Comment: To plug the STEM skills gap, we must first address regional skills

The STEM skills gap is a much-reported issue within the sector. Nationally, it is a challenge, with over 173,000 STEM workers needed across the country (costing the economy £1.5bn per year through recruitment, temporary staffing, training and inflated salaries), but the issue should be managed differently depending on each region’s specific needs.

London naturally attracts many qualified workers. Graduates flock to the city from regional universities and educational institutions, providing a brain gain for the capital while other areas of the UK experience a brain drain.

The West Midlands, in particular, has the second lowest retention rate for STEM graduates in the UK after the East Midlands. Tackling the skills gap here is manifold, and is not just a matter of retaining graduates but also tackling the lowest regional levels of educational qualification attainment in the UK.

A report by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), suggests that “the region’s challenges lie more in getting a sufficient proportion of its young people to attain higher qualifications than in improving outcomes for those who already have them”.

Through my own research, I have found a gap in the number of learners in Level 4 and 5. Mid-level technical education (level 4 and 5) can serve both as a direct route to a job and as a further qualification for those already in work. Labour market needs are highly diverse, and not best met solely through the three-year bachelor’s degree. However, employers can be perplexed by the training routes available for non-traditional learners that don’t pursue the A-Level and degree route.

The growth of the STEM workforce lies in the provision of a variety of accessible pathways across all levels, targeting the gap in Level 4 and 5 learners and upskilling our citizens. Traditional routes into STEM can be intimidating for people with non-traditional qualifications, therefore supporting learners, no matter their age or qualification type or level is paramount. Raising awareness of programmes that can prepare mature students for returning to training would greatly push the workforce skill ceiling.

For example, this could be in pre-access courses (equivalent to GCSE) and/or access courses (equivalent to A-Levels), which have been designed to support adult learners who have been out of education for some time.

Apprenticeships also present an alternate pathway for skills development, providing on-the-job training and work experience. Almost half of all apprentices are over the age of 25, demonstrating that if employers are incentivised to engage with training, more opportunities are made available to the workforce to upskill or retrain. For Levels 4 and 5 specifically, higher technical qualifications (HTQs) can be an option that prepares learners for an accelerated apprenticeship, degree or employment, further widening access to a diverse range of skills and careers.

These HTQs are high-quality, job-focused qualifications that enables employers to develop the standards the qualifications are assessed against. It means that the learner is trained in skills as set by industry themselves and continues close collaborations between educational institutions and businesses alike. Supported by the Higher Technical Education Skills Injection Fund, the qualifications provide widespread alternatives to a three-year degree, ahead of the government’s introduction of the lifelong learning entitlement in 2025.

The Greater Birmingham and Solihull Institute of Technology (GBS IoT) recently successfully won a funding bid for HTQs with a particular focus on Level 4 and 5 qualifications in engineering for the region. As part of the allocated funds, University College Birmingham will be delivering HNC Building Services Engineering (submitted as part of a bid with GBS IoT).

As the WMCA report says, “the pathway to brain gain for the West Midlands would be to continue to attract the large number of students it does, but hang on to more of them, particularly graduates in STEM.”

For both learners and employers within the region, we as educational institutions should continue to demonstrate clear and diverse routes into work that create fulfilling continuous careers, and by working collaboratively with industry we can enhance skill development within the region and the wider country as a whole.

Rosa Wells is FE Principal and Dean for STEM at University College Birmingham