What can you expect to earn a decade after graduating?

Recent research has identified significant differences in earnings after 10 years for different university courses, with notable gender gaps too ...

COURSE	WOMEN	MEN
Medicine	£45,400	£55,300
Economics	£38,200	£42,000
Engineering & Technology	£23,200	£31,200
Law	£26,200	£30,100
Physical Sciences	£24,800	£29,800
Education	£24,400	£29,600
Architecture	£22,500	£28,600
Maths & Computer Science	£22,000	£26,800
Business	£22,000	£26,500
History & Philosophy	£23,200	£26,500
Social Sciences	£20,500	£26,200
Biological Sciences	£23,800	£25,200
European Language & Literature	£26,400	£25,000
Linguistics & Classics	£23,200	£24,100
Veterinary Science & Agriculture	£18,900	£21,400
Mass Communication	£18,100	£19,300
Creative Arts	£14,500	£17,900
Social Sciences	£20,500	£26,200

It pays to study Maths - literally!

Academics from Nottingham University examined data from more than 2,000 people born in 1970, looking at what each person should expect to earn, given their sex, family status, educational background and the area in which they lived by the age of 34. They concluded that pupils who take Maths at A level earned an average salary premium of 11%. No other A-level subject attracted a wage premium in the same way. The academics also found that the earnings premium for women with A-level maths was greater than that for men. 

[ source GTAssociates ]

University guidance website

There are many websites which offer impartial advice about which university you could or should apply to - several of them are listed in the links to the left of this page. Two to look out for are:

• BestCourse4Me  -  this is the only website which tells you the 'A' level courses studied by the students on a particular course. You can search by institution or course.

• WhichUniversity  -  this is the best website for finding out the number of applicants for a particular course so you know how much competition you're up against.

Take your time to get informed, before you enter the UCAS process.

What university students value

A survey of 1,000 students by the NUS has found that student life has changed hugely over the last 10 years, with sales of alcohol plummeting, whilst the sale of hot drinks were up 10% last year alone. The survey found that the most valued services were clubs and societies (60%), advice and support (50%) and café facilities (43%); only 37% said the bar services provided were important. Cafes and coffee shops were the most used service (87%), followed by clubs and societies (78%), with 74% saying they used the union bars. Richard Brooks, NUS vice-president for union development, said, “A lot of policymakers think it’s still like when they were at university, but since the introduction of the £9000 fee regime in 2012, students have become much more focused on employment prospects”. 

[ source GTAssociates ]

Entrance tests to be introduced by Cambridge University

Cambridge University is to bring in written tests as part of the application process, which will affect students applying for courses starting in 2017. The tests will be tailored to each subject and will be taken before or at interviews. A university spokesperson, Dr Sam Lucy, said the tests would provide "valuable additional evidence of our applicants' academic abilities, knowledge base and potential to succeed in the Cambridge course for which they have applied". He said, "This move is a result of responding to teacher and student feedback, a desire to harmonise and simplify our existing use of written assessments and a need to develop new ways to maintain the effectiveness and fairness of our admissions system during ongoing qualification reform." 

The university said that no advance preparation will be needed, "other than revision of relevant recent subject knowledge where appropriate". Most at-interview assessments will be an hour long and most pre-interview assessments no longer than two hours. Cambridge says it will schedule its pre-interview tests to coincide with Oxford's to make them easier for schools to administer. The at-interview assessments will take place during the December interview period, usually on the same day as the interviews. The university said that the new tests would complement existing assessment measures, which include a supplementary application questionnaire, examples of written work, teacher references and academic interviews.

The BTEC route to university is on the increase

UCAS figures show that more students are taking alternative qualifications, such as BTECs, alone or alongside A-levels. Last year 26% of students from England accepted on to degree courses held at least one BTEC qualification, compared with 14% in 2008. However, A-levels are still the most popular route, with 63% of UK 18yr olds applying for degree courses last year studying for three A-levels. 

James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association, has said that: "Study programmes that combine BTEC and A-level qualifications are becoming increasingly common and have proved to be a highly effective way of helping young people to progress to higher education and employment. Overall, we think the take-up of applied general qualifications and the new Tech levels is likely to increase as schools and colleges adapt to the introduction of the new-style A-levels." [source GTAssociates]

IT jobs within the Arts

It is estimated that the creative economy accounts for around 1 in12 of UK jobs. Within the film sector there is a rising demand for people with strong IT skills and significant skills shortages in this and other areas, such as production managers, costume supervisors, hair and makeup experts, prosthetics and sound recording. The visual effects (VFX) sector has particular skills shortages. The skills needed for film are readily transferable to stage, conference management, gaming, festivals, concerts, TV and other media outlets, and most workers will have a "portfolio career", across several sectors. 

There is a similar picture in terms of stage careers, with an increasing use of technology and a rise in the demand of people with good technical skills. For every actor there are 10 supporting staff. [source GTAssociates]