Young people in Britain leave school unprepared for the working world, according to a global league which ranks the country 22nd of 30 leading nations.

The results of the research, conducted by the independent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), were accepted by the Government which has set a target of getting 50 per cent of all teenagers to pursue higher education by 2010.

The data were calculated using a complex series of criteria aimed at determining the proportion of people aged between 25 and 34 who have the equivalent of five GCSE C grades in each country.

Korea heads the league, which includes the Scandinavian nations, Japan, the US and the Czech Republic in its top ten. Mexico is at the foot of the table, just below Turkey and Portugal.

The United Kingdom is placed at 22, just above Luxembourg and behind Greece, Australia, France, Ireland and Belgium.

The OECD data also reveals that the wages gap between graduates and non-graduates was growing across the board, a finding which suggests that Government investment in education is rewarded with higher future returns from income tax.

Bill Rammell, the Minister for Lifelong Learning, accepted that the skill levels among school-leavers were "too low".

He said: "One of the biggest and most immediate challenges facing us in the coming years is ... to encourage more teenagers to stay on in education.

"We remain concerned that the skills levels of our school leavers is too low and we are determined to take the necessary steps to ensure that we can satisfy the rising and changing demand for skills.

"The OECD sends a clear signal - we must improve vocational education if we are to keep apace with our competitors.

"Tackling this stubborn issue is a priority for this government and we are already working with employers to develop high quality, high status vocational learning that will increase the numbers of trained individuals entering the workplace."

The report reveals that the UK's spending on education is above the OECD average and gives shows that the Government's back-to-basics drive to improve maths and English is paying off with continued improvements.

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