gold standard in vocational education

Thank you