Three-quarters of small business owners think degrees have depreciated in value during the last 10 years, results from a new study show.

Sandler Training, a business development consultancy, quizzed 1,000 bosses and found attitudes have harshened towards top academic qualifications.

Although 83 per cent “worried” about youth unemployment, more than half said the problem was down to educational authorities and schools, not employers. Just 24 per cent said they were partly accountable.

Only one-in-five had recently hired a 16-to-24 year-old and, of those 56 per cent claimed to have had a bad experience. Nearly four in 10 said recruits didn’t have the right skills, 35 per cent said they had the wrong attitude and a quarter complained they didn’t stay long enough.

Shaun Thomson, chief executive of Sandler Training, said: “There is clearly a stalemate between small businesses and the government, which is being perpetuated by the bad experiences that many small businesses are having when they recruit young people.

He added: “But rather than tarring young people with the same brush and passing the buck to the Government, small businesses must step up and take responsibility.”