Though London’s highly qualified workforce offers graduates opportunity, fierce competition means that many of London’s graduates end up in ‘non-graduate’ jobs. In some occupations, such as administrative and associate professional roles, London’s workforce has almost twice the proportion of graduates that the rest of the UK has.

Our participants pointed out that the skills that employers want are now shifting, and that universities should do more to ensure students leave with these ‘employability skills’ in their possession. Some examples that were suggested included higher level cognitive skills such as critical thinking skills, as well as interpersonal and digital skills. However, our attendees noted that there is a lack of research on the changing needs of employers, and that this should be addressed to properly assess whether the education system is providing people with the skills they need to succeed in employment.

Another way this ‘skills gap’ could be addressed is by making adult part-time learning more accessible. Indeed, the need for the government to take more action on adult learning was stressed by many of our speakers.

While young people in London are often provided with support to get into university through school, accessing education as an adult can be a much harder process. Lack of money, time, access to childcare, and access to technology are all possible obstacles that may prevent adults from entering higher or further education, despite a desire to do so.

Loans are much less available for shorter courses than they are for full-time three-year degrees. To address this issue, the government has promised to roll out a Lifelong Learning Entitlement in 2025 to cover tuition costs for upskilling and reskilling. This would create a unified student finance system for both higher and further education. Our attendees raised concerns about whether the government will deliver on this promise due to a history of government under-delivering on adult learning.

More careers advice was called for as a way to ensure people are able to access more opportunities, whatever stage of life they are at. One speaker noted that whilst careers advice often focuses on school leavers, adults who want to upskill or reskill would benefit from knowing what career options are out there. Further devolution of the Adult Education Budget, which was proposed by a number of our participants, could allow more education providers across London to offer this service.

Conclusion

Higher education has increasingly become an entry ticket for opportunities in London, enabling those from disadvantaged backgrounds to become socially mobile and enter higher income brackets. However, our discussion highlighted that some groups in London may still struggle to access higher education (especially in light of proposed policy changes) and that academic attainment does not always translate into access to lucrative professional jobs. Our speakers explored some solutions to this issue, including more research into what skills employers need, better access to adult part-time learning, more careers advice, and further devolution of funding.