John Denham, Labour’s Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, has made a speech at Southampton University highlighting that, with six million adults of working age currently with only A levels or equivalent qualifications, there is a large pool of untapped talent in the workforce which may benefit from higher education.   

Recent research indicates that around four million adults would actively consider participating in Higher Education. Current estimates suggest that a university degree is worth well over £100,000 (after tax at today’s prices) more than stopping at A-Levels.

Increasing the nation’s skills levels is imperative if we are to remain globally competitive. 40% of the 2020 workforce will need degree level skills compared with 31% now. And 75% of the 2020 workforce has already left school. So we need to reach out to people already in workplace to support them to increase their skills.

John also challenged 17,000 employees in Southampton to grasp the opportunity to improve their job prospects and increase their earnings by taking one of the wide range of qualifications that higher education has to offer.

John said “I believe that every person who has the ability to go to university should also have the opportunity to do so. Many people in the workforce didn’t get the opportunity to go to university the first time round. We are giving them a second chance.  In Southampton currently 28% of people in the working age population have degree level skills. To get to 40% we’ll need roughly another 17,000 people to up their skills. So I say to them: it’s not too late to improve your skills to get a better job and to build a better life for yourself and your family.

“Opening up the opportunity to millions of people already in the workforce is not just about enabling people to reach their full potential – it is an economic imperative too. I believe that if we are to create the high-level skills base by 2020 that the UK needs, then we must aim to give those four million people who want to go to university the chance to get one of the increasingly wide range of qualifications that higher education has to offer.”

Background

Labour is taking forward a series of policies to encourage more employees to realise their potential and gain higher level skills.

• In the Draft Legislative Programme announced by the Prime Minister on 14 May, he signalled our intention to consult on giving employees the right to ask for time to train. This would give up to 22m people the opportunity to have a serious conversation with their employer about their skills development, and we believe that this will encourage employers to take up the increasing Government support for training programmes that is available to them.

• Labour is creating 60,000 new university places over the next three years, and expects many adults, who may have missed out on a university education first time around, to take advantage of these.

• Labour has launched the new ‘University Challenge’, which will allow towns to bid for 20 new university campuses or centres over the next 6 years. We estimate that this will provide up to 10,000 university places, and will mean that location should not be a barrier to participation.

• Labour has launched a consultation on high level skills, which will seek views from employers, students, colleges and universities on how to build stronger and more flexible links between business and higher education.
 
• Labour is introducing an adult advancement and careers service (AACS) that will provide a joined-up service, improving the careers and skills advice that adults receive and help them to progress in learning and at work. It will also provide advice on housing, employment rights, childcare, finance and personal issues to help them overcome barriers to success. Two pilot services will be opened in London this year.

• In March, the Lifelong Learning Network (LLN) achieved national coverage - involving over 90 per cent of all universities in England and over 300 colleges. These networks bring further and higher education closer together, and facilitate links between the two. John Denham has now asked HEFCE develop a stronger, more focused remit for the Lifelong Learning Networks. He also wants LLNs to develop clear progression routes for people on diplomas and for those following LSC-funded vocational programmes and workplace learning into HE.

• In July 2007, Labour announced a radical extension of the student support package. This will mean that one third of all students in England entering higher education in the academic year 2008/09 will receive a full non-repayable grant worth £2,825 and another one third will receive a partial grant.

• John Denham has asked Christine King, Vice Chancellor of Staffordshire University, to produce a report for DIUS on the provision of part-time study in higher education, alongside others from the sector whom he has asked to advise on the future of higher education.