A quarter of Brits wish they’d been taught technical creativity in school, new survey finds

Almost a quarter of people believe they should have been taught technical creativity, such as coding and graphic design, at school, a new survey has found.

Men were more likely to think this was an element lacking in their education — 26.9% ,compared with 23.4% of women — and respondents aged 45–54 years felt more than other age groups that this was something they needed to have learned, on 26.6%. Among 16–24-year-olds the figure was just 16.7%.

The findings were published by the retailer Matalan to coincide with pupils returning to school, and to find out which skills and subjects people in the UK wish they had been taught in school. Matalan surveyed 1000 Brits, worked with The Open University to find out their most popular free courses during lockdown and analysed YouTube search data to find out what people were teaching themselves.

Their findings showed that almost 15% believed they should have been taught more about internet safety — 17.2% of women, compared with 11% of men. The 25–34 years age group was the most concerned about not having been taught more about this, with 18.2% believing they had shortfalls in knowledge, compared with just 8.3% of 16–24-year-olds.

Other key findings include:

• 91% of 16–24-year-olds wish money management had been on the curriculum when they were in school
• 81% of people wish they had been taught self-confidence skills and how to look after their mental health
• 35–44-year-olds are most in need of self-confidence and mental health management education, with 85% saying they wish this had been on the curriculum compared with 58% of 16–24-year-olds
• 41% of 16–24-year-olds think public speaking should be on the curriculum compared to 27% of people overall
• 32% of 25–34-year-olds think they should have been taught about relationship values in school, compared to just 8% of 16–24-year-olds and 13% of over 55s

Jeff Howarth, Director of Marketing at Matalan, said: “Our study shows there is a significant shift taking place towards a desire to see the curriculum going beyond academic education.

“While core subjects such as maths and English are vital for young people, it’s clear that life skills that have a real-world application are also essential to preparing our young people for adult life.”