A projected increase in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds in England is poised to drive a surge in school-leavers pursuing further and higher education by the end of the decade, coinciding with a pressing need for enhanced technical skills across the nation.

Leaders in the education sector have emphasized the necessity for increased government funding to accommodate this increase, particularly as the demand for proficiency in artificial intelligence, or AI, and excellence in other technical skills is growing.

A report published in April by the Association of Colleges, or AoC, which represents technical colleges and institutions that offer apprenticeships, made clear how the nation's need for technical skills is not being met, while business leaders have stressed the need to train up a cohort for the growing number of jobs in industries including AI and computing, engineering, and teaching and health.

To address this challenge, policymakers, educators, and industry leaders have been called upon to forge deeper partnerships and streamline efforts to meet the mounting demand.

Educational experts say that with increased funding from government and more coordination between the further education sector, which offers vocational, professional, and technical training to students post-16 and post-18, and the higher education sector, where undergraduates typically study for bachelor's degrees at universities, the rise in domestic student numbers in England can feed a workforce capable of driving economic growth and filling the skills demand.

"The education system in England is rightfully celebrated for its excellence. However, what is needed is a tertiary system that is fairer, more efficient and more effective than the system we now operate in," the AoC report states.

Industry leaders say the projected 18-percent increase in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds between now and 2030, which is known as a "demographic bulge", emphasizes the urgent requirement for expanding the provision of apprenticeships, technical qualifications, and university degrees, in order to enable greater numbers of people to benefit from higher and further education.

In an interview with China Daily, John Rushforth, executive secretary of the Committee of University Chairs, said the demographic bulge offers opportunity to reform the system, but only if it is properly funded.

"An expansion in higher education for example, could help tackle social mobility issues and enable greater numbers of those from disadvantaged backgrounds to benefit from higher education," he said. "The demographic bulge itself is unlikely to rebalance the system toward alternatives to our current system — what will be needed is to tackle other barriers."

Such challenges were highlighted in a report from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, published last year, which found that 61 percent of former applicants did not pursue an apprenticeship because they could not find one in their preferred location. It said creating more high-quality apprenticeships across the UK could help meet soaring demand while tackling talent shortages.

Graduates needed

A recent survey of FTSE350 business leaders, published by advocacy organization Universities UK, suggested that more than 11 million extra graduates, in addition to the 15.3 million graduates currently in the United Kingdom's workforce, will be needed to fill jobs in the country by 2035 in key industries, including AI.

It reported that 88 percent of new jobs by 2035 will be at graduate level, and that the UK will need more than 1.9 million science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, professionals by 2035.

It said the UK will need more than 1.2 million health and social care associate professionals, including opticians, medical technicians, housing officers and youth and community workers by 2035, and more than 1 million health professionals, such as doctors and nurses.

More than 1 million teaching and educational professionals, such as university and higher education teachers, will also be needed by 2035.

Due to AI, there will be a 10 percent net increase in jobs that require a degree during the next 20 years, the report noted.

According to the AoC study, which was conducted by business consultancy London Economics, if current trends persist, the estimated net annual cost of higher education funding is projected to reach 3.14 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) by 2030/31, adding pressure on government budgets, and thereby putting at risk the funding across the rest of the education system.

Funding for further education colleges in the UK comes from various sources, including government grants and allocations, while tuition fees and grants for research and teaching are the most significant sources of income for most higher education institutions, or universities.

Both universities and further education colleges are experiencing increasing financial pressures. British universities must attract higher-paying international students, who typically help subsidize domestic places that are offered at a financial loss, while further education, or technical colleges, are short of government funding in general.

Despite the government's announcement of a 900-million-pound increase in day-to-day funding for adult education and apprenticeships by 2024/25 during the last spending review, public expenditure on skills will still be 23 percent lower than the levels seen in 2009/10, as revealed by analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank.

Both sectors, further education and higher education, have highlighted the long-term impact of short-sighted reductions in public funding on the UK's productivity and prosperity.

The industry is working to find solutions to the funding crunch, with proposals including possible changes to the student loan initiative that could free up money for investment.

Alternative solutions

Other options include adjusting the apprenticeship levy, a payroll tax on large employers that finances apprentice and senior worker training, introducing more government grants to bolster strategic subjects, and investing in student maintenance grants to provide essential support for disadvantaged students.

Tom Richmond at the education and skills think tank EDSK told China Daily that as there is unlikely to be much new funding available after the UK general election that will take place on July 4, the priority should be generating more impact out of the existing funding pots.

"For example, the apprenticeship levy has proved immensely wasteful and has even managed to reduce the number of apprenticeships available to young people," he said. "Meanwhile, universities have been widely criticized for offering too many degree courses that make little or no contribution to economic growth, raising productivity or tackling skills shortages.

"In both cases, the government now needs to take on a more proactive role in determining which learners and courses are most deserving of financial support."

David Hughes, chief executive of the AoC, said the jump in student numbers would put a "huge strain "on education budgets.

"Despite ever-increasing spending on more undergraduate higher education courses at universities, the skills needs of the nation are not being met," he told the Financial Times newspaper. "Too many people are missing out on the skills they need and employers are crying out for."

Clear objectives for the education sector need to be set in order to tackle the UK's skills shortage and low economic productivity, added Rushforth.

"What is really needed is a conversation between the education sectors and the government to determine what we want our education system to provide, who is to provide what and how to fund it," he said. "We need a greater investment in post-16 education at every level, not robbing the financially challenged HE sector to fund the chronically underfunded FE sector. Universities have and will continue to make contributions to UK productivity whether through the research that they produce or the skills that they impart.

"I think that what we should be doing is putting more effort into ensuring seamless transitions between institutions, so that the 16-year-old that gets their tech college qualification, can subsequently easily go on to the next level and build on that and obtain an AI degree and subsequently masters at their local university.

"The HE sector will only take in students that have a reasonable chance of success, but there is no reason why those with lower exam qualifications cannot do access or bridging courses at a connected FE college and gain access thereby to a university course."

Richmond said that current funding incentives mean that universities and colleges often compete with one another to attract learners, knowing that each additional learner brings in new funding.

"This makes it very hard to have sensible and valuable conversations about how these institutions could potentially work together to build stronger pathways for young people and adults who are looking to improve their skill levels, be that from a low or high starting point," he said. "Unless these unhelpful incentives change though, and when university finances are increasingly precarious in some cases, such conversations between institutions may become increasingly difficult."