Making sure graduates use their skills in the workplace could become as important to education policymakers as the quality of university learning in the first place, according to a report that warns that skills ¡°atrophy¡± if left dormant.

The Learning Curve: Education and Skills for Life, published by the education firm Pearson on 8 May, uses the example of South Korea, which shows a particularly sharp drop in problem-solving skills for adults once they pass the age of 24.

Part of the explanation is that a higher than average proportion of the country¡¯s graduates do not go on to employment or further training, ¡°a situation in which their hard-won skills are more likely to atrophy¡±, it suggests.

It cites Eric Hanushek, an educational economist based at Stanford University, as saying that whether or not skills are put to use in employment ¨C and so kept sharp ¨C will be as big a part of the future education debate as formal education itself.

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Sir Michael Barber, Pearson¡¯s chief education adviser, told Times Higher Education that in the 21st century ¡°it¡¯s clear that however great your first degree is, you¡¯re going to have to keep learning¡±.

Because there is so little certainty about what the jobs of the future will involve, universities must train graduates with the right ¡°attitudes and attributes¡± to keep learning for life, he said, noting that this was something the ¡°best¡± higher education already did.

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Universities should focus on this when trying to improve employability, he added, rather than on ¡°preparation for a specific job¡±.

Although some universities and institutional leaders are ¡°thinking radically¡± about this, he said, ¡°individual academics¡± found it ¡°harder¡± to accept this idea.

Sir Michael added: ¡°If graduates leave with a love of learning, that¡¯s good for employability.¡±

The report also warns that widening access to education through technology ¨C massive open online courses, for example ¨C ¡°appears to be not enough¡± to retrain under-skilled adults because those likely to take Moocs are already highly educated.

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This is because people who have already learned a lot will have the confidence to continue, Sir Michael said. ¡°That goes into reverse for people who struggle at school.¡±

david.matthews@tsleducation.com