Universities are failing to train young people for the jobs of tomorrow
Nearly 12 per cent of people on universal credit are graduates. It’s time our universities stepped up by training students for the jobs they, and the British economy, need, writes Jamila Robertson
In response to a written question by shadow minister Neil’ O Brien, the UK Statistics Authority revealed that 11.9 per cent of those receiving universal credit are graduates, equating to a whopping 639,000 recipients between March and May 2025.
It seems that the Blairite delusion of sending as many people as possible to university, whether it could get them a job or not, is coming home to roost.
Nevertheless, university acceptance rates were up three per cent this year with the Sunday Times reporting the sharpest rise among top universities, with UCL and Durham accepting 24 per cent more students compared to last year.
Lower ranking universities are said to have their backs up. The vice chancellor of the University of Portsmouth has called for a cap on university admission numbers, noting that the reduction in international applicants at Russell Group universities had resulted in a surge of offers to domestic students. But surely he should welcome that the nation’s finest institutions are opening up opportunities for Brits, having previously brushed them aside for more lucrative international students?
Instead of trying to hobble other universities with a cap, he should compete by diversifying his offer. With AI rebalancing the jobs market towards blue collar jobs and so many graduates struggling to find work, why not ask what Portsmouth is great at, what businesses in the area want and what local opportunities are available.
Under the Conservatives we saw a push to encourage more young people to take up maths with the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP), largely credited with boosting entries in A-Level Maths to 100,000 for the first time. Sadly this was abruptly cut by Labour’s incoming education secretary, Bridget Phillipson.
Last week, the Resolution Foundation predicted that unemployment will rise to five per cent in the three months to August (due to be reported in October). The current unemployment rate stands at 4.7 per cent – a figure not seen since 2021. The Band of England predicts that it will rise to 4.9 per cent in the final quarter of this year. Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK have also fallen. In the last year payrolled employees fell by 164,000, with 634,000 young people aged 16 to 24 unemployed in Q2 2025 and the number of payrolled employees under 25 down by 119,000 in the year to June 2025.
In response to these figures, the Centre for Social Justice has recommended a Future Workforce Credit to incentivise employers to recruit and upskill NEETs aged 16-24, with the taxpayer paying an employer 30 per cent of a NEETs salary.
Focus on where the jobs are
Instead, we should encourage school leavers, and those pushed out of the labour market, to focus on where the jobs are – and for educational institutions ceding applicants to Russell Group universities, to do the same.
I was recently wowed by the HS2 Colne Valley Viaduct, a masterful feat of engineering. It is now the longest railway bridge in the UK and quite possibly the most beautiful; however its splendour is overshadowed by constant conversation about the costs of HS2. Infrastructure is the future of work and quite literally an opportunity to be part of building Britain. It is therefore time we focus on the opportunities afforded by some of our biggest infrastructure projects and not just the physical inconvenience, or impracticality of the time it takes; (yes these should be taken into account and yes it is absurd that projects take decades to build, but the more we build the better we will be). And the fact is, infrastructure projects improve productivity and create jobs: HS2 supports 30,000 jobs so far and 1,800 apprenticeships; Hinkley Point C will create 25,000 jobs, 1500 apprenticeships and produce energy for 6m homes; Sizewell C will create 10,000 jobs and 1,500 apprenticeships; and the Lower Thames crossing is expected to create 22,000 jobs.
The Colne Valley Viaduct is now the longest railway bridge in the UK and quite possibly the most beautiful; however its splendour is overshadowed by constant conversation about the costs of HS2
It is time that education institutions refocus their attention on offering genuine access to jobs in infrastructure that will fill the skills gaps in the domestic workforce.
Instead of trying to suppress the market by calling for caps on their competitors, universities should earn their fees by equipping students for the jobs of the future.
Jamila Robertson is an entrepreneur and political commentator