Top businesses in Birmingham have signed up to a schools scheme aimed at plugging the city’s skills gap and boosting pupils’ career opportunities.

To be launched at the The Skills Show at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre tomorrow, the scheme aims to improve business chances for young people across the city and has been backed by firms including Balfour Beatty , Birmingham Airport, Pinsent Masons and Royal Bank of Scotland.

The scheme is made up of two initiatives - CSR City and Make the Grade Birmingham.

The first is a city-wide partnership aiming to reduce the skills gap through a proven model for excellent business engagement for schools and colleges and is being led by Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and Birmingham City Council.

Make the Grade Birmingham delivers support to the region’s students by generating the skills that Birmingham businesses need to succeed in the future.

A spokesman for the initiative said: “Designed to better integrate the world of work with education, CSR City and Make the Grade Birmingham will improve the motivation and aspirations of young people, whilst enhancing their employability skills and increasing their awareness of the world of work.

“It will also help employers - large and small - to work together to address the skills gaps through practical activity which develops young people to better prepare them for employment.”

Andy Street, chairman of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “There is universal acceptance of the value of business engagement in improving the employability of young people, raising aspirations and better informing them of career opportunities.

“In making our students more “work ready” this will, in turn, raise levels of employment, help address our skills gaps and so boost economic growth in Birmingham and across the West Midlands.”

Greg Lowson, chairman of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce , said: “CSR City puts Birmingham and the wider region on the map.

“No other UK city has anything on the same scale and with such wide support.

“Over time, ‘Make the Grade Birmingham’ will contribute towards the raising of academic standards, work-readiness and employment, making Birmingham a more attractive place to work.”

Stephanie Burras, CEO of Ahead Partnership, said: “We have been connecting businesses and schools successfully for five years with our Make the Grade programme in Yorkshire, and we are delighted to be working with CSR City to bring this successful scheme to Birmingham and the wider city region.

“We know that young people who get the chance of well structured experience of the world of work with employers gain huge benefits.

“Evidence shows that they are more likely to stay within education, training or employment, are increasingly motivated to learn and are likely to earn more in future life.”