This blog is designed to keep you up-to-date with Careers Education, Information and Guidance (CEIAG) available locally, nationally and through the school. I’ll be posting information about employment and training opportunities available locally as well as details of open days and useful websites. The world of education, employment and training opportunities is changing rapidly so keep checking in for the latest information.

Mr Cross


Monday 10 December 2018

Further evidence of the increase in unconditional offers


A report from UCAS shows that 34% of 18yr olds applying for university places in England, Wales and Northern Ireland this year received some form of unconditional offer, with such offers rising from 3,000 in 2013 to 68,000 and reached 87,500 when combined with offers that became unconditional when a student made the institution their firm choice. The analysis also showed that the majority of sixth form applicants missed their predicted A-level grades, regardless of the type of offer held. Applicants with offers conditional on achieving specific grades missed their targets by two grades or more in 56% of cases, compared with 67% for students with unconditional offers.

What is paid for by Tuition Fees?

Research by the Higher Education Policy Institute found that under half of the tuition fee paid is spent on the cost of teaching, the rest goes on buildings, IT and libraries, administration, or welfare. They said that students should be given much more information about how their fee is being used. 



A breakdown from Nottingham Trent per student showed:
  • 39% spent on academic staff, course equipment and staff-related costs 
  • 36% spent on buildings, libraries, IT, sports, careers, admissions, staff, administration and widening access to poorer applicants 
  • 17% invested in "enhancing teaching, research infrastructure and the student experience" 
  • 8% spent on professional services, including marketing, finance and the vice-chancellor's pay 
The research also showed that universities can have very different levels of dependency on the current £9,250 annual tuition fees. Tuition fees were only 15% of income for Cambridge, but at Falmouth it was 83% and Nottingham Trent was 81%. The Office for Students said: "We can identify and will act when they are not transparent about value for money or are not delivering strong enough outcomes for students or taxpayers."  [source: CES newsletter]

Women benefit most from going to university

A study from the DfE and the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that female graduates earn 28% more than non-graduate women, whilst male graduates earn 8% more than non-graduate men. The report, based on tax records of people who went to school in England and then to university in the UK, shows a woman with a degree earns £6,700 more per year, on average than a non-graduate woman. But a male graduate earns £2,700, on average, more than a man without a degree. 

The figures reflect the fact that women who do not go to university are more likely have children earlier than graduates and on average are more likely to be working part-time in their twenties. Women in their twenties without degrees are twice as likely to be working part-time compared with their graduate peers. Thus, the big gains for women graduates is partially down to comparisons between full-time graduate earnings and those non-graduates working part-time. For men, the financial gains of a degree are much less certain, and 33% of male graduates went to a university in which there was a "negligible or negative impact" on earnings compared with those without a degree. The figures have been adjusted to take into account the background of students and previous academic achievement, making it a like-for-like comparison.  [source: CES newsletter]

Tuesday 2 October 2018

Aspirations in 2018

The Milkround jobs site surveyed 5,709 ‘Generation Z’ new graduates to find out their views on jobs. They found that 55% plan to stay in their first role for less than two years, 70% said they’d stay in a role for up to five years (and 27% would stay for more than that), if their needs were met. They weren’t overly ambitious, with flexible working (flexible hours and working from home) and training and mentoring, their main requirements. However, they have high expectations on their career choice, with 65% believing that they will work in their dream industry.

And what are their "dream jobs", see a list published recently in the i newspaper:


Was going to university the right choice?

A survey by Barclays Apprenticeships of 2,500 people, including current university students, graduates from the last five years, parents whose children went to university and employers, found that 48% of students and graduates said they regret their decision to go to university and 44% of graduates said they did not need a degree to do their job. It found that 65% of young people felt under pressure to go to university, with 34% citing this as coming from their parents and 19% saying it was from their friends; 70% felt their parents would have been disappointed if they had not gone to university and when asked their reasons for choosing university, 18% said they went to please their parents.

Value-for-money Universities

This infographic from the i newspaper shows ratings for "value for money" universities, using research data compiled by the Nat West Bank:


Fall in Graduate unemployment

Graduate unemployment fell to a 30-year low in 2017-18, with only 5.3% of graduates estimated to be unemployed six months after graduation. One reason for this is an increase in the number taking post graduate courses from 13% in 2103 to 16% in 2017. The most popular areas for graduate employment are still business, law, health and marketing but there has also been an increase of graduates going into nursing, graphic design, cinematography and IT. Alongside this there has been a fall in those entering teaching, medicine, web design and civil engineering.

Rise in unconditional offers

UCAS figures show that 23% of 18yr olds received an unconditional offer this year, in 2016 the proportion was 13%. The rise is attributed to the lifting of the numbers cap and the rise in tuition fees, giving universities a huge incentive to recruit more students. In response to the findings, the University and College Union repeated its call for an overhaul of university admissions to allow students to apply after receiving their exam results. Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary, said, “The proliferation of unconditional offers is detrimental to the interests of students and it is time the UK joined the rest of the world in basing university offers on actual achievements instead of guesswork.”

Thursday 16 August 2018

Do "points always make prizes"?

