A survey of UK CEOs has revealed that more than half (54%) believe the current education system is failing future workers and that a good degree or A levels alone are no guarantee of career success.

The research, commissioned by Skillsoft, found that whilst CEOs valued qualifications in their future managers (63% considered it to be their number one value), they felt the current education system is not equipping future workers with the basic skills that employers need.

Kevin Young, general manager, EMEA at Skillsoft, said: “There seems to be a disconnect between the skills gained whilst in education and those that employers need their new starters to have. With businesses working leaner and smarter to achieve success, they now expect more from their employees when it comes to basic office skills, in order to hit the ground running.

“A case in point is IT skills. We have noticed an increase in demand among our customers for basic IT training and, with the ICT curriculum set to be replaced with a computer science qualification from 2014, it could take time to close the gap. Industry and education need to work closer together to ensure that students are gaining the appropriate skills for work, which can be fine tuned and developed with on the job training and support,”.

The UK study, conducted by Opinion Matters on behalf of Skillsoft, surveyed 503 CEOs of businesses with more than 250 employees, across 13 business sectors.

A detailed analysis of the research can be found in the latest whitepaper entitled ‘CEO perspectives on people: leadership, recruitment and skills’ which can be downloaded here