Warning of ‘skills chasm’ amid huge UK regional divide in qualifications

The gap between high- and low-skilled areas of the UK is already wider than in many comparable countries, the LWI says. Photograph: Simon Turner/Alamy

Economic growth in the UK risks being held back by a “skills chasm” between regions, as London and the south-east suck in highly qualified workers, according to a report by the Learning and Work Institute.

The gap between high- and low-skilled areas of the UK is already wider than in many comparable countries and is forecast to widen, the thinktank says.