Budget 2023: Education and skills at the heart of the Government’s growth plan, but a missed opportunity on work experience

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt used his Spring Budget to reaffirm that education and investing in skills are at the heart of the Sunak Government’s economic growth strategy. Hunt said that sustainable, healthy growth is what helps pay for our schools and finds jobs for young people. He isn’t wrong, but more than words are needed.???

The Conservative Government has set up policies that target skills development for the future. But if we are to realise Hunt and Sunak’s ambition of a high-wage, high-skill economy, then we need to see investment in work experience. This will support businesses, help young people get better-paid and highly skilled jobs, increase productivity and drive economic growth.??

In his Autumn Statement last year, Jeremy Hunt announced that Michael Barber would advise the Government on implementing its skills reform programme. Nearly 120 days on, this Budget was a missed opportunity for the Government to set out its plan to invest in life-changing interventions such as work experience.?

We?have seen first-hand the potential of young people, and, at Speakers for Schools, we are ambitious about the UK’s future. However, we need the right foundations in place so that every state school student can realise their potential – no matter where they live or what school they go to.??

Last year, we commissioned independent research from YouGov to understand the impact of work experience. It should come as no surprise that young people who had the opportunity to undertake work experience have greater confidence in themselves and their abilities. However, it also shows that young people who get a work experience opportunity are less likely to become NEET (not in employment, education or training), and there is a clear link between work experience and higher salaries – averaging at 3.4% per opportunity.??

The skills challenge is not the same across the country – each region has unique skills gaps that need addressing. The Government’s move to give greater decision-making power to the Mayors of the West Midlands and Manchester, including on skills, is great; but its change-making potential is limited if it doesn’t include empowering them to transform the lives of students at local schools.??

A recent report from the Social Market Foundation recommended a phased approach to implementing universal work experience. The Government has identified eight investment zones across England with a particular focus on productivity, skills and levelling up. These investment zones would present the perfect opportunity to roll out work experience and ensure local opportunities align with key regional economic and innovation goals and priorities.??

Business wants – and needs – a skilled pipeline of passionate young people coming through that it can be confident in. Ensuring that all young people, regardless of their background and where they went to school, have the same opportunity to realise their potential is critical to this.??

Speakers for Schools launched its #WorkExperienceForAll campaign last year aimed at transforming access to work experience for young people, local businesses and the wider economy. The Budget was a missed opportunity for the Government to demonstrate its continued commitment to investing in young people and their future careers. ?

As part of his wider work on skills, Speakers for Schools hopes that Michael Barber grasps the opportunity he has to transform the futures of young people in this country and support economic growth and productivity, by recommending universal work experience.??

Find out more at speakersforschools.org/work-experience-for-all/ ?