FOR many employers, it's one of the first things they look for.

But alarming new statistics have revealed that nearly a quarter of York people have no formal qualifications.

The figures, which are contained in a draft report, show that more than 33,000 people in the city have failed to gain any academic success.

That equates to 24.6 per cent of people aged 16-74 and has been branded "extremely shocking" by a city education campaigner.

The report, produced by Without Walls and before City of York Council's ruling executive today, will form York's Local Area Agreement (LAA), which runs from next year until April 2010.

An LAA is a three-year agreement made up of indicators, targets and effectively becomes the "delivery plan" for community strategy.

It reveals York's population is 183,128 with an employment rate of nearly 80 per cent - and 9,500 jobs in tourism.

But the report adds: "If newly created employment opportunities are to be accessed by the city's residents, economic development initiatives must be underpinned by policies which address workforce skills and inclusion issues.

"Skills problems are cited more than any other factor as inhibiting growth in the region. Within York, 24.6 per cent of people aged 16-74 have no formal qualifications.

"This figure is marginally higher than both the regional and sub-regional averages and equates to over 33,000 people. An area of particular concern is the number of people qualified to NVQ Level 2, which at 18.4 per cent, sites York 3.1 per cent below the national average."

The report comes just days after York lost more than 1,000 jobs because of cutbacks by Norwich Union and Nestl.

Nick Seaton, of the York-based Campaign for Real Education, said: "This is an extremely shocking statistic.

"It looks very much as though the education service hasn't been performing as well as it should have.

"I would have thought almost everyone should have a basic qualification. If they leave without qualifications then the system has failed them."

Andrew Cambridge, manager of Future Prospects, the York-based employment and learning advice service, said: "Any figure which shows that there are people with no qualifications and have skills problems must raise concerns.

"It is something we need to address through investment and training. The thing that concerns me is how we are going to go about doing that."

Mr Cambridge said the market would need specific "industry-based" skills rather than those simply on paper.

Len Cruddas, chief executive of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "This figure does seem to be on the high side. There is always a skills shortage - that's the nature of a developing economy.

"Although I am concerned, it is important to remember here that we are talking about qualifications, not skills."

Improvements to fight skills shortage are coming thick and fast'

Council leader Steve Galloway said better times were on the way in addressing the city's skills shortage.

"Major progress has been made in recent years. We have excellent higher education facilities now in the city with St John's, have already had a major investment boost - with more to follow - and we eagerly await the results of the public inquiry into the University of York's - already a world leading institution - expansion plans," he said.

"Our young people are now leaving school with better qualifications than ever before, we have invested heavily in four new primary schools and will shortly begin work on building three new secondary schools.

"The jewel in our crown as far as reskilling for job change is concerned will be the new York College in Tadcaster Road, which is set to open next year. It will be one of the best facilities of its type. Finally, Future Prospects is a council run training facility which has extensive experience in providing job changers with new skills."