Despite the well-publicised decrease in UK students learning practical skills in schools such as working with resistant materials and engineering – the demand for places on furniture design and production courses in the country's universities is higher than ever.

Students from all around the world are travelling to the UK to learn furniture design and production skills.

High schools have been widely criticised over the past decade for putting less and less emphasis on teaching their students practical skills – preferring to concentrate on subjects such as Maths, Science and English and introducing modern subjects such as theology and psychology. GCSEs and A Levels in these subjects are seen to be more desirable for universities even if they do not grant the students skills that are useful in the real world.

However, a number of UK universities have taken it upon themselves to train up a new generation of skilled furniture designers to combat the influx of cheap imported furniture. Improving the quality of UK-built furniture could help put the country back on the furniture production map and give households a genuine choice. Producing the furniture in the UK could lower the costs due to the cancellation of any import fees.

Buckinghamshire New University and London Metropolitan University have both included furniture production classes in wider design courses such as architecture. Many of these courses have attracted the attention of students from around the World more than UK-based students. Course leaders believe that the decrease in metalwork and woodwork classes in high school means that students may not be aware of such career opportunities or any untapped skills that they may have.


Design course leader at Buckinghamshire New University, Lynn Jones, has noticed a definite pattern emerging in recent years.

"Universities are affected by what is taught in schools and there is no subject called furniture design. However, recently we have seen a flood of students into product design, which is a GCSE subject," she says. "We think the push is coming from parents who want their children to do things that will lead to a job. We hope this will attract more home students to us because our design courses are vocational and most of our graduates get jobs or become self-employed."

The furniture industry is looking to further increase the number of students who are attending such courses by offering bursaries to students. This active approach could help influence practical students who may not have previously considered such a career move. Having real-world skills that are transferrable into a professional setting is highly desirable for young adults at a time of national and global austerity. More and more students are finding it hard to find a job related to their degree and field of expertise.

A DFurniture Store spokesperson is excited by this push: "We believe that the industry can only benefit from more skilled individuals being trained and gainfully employed. The quality of furniture will continue to increase as beautiful designs will be created and durable materials used more and more. This increased competitiveness will push ourselves and other furniture suppliers to employ the services of more and more skilled designers."

The UK has had a long tradition of training skilled designers, architects and engineers so the furniture industry is looking to continue this tradition and use it to bring through a new generation of highly-skilled craftsmen. This would help create jobs within the country and jump-start a market that has become over-reliant on exporting products from abroad. Furthermore, UK designed and built furniture can help re-build the identity of modern Britain that has been somewhat lost amid designs and styles from a myriad of cultures.

www.dfurniturestore.co.uk

(CD/MH)