House of Commons - Educating tomorrow's engineers: the impact of Government reforms on 14-19 education

Educating tomorrow's engineers: the impact of Government reforms on 14-19 education - Science and Technology Committee Contents

2 The engineering skills gap

Needs of engineering employers

7. The UK's engineering sector comprises over half a million engineering companies employing 5.4 million people.[10] The Royal Academy of Engineering explained that "the current engineering skills base is complex as engineering skills are deployed in all sectors of the economy".[11] It estimated that there are 2.3 million "skilled people in the engineering-related skills base" making up eight per cent of the UK workforce.[12]This engineering workforce produces "one fifth of the national [Gross Domestic Product] and half of UK exports".[13] Engineering UK stated:

In 2010, the engineering sector generated £1.15 trillion turnover, 25% of all UK turnover—three times the size of the financial services sector. Of the 2.1 million businesses in the UK, 550,000 are engineering businesses employing 5.6 million people—19% of the work force.[14]

8. We wanted to determine whether there was a need to improve engineering education and skills in the UK and particularly whether the current skills base met the needs of engineering employers.[15] Despite the size and productivity of the engineering sector, the evidence put forward by engineering employers overwhelmingly pointed to a worsening skills gap, both in the number and quality of engineers. For example, the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) stated:

Companies strived to hold onto skills during the recession, and as demand has picked up again, more and more businesses are reporting difficulties in recruiting skilled workers they need to occupy jobs. Furthermore, manufacturers expect the problem to escalate with two-thirds of manufacturers predicting difficulties recruiting production staff in the next five years. This concern is shared by all companies, regardless of size or sector.[16]

9. The Royal Academy of Engineering has estimated that around 820,000 science, engineering and technology (SET) professionals will be required by 2020, with 80 per cent of these required in engineering.[17] Lyn Tomkins, UK Operations Director, Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (SEMTA), stated "we need something like 82,000 engineers and technicians just to deal with retirements to 2016".[18] Engineering UK stated "the demand for skilled engineers and technicians is strong; for example, the Technician Council estimates there will be a demand for 450,000 technicians by 2020".[19] One indicator that the economy needs more graduate level engineers is "a persistent, sizeable wage premium for people holding engineering degrees" that has grown over the last 20 years.[20] Professor Alison Wolf's 2011 Review of Vocational Education noted that "the shortage of maths and science skills [...] is reflected in the fact that virtually every home student who applies for an engineering degree is offered a place, at a time when more and more applicants, overall, do not secure entry to university".[21] Differences in career routes for engineers and technicians are explored in the next chapter.

10. As well as the sheer gap in numbers, the quality of engineers entering the workforce was also a focus of concern. For example, National Grid stated:

We are able to fill our vacancies currently, but this does not mean that we are generally satisfied with the adequacy of the engineering skill base in the UK. We currently screen some 25,000 applications in order to get some 280 trainees. Our observation is that the number of applicants with the competence and qualities we seek is not appreciably greater than the number we recruit, which implies a significant underlying weakness in supply for the skills we require.[22]

British Airways has found that while "the applicants and intake for industrial apprentices are of a high standard academically", they "lack hand skills and airmanship" such as "an understanding of working in an industrial area and of safety and regulatory requirements in an engineering situation".[23] The quality of engineering education and skills provision will be covered in more detail in the next chapter of this Report.

11. As a consequence of the skills gap, the engineering industry "is struggling to recruit engineers" and consequently some companies have to recruit from outside the UK.[24] SEMTA stated that "31% of high tech manufacturing firms 'had recruited people from outside the UK owing to a lack of suitably qualified people from within the UK'".[25] However, as the Royal Academy of Engineering highlighted, recruiting from the international labour market is complicated by visa restrictions and "in certain sectors (such as defence) this is not an option".[26]

Why we need more engineers

12. The UK's need for engineers will be driven by various factors, including replacement demand due to engineers leaving the labour market and expansion in some sectors, such as nuclear new build and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).[27] The Royal Academy of Engineering highlighted the need for 830,000 SET professionals by 2020 "with a high proportion being engineers" and stated that "surveys [...] show that this demand will not be met by fresh graduates from UK universities" as there were "only 89,000 STEM graduates per year".[28]

13. Economic growth is a central ambition of the Government and crucial to the UK's global competitiveness.[29] The Government stated in its 2011 Plan for Growth that "we should determine to become a world-leader in, for example, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, creative industries, green energy and non-financial business services".[30] The Government considers that "manufacturing has been, and continues to be an important part of the UK economy".[31] The Plan for Growth noted that "manufacturing is the third largest sector in the UK economy after professional and business services and the retail sector in terms of share of UK GDP" yet acknowledged that "the supply of STEM skills still falls short of anticipated demand for technicians and engineers".[32] In November 2012, Lord Heseltine's report No stone unturned in pursuit of growth stated that "UK industry [...] appears to be relatively less skills intensive and employs fewer graduates in professional and technical occupations than its major competitors" and that "no boom in growth can be achieved without a significant rethink as to how we develop skills in this country - both funding training and its delivery".[33] When we asked Matthew Hancock MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills, how improving engineering skills fitted into the Government's growth agenda, he confirmed that it was "critical".[34]

