King Charles: Lack of vocational education in schools is 'a great tragedy'

26 October 2022, 00:15 | Updated: 4 November 2022, 09:41

King Charles has claimed that "not everybody is designed for the academic", labelling the lack of vocational education in schools a "great tragedy".

During a special edition of The Repair Shop, the King met students from the Prince's Foundation Building Craft Programme - a training initiative that teaches traditional skills such as blacksmithing, stonemasonry and wood carving.

The monarch said: "I still think the great tragedy is the lack of vocational education in schools, actually not everybody is designed for the academic.

"I know from The Prince's Trust, I have seen the difference we can make to people who have technical skills which we need all the time, I have the greatest admiration for people.

"I think that's been the biggest problem, sometimes that is forgotten. Apprenticeships are vital but they just abandoned apprenticeships for some reason.

"It gives people intense satisfaction and reward."

He added that the thing he "really loves" is students returning as tutors year after year - "filling the school gaps".

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The King has previously faced a backlash over his views on education after a private memo was leaked in 2004.

In the note - revealed by his former personal assistant - he condemned people who "think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities".

He went on to make a public statement on the row over his comments, admitting that he had "old fashioned" views on politics and education but his opinions on social mobility had been misrepresented.

"In my view it is just as great an achievement to be a plumber or a bricklayer as it is to be a lawyer or a doctor," he said.

"Not everyone has the same talents or abilities."

Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades and his team visited Dumfries House in Scotland for a one-off episode when Charles was still the Prince of Wales.

Charles needed help with an 18th-century bracket clock and a piece made for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee by British ceramics maker Wemyss Ware.

He said the damaged 19th century ceramic piece fell over when someone was opening a window - "they didn't own up", he joked.

Speaking about his love of clocks, the royal said: "To me I just love the sound, the tick tock but also if they chime, that's why I love grandfather clocks.

"I find it rather reassuring in a funny way and they become really special parts of the house... the beating heart of it. So that's why they matter to me.

"I'm afraid it is something I learnt from my grandmother, she had great fun putting a few together and trying to get them to chime at the same time in the dining room, which made it very enjoyable because everybody had to stop talking."

Before the results are unveiled, Charles asks the crew: "Have you sorted this? The suspense is killing me."

The monarch also lended Prince's Foundation graduate Jeremy Cash to The Repair Shop to work with metalwork expert Dominic Chinea on a third item described as a fire set in the shape of a soldier with a poignant story behind its existence.