As A-level and GCSE results are released, David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), described the frustration businesses feel about the lack of youth skills in the UK:

‘The government still has not grasped the nettle on youth skills. We will no doubt hear that grades have yet again improved and that more young people than ever are taking exams. But the overwhelming majority of businesses are exasperated with the quality of recruits they interview from secondary schools and colleges.’

The BCC have reported that nearly 80% of the firms that they talked to said that young people who they employ after leaving school with A-levels are ill-equipped for the world of work.

‘Businesses are fed up with having to teach literacy and numeracy skills to new recruits and deplore the decline in young people taking science subjects and languages. They want meaningful clarification on what grades really mean and a supply of young people with a real understanding of what will be expected of them in the workplace’.

Internet link: BCC press release