Car dealership BSc 'the future'

Degrees in subjects like car dealership management could help the UK maintain a competitive edge, a report says.

Universities must become more accessible to employers by offering training, says the report by business group the CBI and Universities UK.

It gave the example of scheme by Ford and Loughborough University to offer a BSc in car dealership management.

Only £5 billion of UK employers' £33 billion training budget is spent in higher education, the report stresses.

The report follows a recent CBI survey of employers which found more than half were worried about a skills shortage.

The Stepping Higher report, which was sponsored by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce), highlighted the advantages to business of working with higher education to create training programmes which delivered the skills required.

It said close collaboration between universities and the business sector was critical for the UK to maintain its competitive advantage.

'Tailor-made training'

CBI director general Richard Lambert said while many universities and businesses were working together effectively, more could be done to encourage further collaboration.

"Both sides can benefit from collaboration - businesses from new thinking and high quality employees, and universities from practical insights that enrich their teaching and research.

"CBI surveys have shown that employers are not confident that there will be sufficient skilled people available to them in the future to meet their needs.

"By failing to harness the knowledge and expertise of universities, businesses could be missing out on the chance to get high quality tailor-made training that will help their companies prosper in the longer term."

President of Universities UK Professor Rick Trainor said: "The report highlights some of the areas where universities and employers could each look at doing things differently.

"In particular, it asks whether universities need to be clearer about how they can add value to businesses and how they can become more accessible to employers.

"These are challenging times and priorities may be affected. But the UK higher education sector is ideally placed to help. As today's report points out, university research - in collaboration with business - can generate new ideas for products and services."

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