AGR makes recommendations for preparing students for work

Nick Elvin

The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) has published recommendations for how the next government should help employers, schools and universities fully prepare young people for the world of work.

The AGR Manifesto 2015 calls on all political parties to tackle unpaid internships, and make work experience provision more appealing to employers by offering tax incentives.

The organisation says work experience and internships play a strong role in the overall productivity of the UK workforce, so employers must provide more opportunities and educators need to play their role to inspire students to get involved.

Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the AGR, said: “Our manifesto reflects the views of over 300 major employers which collectively recruit over 21,500 students a year in the UK. We’re urging all political parties to consider the recommendations in our manifesto; adopting them will help to ensure the UK can continue to produce exceptional work-ready students and bring huge benefits to the economy.”

The manifesto calls for:

• The embedding of employability skills into all levels of education;

• Better enterprise education in schools and universities;

• The Government to challenge Ofsted to be rigorous in reviewing schools’ delivery of careers advice;

• Schools, universities and employers to build stronger partnerships;

• The tackling of social mobility to help students reach their full potential;

• Measuring of universities’ levels of engagement with employers;

• Increased high-quality work experience for students whether at school or university;

• Tax incentives for employers to provide valuable work experience;

• The Government to champion the contribution international students make to universities and employers;

• A streamlined visa process for employers recruiting international graduates;

• Students to take a proactive approach to gaining work experience.

Isherwood added: “Our student recruitment market is arguably the most sophisticated and competitive in the world. Graduate vacancies are at record highs and graduate employees are adding at least £1bn to the UK economy every year. Yet our recent survey of AGR employer members reported over 1,400 unfilled vacancies, revealing that employers are struggling to find the right talent to meet their business needs.

“We believe there is a need to be working harder as a country to develop young people for the world of employment. The Government, employers, schools, universities and students themselves all need to do their bit to inspire young people and help them achieve their potential. This means better careers advice and enterprise education in schools and universities, as well as more meaningful paid work experience to expose young people to the working world.”