Briefing – Education: Delivering skills for growth

08 July 2024

Over the coming years, a highly-skilled workforce will be crucial to boost productivity and tackle some of society’s biggest challenges such as delivering a net zero economy, maximising the potential of artificial intelligence and data and supporting an ageing population.

Russell Group universities deliver high-quality education across a range of disciplines and via vocational and academic routes. Central to our universities’ higher education offer is a commitment to delivering successful outcomes for all students, from all backgrounds; this means increasing opportunities to access higher education and supporting students to succeed during and after their studies.

There are 750,000 students studying at Russell Group universities, over 63,500 of which are on postgraduate research courses. This represents nearly 60% of all postgraduate research students studying at universities in the UK. These students are contributing to UK R&D success and forming the pipeline of talent that will be critical to deliver the government’s Industrial Strategy.

Our universities work with regional partners including FE colleges, schools, industry and local governments to provide the skilled workforce needed in their communities and our universities will work toward deepening these regional partnerships. There is also a need to ensure our education offer addresses national skills gaps and we look forward to working with the government, Skills England, and counterparts in the devolved administrations to ensure our provision is delivering the skilled graduates needed for our future economy.

Find out more in our briefing.