CBI in call to combat shortage of graduates

BRITISH industry is to press the Government for a major expansion into higher education to combat an expected shortage of graduates over the next decade, writes Ben Bradley.

The Confederation of British Industry wants the Government to set a target of providing a university place for 43 per cent of all 18-year-olds by 2000.

The draft proposal, due to be included in a report to be published in June, is based on a survey of expectations of British companies and indicates widespread fears of an imminent shortage of graduates with technical and managerial skills.

Thirty per cent of 18-year- olds go on to university, compared with 20 per cent in the early 1980s. Last year the Government ended a three-year expansion programme and has placed an indefinite freeze on further growth.