February Breakfast: “Is Britain’s education system creating the workforce of the future?”

For the February edition of our monthly breakfast series, we posed the question: “Is Britain’s education system creating the workforce of the future?”. We know that in order to achieve the Government’s ambitions to bring two million more people into the workplace, education and training will be crucial in giving people the skills to find long-term, sustainable employment. The skills demanded by the labour market are rapidly changing and the jobs available in the future will be different to the jobs offered in today’s economy. The rise of AI and automation will see certain sectors more at risk, having huge implications on the types of learning that we require. 

To tackle this issue, we hosted an esteemed panel of experts, including: Tim Clark, former headmaster and now Education Consultant; Soron Glynn, the Apprenticeship and Commercial Programme Lead at the JCB Academy; and Christopher Nieper OBE, chairman of an Education Trust in his own name which runs three schools in Alfreton, Derbyshire. Our Apprenticeships and Skills Director, Rt Hon Robert Halfon, a two-time former Minister for Skills and Chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee, chaired the discussion.

Robert opened the discussion by laying out the brutal facts: nine million adults lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, seven million are functionally illiterate, and 946,000 young people are classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). The UK lags behind global competitors in vocational training, while AI and automation threaten 1.5 million jobs over the next decade. He argued that we need to move past the outdated “knowledge vs. skills” debate and start integrating both, whilst embedding AI ethics, problem-solving, and data literacy into the curriculum, reversing the decline of hands-on subjects like Design & Technology, and expanding employer partnerships in education.

Education Shouldn’t Be One-Size-Fits-All

Tim echoed the call for reform. Schools, he argued, are partially preparing students for work, but many still churn out students who struggle in real-world employment. While careers education is now compulsory, the rigid school system still favours traditional academic achievement over practical skills. Tim’s biggest concern was the teacher recruitment crisis. Last year, 10% of teachers quit, and half of all teacher training places went unfilled. In subjects crucial for the future—like Physics and Technology—the numbers are even worse. Unless we retain top teachers and support new ones, systemic reform will be impossible.

UTCs: A Blueprint for Success?

Soron explained how the JCB Academy is a University Technical College (UTC), a type of academy designed to bridge the gap between education and employment. Unlike traditional schools, the JCB Academy recruits students from Year 9 onwards, teaching core subjects alongside engineering, business, and problem-solving, with the curriculum being designed to complement the needs of the business. Importantly, the school is funded by the state system and is completely free for pupils to attend.

Soron’s key message? Not every student needs A-Levels or a university degree. Some are future engineers, some are hands-on problem-solvers, and some will run farms, not finance companies. By tailoring education to their strengths and teaching real-world behaviours like punctuality, teamwork, and professionalism, UTCs prepare students not just to pass exams, but to thrive in the workplace. With an 85% success rate in placing students into further education, apprenticeships, or employment, UTCs like JCB Academy could be the model for the future.

Employers Must Step Up

Echoing Soron, Christopher argued that businesses hold the key to workforce readiness. “Recruit for attitude, train for skills,” he emphasised. His academy has zero NEET students—every graduate goes into higher education, an apprenticeship, or a job. Why? Because the school works directly with local businesses, mapping employability skills into every subject.

But Nieper warned that Britain’s economic decline is deeply tied to the failure to train young people. One in seven young people are economically inactive, and too many university graduates enter low-skill jobs with mountains of debt. He called for the Government to introduce a skills tax credit, that like the R&D tax credit, would incentivise businesses to invest in skills training by offering corporation tax reductions for every apprentice they hire. In a study conducted alongside the Centre for Social Justice, Christopher estimates that if the government implemented this, it would generate a net gain of £29 billion over five years—not a cost, but a profit for HM Treasury.

What About Early Years?

While much of the discussion focused on teens and young adults, an attendee raised an important point: 33% of children start school “not ready.” With poor literacy, speech difficulties, and even problems with basic physical development, these children never catch up—fuelling the country’s workforce crisis before they even enter the job market. He called for more investment in early years education to prevent skill gaps before they become impossible to fix.

The Big Picture: A Cultural Shift

Despite the challenges, the room was filled with optimism. The consensus was clear: Britain needs a cultural shift in how it views education, skills, and work.

Key takeaways included:

• Merge academic and vocational pathways so that all students develop both knowledge and skills.
• Make businesses active partners in education, from work placements to funding apprenticeships.
• Expand UTC-style education, which blends real-world skills with core learning.
• Introduce a Skills Tax Credit to encourage businesses to train young people.
• Invest in early years education to prevent long-term learning deficits.

As the breakfast wrapped up, our President, Matthew, concluded by highlighting the ladder of opportunity and the vital role that business plays in terms of developing this ladder, through the provision of good jobs and training opportunities. 

We don’t just need to talk about the ladder of opportunity. We need to build it.