Ambition 2020: World class skills and jobs for the UK (UK Council for Education and Skills, May 2009)

This position statement assesses the likelihood of improving the UK’s ranking in the international league tables of skills.  The picture is one of an increasing divide between outwardly focused, upwardly mobile economies and others, including the UK: 

'One of our key tasks is to assess the UK's progress towards that goal. This report is the first of what will be an annual assessment of how well we are doing, and what we need to do, to achieve our ambition by 2020. It monitors our progress against our international competitors and in the context of both the Leitch Ambition for 2020 and the aims and priorities of the four nations of the UK. It aims to provide a sound evidence base for advice; a baseline from which to assess future progress; and an agenda on which future success can be built.' 

'Our prospects for attaining the 2020 ambition:

We have assessed our likely progress and the prospects of achieveing World Class standing in skills and jobes in the next decade.Our projections suggest that the UK's relative international position is unlikely to improve by 2020, let alone to become World Class. Indeed, overall, it may deteriorate slightly. By 2020, we are likely to be ranked 23rd on low level skills (compared to 17th now); 21st on intermediate level skills (compared to 18th now); and 10th on high level skills (compared to 12th now). We will, therefore, not be in the top eight countries of the world at any skill level (see Table 0.1). Overall, the international skills gap between the UK and the top countries is widening rather than closing.'