An “exam-obsessed”school system is leaving youths unprepared for work, Alan Milburn has said, as brand-new ballot suggests instructors think pupils are leaving education without the abilities they require for adult life.Milburn, a former cabinet minister under Tony Blair and now leading a government-commissioned review into youths and work, said the system had actually become extremely concentrated on scholastic sorting instead of real-world readiness.He said: “Educators are ideal. We have actually built an education system that is brilliant at arranging youths by scholastic ability and poor at equipping them for adult life. Time and again employers state youths are not work ready.” His intervention comes as a YouGov survey of 1,004 primary and secondary school teachers in the UK found nearly three-quarters(74% )stated there was too much focus on passing exams; while 73% stated there was insufficient concentrate on preparing students for work or establishing” soft skills”. Milburn stated the data should function as a”onslaught”to schools and policymakers, stating that scholastic accomplishment and employability need to not be viewed as competing concerns. “High instructional standards and real-world abilities are not in competitors,”he said.He likewise argued that in a fast-changing labour market, schools needed to do more to gear up youths with” communication and cooperation abilities, dexterity and imagination”along with formal qualifications.The polling recommends instructors mainly concur that improvement is required, with about 73%saying the curriculum could be adapted to provide a wider set of work-focused abilities without decreasing standards.There was broad assistance for more powerful careers provision, with 98% support profession recommendations in all schools, 92%supporting more applied or trade pathways before the age of 16, and 95%supporting alternative paths for students who fight with the current system.Six in 10 teachers said young people’s soft skills had gotten worse over the previous 5 years and 66% thought general readiness for work had declined.Milburn’s intervention comes at a time of increasing focus on the transition from education into employment.In late 2025, the government commissioned him to lead an independent evaluation into why rising varieties of young people were not in education, employment or training(Neet), with the final report expected this summer.The review is examining the drivers behind a sharp boost in youth lack of exercise, consisting of the role of health, special needs and skills mismatches. It will make suggestions throughout education, welfare and employment systems.The most current main stats show almost 1 million 16 -to 24-year-olds fall into this category, a figure that has prompted growing concern amongst ministers about long-lasting financial and social consequences.Milburn, 68, stated the current education model would deal with increasing analysis if it continued to prioritise test outcomes over long-lasting results for young people.He said:”In a fast-changing labour market, schools require to gear up young people with the qualities they need to prosper– interaction and collaboration skills, agility and imagination.”The government’s commitment to stronger
work preparedness in schools is welcome and the direction of travel is right, but aspiration needs to be matched by action at scale.”Milburn included that schools might go further in reinforcing relate to companies and broadening access to significant work experience, arguing that closer engagement with the labour market would be important to enhancing outcomes.He stated:”With nearly a million 16 -to 24-year-olds not in work, education or training, a system judged more on exam results than student destinations will rightly be scrutinised by my review. “