A good work ethic is paramount in securing ‘entry level jobs’, according to a report by the Centre for Social Justice due to be published tomorrow (5 July).

The study will reveal that a staggering 82% of employers rated work ethic as important for securing a first job, with only 38% highlighting literacy and arithmetic as important factors. Sixty-two percent of employers gave ‘poor work attitude and ethic’ as grounds for declining applicants, 57% ‘poor presentation’ and only 29% named lack of skills as cause for rejection.

The report will also call for an additional element ‘R’ - ‘responsibility’ - to be added to the those of ‘reading, writing and arithmetic,’ three subjects at the core of British schooling. The absence of a good work ethic is one of the key reasons for employers’ preference for overseas workers over British nationals.