The government should 鈥渋ncentivise and support鈥 schools to promote the development of skills like communication, organisation and problem-solving through its curriculum review, a report has said. A suggested that if 鈥渃ognitive and behavioural鈥 skills gaps are identified and addressed during education, this could support 鈥渋mproved labour market outcomes鈥. According to the research, inequalities in cognitive and behavioural outcomes in young children 鈥渂ecome more entrenched and harder to impact as they get older鈥. However, the report 鈥渟tresses that there remains considerable scope to influence young people鈥檚 outcomes at an older age, and that with the appropriate support, they can catch-up鈥. It urges government to 鈥渋ncentivise and support schools to develop the six essential employment skills鈥, or EES. These are communication, collaboration, problem-solving, organising, planning and prioritising work, creative thinking and information literacy. Consider a ‘single framework’ An expert panel is currently conducting a review of the curriculum and assessment system. The report said through this review, government should 鈥渆xplore whether and how more emphasis could be placed on the development of EES, as crucial in their own right and as conducive to the activation and application of subject-specific knowledge鈥. This could include embedding standards and competencies into curriculum guidance, or producing materials to support schools to develop such skills. The government 鈥渟hould also consider developing a single framework that can be used by schools for benchmarking and tracking young people鈥檚 progress in developing these skills, or alternatively validating and adopting an existing framework鈥. A previous NFER study predicted workers would need to use EES 鈥渕ore intensively in jobs by 2035″. But up to seven million workers 鈥渃ould lack the required level of EES to carry out these roles鈥. ‘Cradle to grave’ approach needed Jude Hillary, the programme鈥檚 principal investigator and NFER鈥檚 co-head of UK policy and practice, said: 鈥淚ntervening at an early age to support young people who have low cognitive and behavioural skills and are at risk of falling behind is critical to improving their future outcomes. 鈥淭he consequence of inaction could see increasing numbers of young people leaving education without the skills and qualifications they need to enter growing occupations, which are predominantly professional occupations requiring higher skills, particularly EES. 鈥淭his will only add to the existing skills shortages in the UK and further constrain national efforts to stimulate growth.鈥 He said the government must adopt a 鈥渃radle to grave approach to skills development, promoting the development of a broad mix of cognitive, behavioural, and technical specific knowledge and skills, starting from the early years鈥. The report found differences in school performance 鈥渃an compound inequalities in children鈥檚 cognitive and behavioural outcomes that predate their start at school鈥. Evaluate the effect of school improvement schemes Ministers recently set out plans to reform school accountability, with grants of up to 拢100,000 to turn around so-called 鈥渟tuck鈥 schools. To ensure this money is effectively spent, it is 鈥渃rucial that government and other research funders continue to invest in robust, long-term evaluations of the effects of school improvement programmes and packages of support鈥, the NFER said. Julie McCulloch The report also found extra-curricular engagement was 鈥減ositively associated with their behavioural and cognitive development between the ages of eight and 17, but it is well documented that children from disadvantaged backgrounds have less access to these opportunities鈥. Government should therefore support 鈥渕ore disadvantaged young people to access extra-curricular activities more frequently鈥or example by providing additional funding to schools with disadvantaged intakes to extend the school day or by introducing a national extra-curricular bursary scheme鈥. Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the ASCL leaders鈥 union, hopes the ongoing curriculum and assessment review 鈥渨ill better balance the previous government鈥檚 excessive focus on a small number of academic subjects with more room for vocational, digital and creative subjects 鈥 which nurture many of the skills sought by employers鈥.