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Routes to Opportunity
Addressing the non-university skills gap in England.
10 January 2022
Funding from the Grand Challenge of Justice & Equality led to a report on access to vocational and technical education for the over- 25s in England听which investigated the mid-level skills gap some employers face and routes to undertaking technical and vocational education.
The report, Routes to Opportunity: Addressing the non-university skills gap in England, was authored by Institute of Education Doctoral candidate Aly Colman.听The report details the skills gap in England, identifying a critical shortage of people in skilled trades and insufficient opportunities through retraining and funding for people to be able to do these jobs.听
The report was launched听with a panel discussion featuring Professor Becky Francis and Sir Vince Cable MP.听
The report and the launch event brought together people from a wide range of disciplines and skills areas to discuss a pressing but under-reported political issue. As the report鈥檚 author, Aly Colman, noted, 鈥淭he Routes to Opportunity Report has enabled, through Grand Challenges, the opportunities to disseminate my research in really quite a big way鈥t the end of the launch event, a lot of people came up to me and spoke about their roles and the ways in which their particular job may interact with what I had done through the Grand Challenges report. So that was really useful and I鈥檝e been able to develop those links and I鈥檝e been connecting with people so that I鈥檓 able to follow this project up with connections that are really valuable and really useful.鈥�
The Routes to Opportunity project exhibition panel at the听Grand Challenges, Grand Impacts听exhibition, 2023
