Press Story

As technological changes alter traditional low- and mid-skilled roles, think-tank warns the skills system must become even more flexible and transferable to better support people already within their careers to up- and re-skill.

Scotland’s economy faces substantial challenges over the coming years and the skills system will need to reform to ensure these challenges can be successfully met.
Scotland’s current labour market faces challenges around the ‘three Ps’ - on pay, productivity and progression – which need to be tackled to deliver inclusive growth.
Regional integration of the skills system is required to reduce duplication and increase efficiency with learners and employers at the centre of designing learning to create a more responsive system.

The skills system in Scotland – colleges, apprenticeships, learning and work-based training – needs to reform if it is to meet the challenges it faces now and in the future, a leading think-tank is warning.

With weaker economic growth, and challenges around pay, progression and productivity in Scotland we need to see changes that will focus on these areas to deliver future inclusive growth.

Over the longer-term, technological and demographic changes will alter our economy and society and will likely mean people will work longer, in multiple careers and for multiple employers. But the skills system is currently not ready for this challenge and needs to reform further over the coming years to do so, the analysis warns.

IPPR Scotland, Scotland’s progressive, cross-party think tank, has undertaken research with the skills system to determine the challenges it faces, as seen from the skills system itself, and the priorities for action to tackle this. The research and report, Equipping Scotland for the Future, was funded by FETL (Further Education Trust for Leadership).

The report finds that Scotland faces a number of pre-existing challenges:

On pay, Scotland’s caught up with the UK pay rate between 2010 and 2015, but pay in Scotland and the UK has fallen in real terms in recent years.
On progression, fewer Scottish people progress from low skill jobs to middle and high skill jobs than the UK as a whole.
On productivity, Scotland’s standing has improved against the UK average – but the UK has performed poorly over this time.

The report warns that the skills system needs to see reform now to be ready for the long term. IPPR Scotland outlines six priorities for action for the skills system in Scotland:

1. embedding an outcome approach and setting a clear national purpose of the skills system – it is not clear what the overall purpose of the skills system is

2. regional integration of the skills system – not just college regionalisation but across the skills system

3. clarifying roles of learning routes within the skills system – there is too much confusion and duplication between routes at present

4. learners and employers co-designing a responsive skills system – the funding and implementation of the Apprenticeships Levy in Scotland offers opportunities in this regard

5. improving flexibility of learning so that learners can learn at a pace that suits their needs

6. increasing transferability of learning so that learning can be built up over what will be longer working lives, potentially in multiple careers and for multiple employers

Action in these six areas will prepare the skills system in Scotland to meet the long-term challenges it faces, and to be at the centre of driving the changes that Scotland will need to see over the coming years, the report concludes.

Russell Gunson, Director of IPPR Scotland, said:

“The skills system in Scotland needs help to deliver the economy that Scotland needs.

“In the short-term there are weaknesses in Scotland’s economy around pay, progression and productivity that the skills system can help to address. In the long-term, with demographic change and technological change likely to see a very different world of work we must make the decisions now that prepare us for this future.

“The Scottish Government has undertaken reform within parts of the skills system in recent years, but it will need to go even further to create a skills system that can help to deliver inclusive growth. In particular, we will need to see a skills system with a much clearer national focus, one that is integrated at the regional level reducing duplication, and a system focused as much on those learners who have already started their careers as those just starting out.

“By taking action now, we can prepare Scotland for the future, delivering a skills system that supports Scotland’s economy for the long-term.”

Contact:

Ash Singleton, a.singleton@ippr.org, 07887 422 789

Notes:

IPPR Scotland is the cross party think-tank working on public policy in, and for, Scotland. It takes no position on constitutional issues. IPPR Scotland is available to comment on various matters relating to Scotland and the UK, and Scotland's public services.

FETL (Further Education Trust for Leadership) supported IPPR Scotland’s research work. FETL is an independent think tank and charity working to strengthen and support the leadership of thinking in further education and skills.