We’re excited to share the latest edition of our flagship research series - The Essential Skills Tracker 2026.
This year, we’ve gone global. Analysing the latest OECD PIAAC data, our research reveals the impact of Adaptive Problem Solving (APS) on economies and lives across 31 countries. From driving significant wage premiums to acting as a catalyst for social mobility, the evidence is clear: human-centric, transferrable skills are vital for success in an evolving landscape increasingly shaped by technologies such as AI.
Watch the webinar below for some powerful insights, as guest speakers including Tarek Chehidi (Teach for All), Patricia Navarro-Palau (OECD), Erinn Corbett-Wright (Salesforce), Robert Craig (AQA) and Grace Stewart (Skills Builder Global) discuss what the findings mean.
Key takeaways from the 2026 Essential Skills Tracker
- The wage premium - proficiency in APS is a major predictor of higher earnings. In the UK, a one standard deviation increase in APS proficiency is linked to a 13.9% increase in wages
- Catalyst for career progression - the economic return is most prominent among prime-age workers (35 - 54), suggesting that problem solving ability acts as a catalyst for accelerated wage increases once career progression begins
- Social mobility - APS allows individuals to overcome initial socio-economic disadvantages, effectively breaking the skills trap
- Alignment with global standards - Semantic analysis reveals an 80% match between Adaptive Problem Solving descriptors and Problem Solving in the Skills Builder Universal Framework, validating the Framework’s relevance on an international scale
- Actionable skill building - the Universal Framework provides the granular, teachable steps necessary for individuals to intentionally build and master essential skills
