The Skills That Will Matter in 2035

Every few years, organisations publish lists of the skills of the future, the World Economic Forum, education ministries, consulting firms. The lists vary in their specifics but converge on a set of capabilities that, the evidence suggests, will genuinely matter in the decades ahead. Here is what the research says, and what it means practically for the children growing up now.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

The ability to look at a complex problem without an obvious answer and reason your way toward a solution is consistently ranked as the most important skill of the coming decades. This is partly because AI and automation are increasingly effective at solving problems with known solutions. What they cannot do is handle genuine novelty: situations where the rules don't apply, where the problem itself needs to be defined before it can be solved. The humans who will thrive are those who can think critically in exactly these situations.

Communication and Collaboration

The ability to communicate clearly, in writing, in speech, across cultures and disciplines, will only grow in value. As organisations become more distributed and global, the capacity to make yourself understood and to genuinely understand others is a competitive advantage. Collaboration, working effectively with people who think differently from you, is equally essential.

Adaptability and Learning How to Learn

The half-life of specific knowledge is shortening. What is true and useful in many fields today may be significantly different in ten years. The most valuable capability is not knowing a particular body of knowledge but being able to learn quickly, to update beliefs when evidence changes, and to move fluidly between domains.

What This Means for Educational Choices

The educational environments that develop these capabilities are ones that give children practice in genuine problem-solving, extended projects, argumentation, and working with others on tasks that don't have predetermined answers. Look for environments that reward thinking over memorisation, that give children the chance to fail and revise, and that take communication seriously as a discipline in its own right.