Students are falling short in work readiness and risk overselling themselves in job applications as employers raise concerns about AI use, reports ISE Student Development Survey.
ISE’s annual Student Development Survey found around half of employers are concerned that graduates (48%) and school and college leavers (52%) who use AI in the selection process misrepresent their abilities.
While candidates using AI to apply for jobs led to record job applications, most of those starting out on their careers in 2025 will have studied under lockdown conditions and had less access to work experience opportunities.
ISE’s survey found many employers are concerned that their student hires are less prepared for work than previous intakes. In particular, concerns over essential communication and interpersonal skills have significantly increased.
Skills gaps
In 2025, 54% of employers reported that graduates did not meet expectations in self-awareness (up from 43% in 2024 and 35% in 2023), while 46% reported concerns about resilience (up from 37% in 2024 and 30% in 2023). Work-appropriate verbal communication was a concern for 22% (up from 17% in 2024 and 7% in 2023).
For school and college leavers, more employers reported unmet expectations in key areas. In 2025, 48% of employers highlighted concerns about resilience (up from 35% in 2024 and 25% in 2023), while 43% cited self-awareness (up from 31% in 2024 and 33% in 2023).
Additionally, concerns about work-appropriate verbal communication rose to 42% in 2025 (up from 29% in 2024 and 22% in 2023), and concerns about written communication rose to 46% (up from 28% in 2024 and 2023).
Stephen Isherwood, joint CEO of ISE, commented: “When employers take on new hires whose skills are not fully aligned with their performance during recruitment it creates a no-win situation for everyone. At best, the training process is disrupted, at worst, the candidate finds themselves in the wrong job.”
For other technical and analytical skills such as problem solving, the performance of graduates and school and college leavers broadly met the expectations of the majority of employers.
Work experience vital
A lack of work experience is likely to adversely impact the performance of students when they embark on their careers.
The survey found that most employers (77%) agreed that graduates who completed an internship or placement arrived with better skills and attitudes than those who hadn’t had this kind of opportunity.
Stephen added: “It’s important that students are genuine about their capabilities, but we need to do more to boost confidence in their abilities.
“Undoubtably work experience makes better hires. It is the single most valuable step a student can take to improve their employability. It will help develop the essential skills businesses want and employers like to hire former interns, so students may just find themselves with a job at the end of it.”
About the survey
The ISE Student Development Survey has been conducted annually for the past ten years in its current format. The latest survey ran during January and March 2025 and received 148 responses from employers across a range of sectors and organisation types.
It describes the current trends in development programmes for graduates and school and college leavers and discusses how employers are developing their early career hires. It also examines how employers retain and progress their early career hires and their future development programme plans.
Read more in the ISE Student Development report 2025