Introduction to Higher Level Skills and Innovation

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Introduction to Higher Level Skills and Innovation

What are Higher Level Skills, and why are they essential to the Cogent sector?

Higher Level skills are known as Level 4 and above, and apply to those partaking in Higher Education, with some now in Further Education;
Cogent industries are knowledge and skills intensive, and rely on higher level science, engineering and innovation;
Higher Education and Higher Level Skills development are an essential part of up-skilling the Cogent workforce;
17 % Cogent workforce are currently qualified to level 4 (90,000), with a further 7% qualified to level 5 (39,000);
This sector of the Cogent workforce accounts for an additional £156bn turnover, £49bn value-added, and 6.5% of the UK GVA; - check data stream;
Graduate recruitment and supply is predominantly from the Science and Engineering sectors, and is typically 45 to 50% of the total graduate recruitment in the sector, and is steadily increasing - check data stream.

Focussing on Science and Engineering

The proportion of Science or Engineering graduates typically entering the Cogent workforce accounts for between 45-50% of the total graduate recruitment within the sector*.

Of these graduates, the largest proportion of graduates entering the Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals industry were from the subjects: Chemistry and Biology;

Of those entering the Oil and Gas industry, the largest proportion were from Mechanical Engineering and Chemical, Process and Energy Engineering;
The most popular non-science subject was Business Studies.

Although the graduate supply in science and engineering has risen, based on an average steady state supply of 4,000 graduates per annum, a further 60,000 graduates are required between 2005 and 2020 to meet the Leitch target.

* Data from HESA 2005-06

Workforce Development

In 2005-06, the supply of graduates with a Science and Engineering qualification broke down as:

950 Foundation Degrees

34,230 First Degrees

18,020 Higher Degress

Graduate supply is sufficient, indicating a need to increase the attractiveness of Cogent industries to the graduate workforce.

78% of HE provision for the top 5 subjects illustrated is from traditional full time courses;
Part-time HE provision is weak in Science and Engineering;
The expected graduate supply to 2020 matches the retirement rate, but is variable;
There is an 85,000 skills gap at higher levels, requiring major up-skilling from the level 3 workforce;
Transformational change in HE sector provision is a priority for Cogent sector workforce development.

For more information on Higher Education within the Cogent workforce, please view our factsheet