Creating a workforce for a prosperous and productive future

This report discusses the UK’s future skills needs in general – reflecting current needs and the expected consequences of trends such as demographic and technological shifts and other external drivers of change. We then look at these needs specifically from the perspective of three stakeholder groups: individual learners; employers and communities; and the wider UK economy. We look at the effects of recent and current policy changes and commentary in the literature regarding the effects of those changes. In particular we are concerned with the implications of whether the changes in train will ‘do the job’ or whether there is a risk of ‘getting it wrong’ when it comes to developing a system that supports lifelong learning for life, work and a changing economy. Finally we look at what getting it wrong will mean, in terms of impact on our stakeholder groups, and how that might translate into tangible economic impact.