On the day that Year 13 students across the nation are opening the envelopes that many see as containing their destinies, it's worth considering some statistics published by the Independent Newspaper earlier this year ...


And of course remembering that while three or four letters in an envelope may well record a candidate's effort, ability and the support they received from teachers, family and friends, they can never be a measure of the "whole person" and rarely convey an individual's personal qualities and those all-important employability skills ...

Monday 2 July 2018

UCAS Personal Statements advice

As it's "that time of year again", it might be useful to revisit the UCAS list of Top 10 overused and cliched phrases students use in their Personal Statements.

From a young age I have (always) been ...
For as long as I can remember I have ...
I am applying for this course because ...
I have always been interested in ...
Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed ...
Reflecting on my educational experience ...
XX is a very challenging and demanding (career/profession/course) ...
Academically, I have always been ...
I have always wanted to pursue a career in ...
I have always been passionate about ...

UCAS has released the information to encourage applicants to "convey a connection with the subject" in language that made them stand out. Their chief executive, Mary Curnock Cook, said: "The Personal Statement is supposed to be personal. Learning to write about yourself in a compelling way is a vital skill when applying for jobs; using hackneyed phrases is not the best way to stand out.

Predicted grades system questioned

A study by the University and College Union says no other developed country uses forecasts of results for university admissions and that in 2016 only 16% of predictions for three A-levels or equivalent were accurate. UCAS says that the most recent figures suggest that predicted grades are usually higher than the actual results, with 73% of applicants doing less well than forecast. The UCU report calls for an 'urgent overhaul' of the application system, so that pupils would know their actual exam grades before making their final applications. 

Do video lectures work?

A study from Kings College of a BSc course before and after it offered video capture for lectures, found that attendance plummeted and grades went down. The study found that the number of students missing classes doubled to 40% and those who did not attend had significantly lower coursework grades. 

Friday 29 June 2018

Rise in First Class degrees awarded

Recent figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that in 2016-17, 26% of students gained a First Class degree, compared with 18% in 2012-13. At Wolverhampton University, the number of "Firsts" has risen from 5% in 2006-7 to 28% in 2016-17; at Liverpool University they rose from 12% to 27% in the same period. Surrey students are evidently the brightest in the UK, as 41% of them received a First Class degree last year, compared with only 33% at Oxford and 32% at Cambridge.

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Millennials are reluctant to switch careers

A survey by of 1,000 young workers by Teach First has found that 53% of the "millennial generation" (those born between 1980 and 1999) have remained in the same job sector, with 3 out of 10 not moving on as they worry about starting at entry level in a new sector, or they fear that a career change will not work out. The charity said that the survey disabuses the stereotype of’ "footloose millennials" constantly swapping careers, rather than opting for a job for life and suggests young workers have more in common with prior generations.

Wednesday 28 March 2018

Healthy employment prospects for Graduates

The latest edition of What do graduates do? reveals that the graduate labour market in 2016 was in relatively good health. Of the 248,525 UK-domiciled first-degree graduates who responded to the survey: 
  • 74.2% of graduates were in employment six months after graduating. 
  • Only 5.3% were unemployed - the lowest rate since 1989. 
  • 71.3% of employed graduates were in a professional-level job. 
  • 21% of graduates went on to full or part-time further study. 
  • The average salary for graduates in full-time employment in the UK was £21,776.

Sunday 4 February 2018

Gender differences in Degree course choices

There has been an increase in girls studying STEM subjects at 'A' level over recent years but this has yet to be matched by their degree courses choices. A recent survey of over 100, 000 students revealed the following gender split in undergraduate courses.

BOYS
GIRLS
1. Economics

1. Psychology
2. Law

2. Law
3. Medicine

3. Medicine
4. Computer science

4. History
5. Maths

5. Geography
6. History

6. Criminology
7. Accounting and finance

7. English
8. Mechanical engineering

8. Midwifery
9. Psychology

9. Architecture
10. Physics

10. Maths

The study also showed that there were slightly more male applicants to Russell Group universities than female (46% cf. 43%).

Wednesday 17 January 2018

Two-year degrees to be introduced

Jo Johnson, Minister of State, has said that students in England are to be offered degrees in two years with fees 20% less than a three-year course. He said that he wanted to "break the mould" of a system in which three-year degrees have "crowded out" more flexible ways of studying. Students would take the same number of units and have the same amount of teaching and supervision. As well as reduced tuition fees, students will save on a year's living costs and be able to start working a year earlier, a package which Mr Johnson says could cut costs by £25,000.

Rise in unconditional offers

Since 2014, the number of unconditional places offered by universities has risen from 2,985 to 51,615 and of the 259,230 Sixth Form students who applied to university this year, nearly 1:5 received an unconditional offer. The latest figures also show that 10.6% of students predicted to get CCC were given an unconditional offer, compared with just 4.6% of students who were predicted to achieve three A*s. In 2014, unconditional offers were only awarded to exceptional candidates. Further analysis of the data shows that just one quarter of students actually achieved, or exceeded, their predicted grades, suggesting that thousands of guaranteed places were awarded using unreliable predictions.