Parents pay the price of university

A survey by the consumer group Which? of over 800 parents of current and prospective students found that 2:3 will use their monthly income to cover the costs and over a quarter will dip into their savings. Over a quarter have had to, or are planning to, cut back on spending on home improvements, cars and holidays to support their child at university, while 6% said that they have or will have to take on a second job to cover the costs of their child’s higher education. Overall, 84% of parents of current students said they were financially supporting their child at university and nearly half of those said the overall cost was more than they expected, contributions averaged £360 a month.

More details of 'T levels' released

UCAS has announced how T levels are to be graded. T-levels contain a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience, including a placement in the workplace of at least 315 hours. Candidates will be awarded one of four overall grades, ranging from Distinction* to a Pass. They will also get a nationally recognised certificate which will show their overall grade and a breakdown of what they have achieved across the T-level programme.

All change at Informed Choices

The Russell Group of universities has decided to change its very widely used Informed Choices guidance from a booklet published annually to a website.  The aim of this is to broaden the advice they provide for application to their universities and to prevent potential applicants from narrowing their curriculum choices. You can visit the new site here.

Over-educated employees

The Office of National Statistics has said that 31% of graduates are over educated for the job they are doing. For those graduating before 1992, the number was 22%, but this jumps to 34% for those graduating after 2007. London had the highest proportion of over educated workers, with about 25% overqualified for their job. Graduates in the Arts and Humanities were more likely to be under-using their education.

Best cities to work in post-Degree

Prospects, the UK agency responsible for graduate employability, has analysed the relationship between graduate salaries and the cost of living in 23 UK cities. Derby is top, due to having many well-paid jobs in engineering and a relatively low cost of living. Southampton and Coventry make the top three, due to their combination of a relatively strong graduate jobs market and affordable living. Leicester and Liverpool are high, although starting salaries are low, they are relatively cheap places to live. Brighton, London and Oxford offer some of the highest starting salaries, yet new graduates will have low disposable incomes due to high living expenses such as rents. 

Charlie Ball, head of higher education intelligence at Prospects, said, “Graduates may need to think carefully about chasing the highest possible salary if it means moving to somewhere with a high cost of living, particularly rents. A graduate may need an extremely attractive offer in London, far above the average salary, for it to be worth them leaving a less expensive labour market ... Graduates need to understand where value lies for their degree and whether it is worth remaining in a well-known jobs market on a lower salary or moving for more money where costs are higher. It’s a common assumption that the latter choice is always better, but the data strongly suggests that it is not.”

The value of a Masters Degree

A survey from the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) found that only 19% of employers said graduates with a Master’s had better skills than those with a Batchelors. No employers in the consumer goods sector valued the qualification, while only 6% in the IT sector saw the benefits . Only 12% of employers said that postgraduate qualified hires progress more quickly in terms of salary than other hires. Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the ISE, said: “In reality, most employers simply don’t discriminate between those with a Master’s and those with a Degree. They see them as the same. They are treated the same when they join. They do not go on a faster track or get paid a premium. I think that is a bit of a shock to some Master’s students going into the labour market.”

Apprenticeship opportunities at Ferrari and Amazon

Ferrari has announced that all twelve of the UK’s official Ferrari Dealers will be holding an “Open Day” at their aftersales facilities to showcase Apprenticeships opportunities. Each Dealer will be inviting students from selected local schools to visit the workshop and learn about Ferrari technology and potential job opportunities. Candidates will need at least 5 GCSEs. The following roles are available: 

Service Technician – 3 year Apprenticeship

Service Adviser – 2 year Apprenticeship
Parts Adviser – 2 year Apprenticeship.

Amazon has announced plans to create over 1,000 Apprenticeships over the next two years. Nine different programmes, lasting between 13 months and four years will be on offer, ranging from IT, safety and HR through to software engineering, robotics, leadership and technology. Over 90 new Amazon Bachelors and Masters degree-level Apprentices will also be available, focused on software development engineering, senior leadership and automation.