by Jo James, chief executive of Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce

Many congratulations to all our students and teachers, whose hard work has delivered another excellent set of academic results for our County.

Kent Schools continue to improve year on year, with over 60% of Kent students beating the national average of 5 A* to C grades. It’s so pleasing to see more students taking science and maths, however it is concerning that there has been a drop in the number nationally of foreign languages being taken at A-level.

It should of course be celebrated that academic achievement amongst school-leavers has remained high.

However, with rising youth unemployment it is clear that there are far too many young people whose potential is being undermined because they have not been taught the broader skills required to succeed in the workplace – despite the strong desire of employers to hire and train them.

As a County we need a change of approach to tackle youth unemployment despite good results.

Those who didn’t get the results they wanted shouldn’t despair.

Success is not dependent on academic achievement alone, and employers value hard work, a positive attitude, and skills that are relevant to their business. Apprenticeships can offer a better route to a highly skilled and well-paid job. If we are to make a strong attempt to tackle youth unemployment we need to see more careers education in schools, more contact between pupils and businesses via work experience placements and employer visits, and for students to have basic business skills when they leave school.

This isn’t news, it’s something that is known by employers and educators, but unfortunately, it’s something that we have yet to find the right solution for.

There are so many great examples of pockets of work going on across the county between employers and educators, what we need to do is find a way of harnessing what is good practice and find ways to widen their reach.

Sorry, I don’t have the answer, but will continue to work with the willing to find a solution.

Those going onto A-levels, I wish you luck for the future.

For those who are looking at entering the workplace, I encourage all employers to look at taking on an apprentice.

It is a great way of developing your future workforce. It takes time to develop an apprentice but it will be time well spent.