School leaders have called for a new focus on employability skills for schoolchildren, to ensure they leave school with the necessary skills to join the workplace.

In addition to traditional subjects, the Association of School and College leaders have called for students to be given skills-based training in basic workplace skills such as the importance of punctuality, communication skills, team working, honesty, literacy and numeracy to enable them to develop the qualities needed in the workplace.

Speaking at the annual ASCL conference in Manchester, John Fairhurst suggested that these skills could be incorporated into and assessed as part of existing subjects, for example teaching presentation skills as part of Geography.

The proposals come as an employer survey by the Chartered Management Institute revealed that 9 out of 10 employers found that school leavers needed training in basic skills when they started their first jobs.