14. Other engineering sectors are also crucial to the achievement of Government policies and ambitions. Two recent examples are: the Energy and Climate Change Committee expressed concern at the shortage of skilled scientists and engineers in its 2012 report on the Future of Marine Renewables in the UK,[35] and the Lords Science and Technology Committee noted that nuclear new build plans required significant numbers of STEM graduates over the next decade.[36] In general, the UK needs to:

maintain capability in civil engineering, engineering construction, electricity production and distribution, gas, water and sanitation, transportation, process manufacture, nuclear engineering, electronics, food manufacture, fuels, high-value materials, consumer products, IT, software and healthcare services. All depend on engineering knowledge and skills.[37]

15. Despite the Government's recognition of the importance of engineering skills, particularly to the growth agenda, there is a persistent gap in the numbers of engineers required to achieve economic growth, which is likely to worsen unless radical action is taken.

Diversity in engineering

16. The statistics we received on the under-representation of women in engineering varied, no doubt due to different methods of gathering data, but are stark nonetheless. The Royal Academy of Engineering stated that "only six per cent of people in engineering occupations are women".[38] The EEF provided international comparisons: "only nine per cent of engineering professionals are women compared to 18 per cent in Spain, 20 per cent in Italy and 26 per cent in Sweden".[39] The EEF added that "nearly two-thirds of men who graduated in engineering and technology disciplines entered employment within engineering and technology", whereas "for women this figure was [...] 45.8 per cent".[40] Education for Engineering (E4E) explained that under-representation was not due to a lack of ability as, for example, "a higher proportion of females achieve A*-C grades in at least two science GCSEs and in mathematics GCSE compared with males".[41] A leakage of female students then progressively occurs in physics A-level, an important precursor to engineering undergraduate degrees, as "only around 20% of the cohort for physics A level are female" and in higher education "the proportion of women in engineering subjects falls to around 12%".[42]

17. Several written submissions also mentioned the representation of ethnic minorities in engineering, which was less straightforward. E4E differentiated between different ethnic groups, stating that "there is considerable variation in participation and attainment in sciences and mathematics at [Key Stage 4] across different ethnic groups".[43] For example, "there is under-representation of Black pupils in high-attaining maths/science cohorts at GCSE while there is substantial over-representation of Chinese/Asian pupils in high-attaining science and maths cohorts at GCSE".[44] EADS UK stated that because it "is not unusual now to see over 30% of the [higher education and postgraduate] intake from overseas", the student body "is far more diverse than the UK population, except for gender".[45] Therefore a crucial point was that "the issue here is not so much about having [diversity] as the opportunity (or lack of it) for different groups in UK society".[46]

18. Engineering employers recognised the need to improve diversity, particularly given the demand for skilled engineers. SEMTA stated that "enabling the entry of underrepresented groups and particularly women into professions which are traditionally and predominantly male is economically vital".[47] Andrew Churchill, Managing Director, JJ Churchill Ltd., stated that women were "half of our potential pool of recruits, and to ignore it would be criminal at a time when we are short of skills. It is unconscionable and it makes bad sense".[48]

19. The lack of gender and ethnic diversity in engineering adds to the already significant skills gap. This is not a new issue and several organisations and initiatives exist to improve diversity in STEM[49] subjects and the workforce. For example, the Royal Academy of Engineering runs a "Diversity in Engineering programme that is funded [by Government] to the order of about £250,000 per year over the four-year spending review period".[50] However, EADS UK, an aerospace and defence company, indicated that many organisations exist to improve diversity but "tend to focus on gender equality" even though "under-represented ethnic groups also need support".[51] Richard Earp, Education and Skills Manager at National Grid, stated "the reality [...] is that we have not moved the dial very far, for instance, in terms of female participation in engineering degrees. [...] One could conclude that none of this effort has been successful".[52] More optimistically, the Baker Dearing Educational Trust considered that "a lot of good work is already being done to promote careers in [STEM]" and that "these efforts are making a difference and must continue".[53]

20. In this chapter we have outlined the gaps in the engineering skills base with regards to the numbers, quality and diversity of engineers, in order to provide a backdrop for the remainder of the Report. These issues will be explored further throughout the Report. The next chapter focuses on the different educational and training options in engineering available for people aged 14-19 years.

10 "Engineering UK 2013: The state of Engineering", Engineering UK, www.engineeringuk.com Back

11 Ev 56 para 4 Back

12 Ibid Back

13 Ibid Back

14 Ev w50 Back

15 This report focuses mostly on the needs of engineering businesses; however, the issues will generally also apply to public sector employers. Back

16 Ev 74 para 5 Back

17 Ev w30 para 2 Back

18 Q 3 Back

19 Ev w50 Back

20 "Jobs and Growth, The importance of engineering skills to the UK economy", Royal Academy of Engineering, September 2012, www.raeng.org.uk Back

21 Department of Education, Review of Vocational Education - The Wolf Report, March 2011, page 76 Back