Britain’s employers must act quickly to close the training divide between graduate and unskilled workers if Britain is to compete successfully in the global economy, according to a TUC report.

The study, which analyses official data for training take up, shows that last year 41% of graduate employers took part in work-based learning, compare to 12% of students who left school without any qualifications.

The TUC says that the report highlights the fact that more than a third of UK employers systematically fail to offer their staff any training at work.

TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber (pictured), says: “The UK is becoming an increasingly unequal society and unless employers start to offer skills training equally to all their workforce, the situation is only going to get worse. Employers should be signing up for the government's skills pledge and taking advantage of the cash on offer to help them run training courses for their low-skilled workers."