Bosses say education has worsened

Exam results have shown huge improvements

Nearly half of senior managers believe education in the UK has declined over the last 10 years, despite improvements in exam results, a study suggests.

The majority of managers polled in an Institute of Directors study also said young people's skills, particularly in writing and mathematics, had weakened.

But the survey of 500 institute members also suggests that young people have better information technology skills.

The government said results had risen and quality was sharply scrutinised.

In its report, Education Briefing Book, the IoD suggests more than half (55%) of its members feel the government's performance on education and skills has been unfavourable to business.

There is a substantial 'credibility gap' between what official statistics show and what employers feel on the front line Miles Templeman IoD

This compares to one in eight IoD members who felt it was favourable.

Another survey for the IoD of 100 university admissions tutors, carried out as part of the report, suggested some of these concerns were shared by academics.

The snapshot survey found 72% of admissions tutors believed the quality of undergraduates beginning a course in their department had remained the same or got worse. Just 28% thought the quality of students had risen.

These findings go against the official figures on educational attainment, which show huge improvements over the past decade.

In higher education, the proportion of students awarded first class or upper second class degrees in the UK increased from one third to 57% between 1982 and 2007.

At GCSE, the proportion of people achieving five good GCSEs in England has increased from 45.1% to 62% between 1997 and 2007.

At A-level, the pass rate rose for the 16th year in succession to reach 97.4% last year. And the percentage of A-levels graded A to C has doubled since the mid-1980s to 72.6%.

The paper also contains a review of current academic research into educational standards which suggests that although there is evidence of a rise in attainment at some levels, the actual increase is lower than the official figures suggest.

'Higher expectations'

Director general of the IoD, Miles Templeman, said there was a substantial "credibility gap" between what official statistics showed and what employers felt "on the front line".

"It is probably impossible to determine definitively the extent to which education services have improved or otherwise over the last decade.

"However, the analysis conducted for the Briefing Book suggests that we approach official statistics with caution. This matters."

England's Schools Minister Jim Knight said there was no doubt that English and maths standards had risen over the last decade.

"Business concerns about school leavers reflect the reality of the changing economy - with historic low unemployment and the virtual elimination of low-skill jobs.

"The reality is that employers rightly have far higher expectations of workers' skills than ever before."

He said employers' concerns were being tackled in England with tougher A-levels and GCSEs, improved skills training and the work alongside employers to introduce the new Diploma next year.

The report says much of the data it includes relates to England but that its authors have tried to include information from Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland as well.

The Scottish Government would not comment on the report as it said it focused on GCSE and A-level results - exams which are not taken in Scotland.