Skills strategy for Londoners: Evidence base

This skills evidence base supports the Mayor’s skills strategy, ‘Skills for Londoners’. It covers the demand for and supply of skills, inequalities in skills, employer training, and the training and education system. Some of the main points from the report: London residents are highly qualified compared to the rest of the UK and the rest of Europe. In 2017, 56% of Londoners age 25-64 had degree-level qualifications, compared to 40% in the rest of the UK. In 2015, almost 200,000 people working in London were considered by their employers to be under-skilled for their job (4.4% of employment). There were also 40,000 vacancies that employers found hard to fill because of a lack of skills. Nationally, spending on adult education has fallen since 2010. This is reflected in lower participation. Between 2012/13 and 2016/17 the number of adult Londoners (age 19+) participating in classroom-based further education fell 41%, although the number of adult apprenticeships increased by 9% in this period. The level of employer training in London (and the rest of the UK) has fallen over the past 20 years, and is low compared to the rest of Europe. Employers are also now adjusting to the new apprenticeship levy.