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Universities and businesses have been urged to work more closely to raise the UK's skills base in key areas of engineering and technology.

Employers' organisation the

said more academic institutions should follow the example of those such as

, which has developed a business-focused foundation degree in railway engineering in conjunction with Network Rail.

A report called 'Stepping Higher', published by the CBI and

estimates that the higher education sector could provide up to £5bn of the £33bn spent on training by employers each year.

While the report praises the best examples of employer/university co-operation, it claims more could be done on both sides to boost the level of skills in the economy by working together.

Among its recommendations is that employers are given a clearer idea of the expertise available within particular universities and how that could be harnessed to develop their employees.

Academic staff are urged to think afresh about what it means to be a student, and recognise that those enrolling on courses as part of their workplace development may need a different approach to traditional undergraduates or research students.