Higher education choices

A survey of 2,300 adults found that, of those who had taken degrees, 31% said they wish they had taken a different subject; for people aged 25-34 it was 42%. Of those who had not been to university, 30% said they regretted not going.  So it pays to consider your options carefully. Websites such as Which University and others with links on the left of this page could be a useful source of impartial advice and guidance ...

Meanwhile, research by Coventry University found that 1 in 7 students value the advice of parents in terms of choosing higher education courses over their own views. The study also found that 35% of parents wanted to influence their children's university choice, while 1 in 8 said they would encourage children to stay at home because they feared they would “miss them too much”. The study flagged up the issue of parents giving advice based on out of date information. One researcher said; “Parental advice, which many parents admit is heavily influenced by their own higher education path, may be ill-informed. The most effective advice parents could offer would be to encourage their children to research potential future careers, including talking to people in those fields of work."