Britain’s skills gap won’t be solved by narrowing opportunity, it will be solved by widening it 

For too long, the national conversation around success has treated university as the default route into a professional career. Yet across the UK, thousands of people are building highly skilled, successful careers through vocational and professional pathways, entering the workforce sooner  avoiding significant student debt and gaining skills employers urgently need. 

And at a time when employers are facing widening skills shortages across many sectors including finance and accounting, the UK can’t afford for talent and opportunity to remain so disconnected. One piece of the puzzle is that that too many people still don’t see those careers as being ‘for them’. 

We’ve spent decades championing vocational and professional pathways into finance and accountancy because we know talent is distributed far more widely than opportunity. Our latest report in the ‘Filling the gap’ series – Accounting for Growth – produced by Public First and commissioned by AAT, reinforces something many of us working in skills and education have long understood: when people are given flexible, accessible routes into skilled professions, the benefits are transformational – for individual’s careers, businesses and economic growth alike. 

The UK has an opportunity problem, not a talent problem 

The UK doesn’t have a shortage of ambition or potential. It has a shortage of accessible pathways that people can realistically see themselves succeeding through. 

As found by Grant Thornton’s study, too many young people (57%) still believe university is the only credible route into accountancy. That perception persists despite the growing evidence that vocational routes also deliver strong career outcomes, often without the burden of significant student debt.  

Just as concerning, in chapter 2 of our Filling the Gap series, we found that 42% of accounting professionals say that when they were growing up, they did not see accountancy as a career for people like them. Those perceptions narrow the talent pipeline before people have even had the opportunity to explore their options. 

This matters particularly for people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. We found that although nearly half (49%) of the workforce come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, they progress 25% more slowly than their peers, even when experience and performance are comparable. 

Against that backdrop, the impact of vocational pathways becomes even clearer. Our latest report found that 83% of AAT students and members from lower socioeconomic backgrounds say AAT helped open career doors for them. That’s not simply a statistic about qualifications – it’s evidence of social mobility in action. 

Vocational pathways are delivering real economic value 

When you get into the heart of our community, you begin to understand just how much of impact accessible pathways have on real people. One of our members – Laura White – grew up on a council estate and left school after her GCSEs. Higher education was not something people around her discussed. Laura completed an apprenticeship and today is a finance manager on the pathway towards CFO while also running a successful business supporting around 100 clients. 

Stories like Laura’s are powerful because they challenge the thinking around who belongs in professional careers and how success is achieved. But it’s also far from unique. Across the country, vocational learners are building successful, highly skilled careers – and are out-earning their peers. 

Public First’s modelling found that 19-24-year-olds who study with AAT earn, on average, 11% more than their peers nationally. Meanwhile, people who left school after GCSEs, but who progressed through AAT, earn 21% more than the national median for people with that level of education. 

Apprenticeships are another critical part of this picture. Nearly three-quarters of AAT apprentices report receiving a salary increase within a year of completing their programme. Finance and accounting apprenticeships also have progression rates into relevant occupations of 87%, second only to engineering. 

At a time when many young people are questioning the return on investment of traditional academic pathways, vocational education offers a compelling alternative: practical skills, earlier career progression and strong salary potential. 

FE providers, colleges and employers are already doing much of the heavy lifting when it comes to developing the finance and accounting talent pipeline. But to maximise that impact, they need sustained policy support, clearer long-term workforce planning and a skills system that is responsive to employer demand. 

Skills policy must match the realities of the modern economy 

The accounting and bookkeeping sector is already worth £34 billion to the UK economy, but our research shows its potential is far greater. Public First estimates that the sector could grow to £42 billion if businesses effectively harness productivity gains from artificial intelligence. 

However, technology alone will not unlock that growth. Public First estimates that upskilling accounting and bookkeeping professionals in these sought-after ‘power skills’, such as communication and leadership, could generate an additional £1.2 billion in UK Gross Value Add. AI will increase demand for human skills such as leadership, communication, problem-solving and digital literacy.  

That presents a significant opportunity, and clearly shows social and economic impact go hand-in-hand. However, the relationship between opening up access, upskilling and driving growth needs to take a more central role in shaping skills policy. 

We need careers guidance that reflects the reality of today’s labour market rather than outdated hierarchies around educational prestige. We need clearer workforce planning in finance and accounting so that training provision better matches employer demand. And we need lifelong access to flexible learning so people can continue to upskill throughout their careers as technology reshapes the workplace. 

The further education sector has a critical role to play in delivering the workforce the UK economy needs, but – importantly – viewing vocational education needs to stop being seen as a fallback option, instead of a clear option that can provide just as much value, if not more. The UK can’t afford to leave talent untapped while employers struggle with skills shortages and mounting productivity pressures. The solution is not narrowing routes into work, but widening access to high-quality skills pathways that are flexible, accessible and aligned to the needs of the economy. 

By Claire Bennison, AAT Executive Director of Customer, Partnerships and Innovation 

Read Public First’s report for AAT, Accounting for Growth, alongside AAT’s summary of key findings here.