In an exciting moment for skills development, Skills England has launched an important labour market tool. This launch is another step forward for our mission to ensure that one day, everyone will build the essential skills to succeed.
The Standard Skills Classification (SSC), released alongside the UK Skills Explorer, creates a shared labour market approach for skills, connecting technical skills and core skills in a clear, consistent way. When paired with the Universal Framework, theory is converted into practice, meaning anyone can build and measure these essential skills.
What is the SSC?
The SSC is the next step in how industry and policy makers can understand the skills picture in the UK economy. It moves beyond job titles to clearly outline the skills, knowledge, and tasks needed for every job in the UK. This common language helps ensure we’re all talking about the same skills, and using them in the same way.
The structure is built on two core components:
- Occupational skills - the technical or specialist knowledge required for a specific job
- Core skills - the highly transferable abilities needed for success in any job
A common framework like this takes the guesswork out of skills, bringing clarity and confidence in a rapidly changing economy.
What are the core skills in the SSC?
The SSC places essential skills alongside reading, writing, numeracy and digital skills. The eight essential skills in the SSC map directly to the Skills Builder Universal Framework.
How the SSC links technical skills to core skills
A defining feature of the SSC is the way it views every technical skill through the lens of core skills, recognising that essential skills are needed to apply technical skills successfully.
This is the exact foundation our skills hierarchy is built upon. Essential skills (the equivalent of core skills in the SSC) support the application of technical knowledge.
As well as mapping to technical skills, the SSC measures and maps the proficiency level of each core skill to the demands of every occupation (as defined by UK SOC). For example, a data analyst job draws highly on core skills like Problem Solving while a public relations job draws more on Communication.
This linking of technical skills to core skills makes it easier to understand what really drives performance, and how people can grow.
What is the UK Skills Explorer?
The UK Skills Explorer is a new, user-friendly tool for browsing and navigating the SSC. It takes the complex information from the classification and presents it in a clear and understandable way. Through the tool, you can search roles and sectors to see associated skills and understand how technical and core skills connect.
As a complementary tool to the UK Skills Explorer, the Skills Builder Careers Explorer offers similar functionality, allowing you to compare the essential skills profiles of various careers. In line with the steps in the Universal Framework, the tool shows the estimated skill score required for a given job, so you know what level of proficiency is needed.
Why the Universal Framework is essential for putting SSC into practice
While the SSC and Skills Explorer help us understand skills at a macro-economic level, they’re not designed to help build them. This is exactly what the Universal Framework provides.
It brings:
- Detailed definitions of each essential skill
- A progression model across 16 steps
- Pedagogy, guidance and assessment tools
- A knowledge base for designing curriculum, training and development
How you can start using the SSC and the Universal Framework today
In education
- Map curriculum and lesson plans to core skills
- Use the Universal Framework to guide and track skill progression step by step
In employment
- Align job descriptions to SSC skill categories
- Use core skill definitions to support recruitment and development
- Create clear progression pathways using the Universal Framework
- Align your community and education work with the Universal Framework to ensure you’re speaking a language everyone understands
For impact organisations
- Use Skills Explorer data to inform policy recommendations and advocate for skills investment
- Measure essential skills development using the Universal Framework’s steps to demonstrate social impact
Why this alignment matters for social mobility and opportunity
When we combine the SSC, UK Skills Explorer, and the Universal Framework, we create a fundamental shift in the skills landscape:
- Skills become visible and teachable, transforming them from hidden advantages to accessible capabilities for everyone
- Employers get clarity on the essential skills that truly drive performance and success
- Educators can design impactful pathways that build capability alongside academic or technical knowledge
Explore the Universal Framework for a more detailed breakdown of each essential skill, or get in touch with our team to discuss how we can partner with you.
