The Next Generation series from Prospect is a new programme of discussions examining the long-term challenges and opportunities shaping the lives of younger generations. Forthcoming roundtable discussions will range from housing to technology, work and loneliness.
The first event—which took place in early September and in partnership with Barratt Redrow—focused on education. It was a timely discussion coming weeks after prime minister Andy Burnham announced new educational pathways from the age of 14. These offer access to skills, work experience and connections with local employers. It came, too, at a time when policymakers, industry, schools and colleges are all wrestling with the likely effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of work.
Providing further context to the discussion is the prevailing challenge of those aged between 16 and 24 who are not in education, employment or training (Neets). The number of Neets in the UK hovers just below one million. That’s one in eight young people, a figure described as “scary” by one roundtable contributor, indicative, he said, of a fundamental “disconnect”. “On the one side we’ve got the young people looking for opportunities, and on the other side we’ve got employers who are looking for the people.”
In a wide-ranging roundtable discussion, attendees were asked to consider three big questions: is the current education system structurally capable of preparing young people for an AI-driven economy?; do existing skills, assessment and post-16 reforms reflect the scale of labour market change set out in government policy?; and what would a future-facing education settlement look like if designed from scratch today?
On the first question one employer noted how new technology is “reshaping roles across the economy. Entry-level roles are evolving. Some tasks are being automated.” As a result, he said, “employers are placing greater emphasis on adaptability, communication, problem solving and collaboration. Increasingly, success depends not just on what that individual knows, but how effectively they can apply the knowledge they’ve got into a real-life situation. However, it seems like our education system hasn’t quite caught up.”
In an effort to catch up, the government has introduced new level 4 AI apprenticeships in England, with an ambition for AI skills to be augmented in existing qualifications. These include T levels (two-year technical qualifications for students aged 16 to 19 in England) and future V levels (a wide range of qualifications that are neither A nor T levels). Despite these efforts, many around the table remain of the view that “as soon as you put something out there, it’s out of date.”
One attendee highlighted the need to overcome the limitations of “subject-siloed teaching” which does very little to help younger generations “connect the dots and laterally problem solve.” The speaker added: “One of the things that we’ve been discussing with our clients (the big employers in the UK) is the need for project-based learning” in order to bridge the gap between subject knowledge and communications and leadership skills.
AI is reshaping roles across the economy—as a result employers are placing greater emphasis on crucial soft skills
As a counterpoint, there was a call for perspective and positivity. The speaker noted that, regarding new tech of the past, “people have been saying for hundreds of years that the pace of change is unprecedented, and that jobs are disappearing. We need not throw the baby out with the bathwater… Things are changing, but there will still be knowledge-based jobs.” The speaker urged educationalists to embrace this “new tool and teach people how to use it properly”.
The government insists that in delivering post-16 reforms, it is committed to a process of “co-design and collaboration with the sector and employers”. Nevertheless, some in industry question whether employees have truly been consulted. “One of the big challenges for us is which route are we going to support,” said one participant. Another called for “consistency” of access. While acknowledging the benefits of local decision-making, the speaker argued that as a “national employer you want the system to be easy to engage with. You want one person in government to talk to.”
Consistency and simplicity aren’t issues that apply to employers alone. They concern those wishing to enrol onto apprenticeships, too. Unlike the university application system, Ucas, where “you can work out quite quickly where you can get support … none of that really exists for apprenticeships. Or if it does, it exists in lots of different places.”
Elsewhere, speakers pointed to international comparators that suggest apprenticeship excellence directly correlates with investment, while others were concerned that new reforms would place unrealistic expectations on educational institutions. “Most colleges will engage with between 700 and 1,000 employees. Thinking about the reforms that are coming, that won’t even touch the sides.”
On the final roundtable topic—how would attendees reimagine the education settlement if starting from zero—many said they would start by foregrounding project work rather than traditional exams. The former nurtures the ability to “work effectively with others”, offered one roundtable voice, while exams are “all about assessment, and that’s something you do on your own”.
To develop a generation prepared for an AI-driven economy, said another speaker, a greater focus must be placed on the “everyday skills that children use in the classroom and that they will use in the workplace”. That means developing, and “celebrating” the ability to imagine and to think critically (“alongside all the academic stuff”) and to do so through art, design and sport, for example. In a similar spirit, another attendee argued that if you wish to build “confident, motivated and curious employees of the future” then you need to make that available to every child rather than those who “step forward” first.
In the words of another speaker, more consideration needs to be given to getting the right balance of socio-technical skills. “Technical includes digital and AI, while social features critical judgment, creativity and communications,” she said. To that end, schools must embed “essential digital skills frameworks” within their teaching. That includes the more philosophical discussion areas such as the ethics of AI but also the “basic stuff, such as how to get your wage slip off the internet”.
“Start career discovery earlier,” urged one participant as the discussion drew to a close. Rather than presenting a single “pathway”, offer “multiple lines of sight” so a young person can explore a range of career options (“I could be in construction … but I might want to be a doctor”). In doing so, schools will nurture curiosity and set young people off on a journey of discovery.
‘Education Reset: skills, AI and the future of work’, part of Prospect’s Next Generation Series and jointly hosted by Barratt Redrow, took place on Tuesday 8th September
