Another aspect of the worrying trend in youth unemployment is that there are thousands of young people who don't have the skills, confidence or qualifications to find their first job (Graduates warned of record 70 applicants for every job, 6 July). They may have struggled at school or grown up thinking no one cared, and they are being driven further from the job market, as they struggle to compete with a backlog of graduates.
Youth unemployment is costing the economy £10m a day in lost productivity, so the need to get young people into work is greater than ever. We must tackle this entrenched youth unemployment now. The government, charities and employers must work together to give these disadvantaged young people the long-term support they need to escape unemployment for good.
Martina Milburn
Chief executive, Prince's Trust
• Most employers represented by the Association of Graduate Recruiters tend to target only the most prestigious universities, and in practice have for many years discriminated against graduates without a high class of degree. Most graduates from the less prestigious universities are already likely to end up in the types of job that Carl Gilleard of AGR advised graduates to consider (retail, fast food and jobs in the public sector).
The impending savage cuts in all sections of the public sector will decimate the opportunities for new graduates, as will the recruitment freeze in the private sector, while graduates face huge debts.
You say the minister for universities has requested that they provide statements of employability. Unfortunately, careers guidance tends to be the Cinderella of university services. In recent years some universities have shut them down or merged them with other departments, diluting the expertise available to anxious students and graduates. The government's attack on university finances will no doubt accelerate the reduction of services to students at the very time that they need to expand.
Sheila Cross
Northallerton, North Yorkshire
• This is the sad and inevitable outcome of a persistent governmental belief that getting 50% of young people into higher education is the answer to the UK's skills deficit. As we are now seeing, the "university or bust" route, which has led to on-the-job vocational training being viewed as a poor relation, offers no guarantee of a job upon graduation. Consequently, many young people leaving university without the 2:1 degree now demanded by employers will find themselves among the increasing legion of Neets, indebted and without jobs, skills and hope. This situation is easier to prevent than to cure. Greater emphasis should be placed on high-quality vocational qualifications and apprenticeships, the flexibility of which gives businesses what they want and need most – a well-trained, highly skilled workforce that is up to the job.
Jane Scott Paul
Chief executive, Association of Accounting Technicians
• Civitas's concern about the widespread take-up of vocational and other non-GCSE qualifications by young people in academies (Doubts cast on academy schools' GCSE results claim, 2 July) seems to be based on an outdated and unhelpful opinion about what is right in education. To claim that widely accepted qualifications such as NVQs, VRQs and diplomas are "of extremely questionable value" reveals a blinkered and ill-founded view of what is wanted by employers and universities.
The traditional academic route to university, apprenticeships, colleges or work via GCSEs and A-levels does not suit everyone. Other routes provide young people with a range of choices that may suit their personal aspirations or learning styles better. The CBI has recently called for vocational education and training that "links the development of basic employment skills … to the achievement of high-level technical, professional and managerial qualifications". I agree. Shackling young people to a single route to qualification or work may fit with Civitas's traditionalist world view, but it does little for learners. At City & Guilds, we are proud to put learners before ideology.
Chris Jones
CEO and director-general, City & Guilds