People in the workforce have more quals than may appear

Michelle Hall and John Stanwick analysed 2018-19 labour force data for the estimable National Centre for Vocational Education Research.  They looked for individuals’ total qualifications, (up to five), rather than, as is the norm, their highest.  And they found 15.4m were held by 10.2m people in the workforce. The sector split was 7.8m VET and 6.9m HE qualifications.

The quals figure is 34 per cent higher overall (35 per cent for VET) than that if only an individual’s highest qual is counted.

This data is important because an awareness of the stock of qualifications is an indication to the availability of skills, which, the NCVER suggests, “informs supply- and demand-side issues, such as skills utilisation and skills gaps.”