Ambition 2020: Technical Report – The 2009 Report
This technical report accompanies the main Ambition 2020 report. The technical report presents the approach the UK Commission for Employment and Skills took in 2009 to forecasting progress towards making the UK a world leader in employment and skills by 2020, and the data considerations involved.
Ambition 2020 Technical Report (PDF, 319 Kb)
Published September 2009
In May of 2009 the UK Commission for Employment and Skills published its first annual assessment of progress towards making the UK a world leader in employment and skills by 2020 – Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK. This technical report accompanies this publication and details the sources and methods underpinning the forecasting models used to make this assessment.
Ambition 2020 monitors progress on our World Class Skills and Jobs Ambition and against our international competitors in the context of (i) the ‘Leitch’ Ambition for 2020; and (ii) the aims and priorities for the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It provides a sound evidence base for advice on strategies, policies and measures needed to increase skills, employment and productivity. The Ambition 2020 report provides the baseline from which to assess future progress.
The Leitch review set the ambition for the UK to become a world leader in skills by 2020, moving the UK into the top eight in the world at every skill level. Leitch identified the need to commit to four objectives:
- 95% of adults to have functional literacy and numeracy (basic skills), up from 85% literacy and 79% numeracy in 2005.
- More than 90% of the adult population qualified to at least Level 2, with a commitment to achieving World Class skills.
- Shifting the balance of intermediate skills from Level 2 to Level 3.
- World Class high skills, exceeding 40% of the adult population qualified to Level 4 and above, with an increased focus on Level 5 and above skills.
To monitor UK progress towards this World Class Skills and Jobs Ambition the UK Commission models for the Ambition 2020 report forecasted:
- The 2020 qualifications profile for the UK and for individual UK nations.
- The UK 2020 basic skills position for literacy and numeracy.
- Our 2020 international ranking vis-à-vis OECD countries for (i) below upper secondary (‘low skills’), (ii) upper secondary (‘intermediate skills’) and (iii) tertiary (‘high skills’) levels of education.
