Earlier this year, research conducted by The University of Manchester’s Centre on Dynamics and Ethnicity (CoDE), found that migrants in the UK are more likely to have a degree. The study found that a third of those born abroad have a university-level qualifications compared to a quarter of Britons. The reasoning for this, is that many migrants come to the UK to study. This may also explain why UK employers want to recruit migrants. There have been a number of studies and stories echoing that foreigners are filling a fifth of jobs in key industries such as engineering due to a lack of skills in the UK.
Kitty Lymperopoulou: Increasing Proportion of Ethnic Minority People Educated in Britain
Whilst the CoDE study found that migrants have better academic qualifications than people born in Britain. They also found that one in four British-born people left school with no qualifications and have achieved none since. The data which was comprised over the past 20 years by the national census in 1991, 2001 and 2011, found that:
- Chinese (43%), Indian (42%) and black African groups (40%) were amongst the highest nationals with degree level qualifications in 2011;
- 11% of the Black African group, were found to be the least likely to have no qualifications, in comparison to 24% of people born in the UK with no qualifications;
- 27% of Indian nationals and 18% of Pakistani national increased their degree level qualifications, between 1991 and 2011; and
- 19% of Bangladeshi nationals and 16% of Pakistani nationals decreased respectively in those without any qualifications between 2001 and 2011.
CoDE researcher, Kitty Lymperopoulou commented on the study:
“Over the last twenty years, educational attainment has been increasing among ethnic groups as a result of an improvement in access to education overseas and the increasing proportion of ethnic minority people educated in Britain. Though this is good news for ethnic minorities, we need to remember that despite achievement gaps between some ethnic groups and White British people narrowing or even disappearing, ethnic minority groups continue to experience inequalities in education and the labour market.”
Despite there still being barriers for international students, their qualifications and skill set may explain why UK employers prefer to recruit migrants.
UK Prime Minister: School Standards mean Young Britons do not have the Qualifications to Compete
Recent research by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) has revealed that recruiting skilled migrants from abroad allows companies to become more efficient and expand their businesses. These findings follow research by the government which shows that foreigners are filling a fifth of jobs in key industries such as engineering due to a lack of skills in the UK.
Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that foreign nationals cannot be blamed for attempting to find jobs in British factories when the error is really within UK schools and colleges for not teaching students the essential skills to do the work. Speaking to a group of apprentices at a mini factory in Oxfordshire he explained that “poor training and school standards mean young Britons do not have the skills and qualifications to compete.”
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