Nearly two decades of reforms to the skills system have failed to improve UK productivity, claims a new report.
The research, commissioned by the Federation of Awarding Bodies and co-authored by its former chief executive, Tom Bewick, said it “found no evidence to show government skills reforms have had a direct or positive impact on UK productivity” in its analysis tracking back to the Leitch Review of Skills in 2006.
Too much emphasis has been placed on boosting the number of jobs in the economy, the report states, without “improving the quality (and therefore the productivity) of existing jobs,” the report, called Running to Stand Still, said.
Alongside analysis showing how UK worker productivity compares to competitor nations in the OECD, the federation has tracked the extent to which recommendations made in six major skills reviews have been implemented by the government.
