In today’s tech-driven world, digital skills are just as important as knowing your ABCs and 123s.
Consider booking a GP appointment, registering to vote, researching information for an assignment or just communicating with teachers and peers – all these tasks now require a certain level of digital competence. Even leisure activities, like gaming and social media, demand an understanding of online safety, privacy settings and responsible digital interactions.
Those who struggle to access or use online platforms risk missing out on educational opportunities, jobs and essential services.
Moreover, a lack of efficiency in performing these tasks can be equally, if not more, problematic. Beyond simple functionality, the risks associated with an unsafe or uninformed digital presence are high. Mismanaging privacy settings, engaging with harmful content or falling victim to scams can have long-term consequences.
Despite all this, digital skills are still not treated as a core competency in education. While reading, writing and numeracy remain pillars of the school curriculum, digital literacy remains overlooked in many cases, leaving a gap in essential life skills.
Consequences of the digital divide
NCFE’s recent No One Left Offline report demonstrates the urgent need to treat digital knowledge as a core skill, right alongside English and maths. One in five respondents did not have the essential digital skills needed to fully engage with today’s digital world. The detail is revealing.
Typically, older people are assumed to be the ones lacking in digital skills. However, the report discovered 50 per cent of under-19s did not have the basic digital skills required to navigate modern life, compared to just 25 per cent of those aged over 60.
Almost half of under-19 respondents were not working at a basic level when it came to “being safe and responsible online”.
This is a major concern in an era where cyberbullying, misinformation and online exploitation are prevalent. Without the ability to critically assess online interactions and protect their personal information, young people are at risk of identity theft, online harassment and scams.
The Netflix show Adolescence highlighted the dangers of social media in graphic detail, sparking a nationwide debate.
Inadequate digital communication skills also cause problems. Many young people struggle with professional email etiquette, navigating online job applications and using digital collaboration tools – all of which are now crucial for both education and employment.
Without these abilities, they risk missing out on job opportunities and struggle to adapt to modern workplaces, where digital communication is often the primary mode of interaction.
And as digital banking and e-commerce become the norm, an inability to recognise secure payment gateways, protect personal banking information or detect fraudulent schemes can have devastating financial consequences, with around £11.4 billion being lost to scams in 2024 alone.
What can we do?
So why are we not providing young people in education with these essential digital skills?
If we insist on the ability to communicate by doing a GCSE English as a mandatory choice, why is the ability to communicate safely online not treated as a must-have too?
It may be a while before change hits the school curriculum, but at FE colleges change can start straight away. Joining college from school is a daunting transition, bringing more independent living and learning. A good induction programme is essential to engage the student.
Embedding digital skills within these programmes ensures students can access all the tools, support and information they need throughout their time in study. We can offer training in these skills – or a refresher on them – upfront.
The government’s digital skills inclusion plan is another piece of the puzzle. This aims to help those who are most left out of the digital world, such as older people and those in low-income households.
But aspirations to embed AI to improve productivity will fail if people do not have the essential digital skills in the first place.
A Select Committee on Digital Skills report in 2015 said digital literacy should be given equal weight to numeracy and literacy. Despite a decade of digital change since then, we are still awaiting action.
But the government knew best when the teaching ICT functional skills. Apparently the government felt it was a waste of time and money. The students I taught were “computer literate, potentially able to do everything in curriculum”. In fact the opposite is true