Research and analysis

Low-skilled adults are missing out on training: the skills gap

Adult training is often only available to workers who are highly paid or skilled with those with the lowest qualifications losing out on training.

From:
Social Mobility Commission
Published
29 January 2019

Documents

Adult skills gap and the falling investment in adults with low qualifications (HTML)

Adult skills gap and the falling investment in adults with low qualifications

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Details

The report finds that:

  • disadvantaged adults with the lowest qualifications are the least likely to access adult training despite being the group who would benefit most
  • overall investment in adult skills from employers, government and individuals was around £44 billion in 2013 to 2014 - government funds just 7% of this training
  • government funding for the Adult Skills Budget fell by £830 million (cash terms) between 2010 to 2011, and from £2.84 billion to £2.01 billion, equivalent to a 34% fall (real terms) between 2015 to 2016
  • graduates are 3 times more likely to receive training than those with no qualifications, while professionals and managers are about twice as likely to receive training as lower-skilled workers
Published 29 January 2019