Apprenticeships latest

Youth Connexions has published the latest data on Apprenticeships in Hertfordshire:

Vacancies:

• 330 employers offering 427 Apprenticeship opportunities
• 3% are Traineeships
• 77% are Intermediate Apprenticeships
• 20% are Advanced Apprenticeships

Wages:

• Average wage, £147 per week
• Approximately 90% of Apprenticeships are paying above the National Minimum Wage
• Highest paying Apprenticeship, £327 per week  -  AA Catering Equipment Engineer

Most popular sectors:

• Business Administration and Law (33% of vacancies)
• Retail and Commercial Enterprise (24% of vacancies)

Further news:

• The new government's commitment to create 3 million more Apprenticeships by 2020 is to be enshrined in law
• Public sector bodies are to be set targets to create more Apprenticships
• For more details, click here
• The first “Articled Apprenticeship” programme, which includes a degree, postgraduate qualification and recognised training leading to qualification as a solicitor has been created. Details here

Many young people are put off the idea of an apprenticeship due to concerns about managing the workload. Check out these top pieces of advice from the apprentices from the Get In Go Far apprenticeship campaign here,

Make your Summer Holiday work for you

While it's a very good idea to take a break after your GCSE and A/S exam, you can also make use of probably the longest holiday you'll ever have by widening your experience in career-related activities. These can increase your employability and add an extra dimension to your UCAS Personal Statement. For more information and advice, read an article from the Telegraph here.

How to get into Medical School

A recent article in The Telegraph newspaper steers you through the "ins and outs" of getting yourself onto one of the country's most competitive career pathways. Read it here.

The Graduate Labour Market: key facts

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has released statistical data for the first quarter year, Q1, (January to March) this year:

• The employment rate for working age graduates of 87.5% is the highest level seen since the 88.3% recorded in Q4 2007.
• The unemployment rate of 3.9% for young graduates is the lowest Q1 rate since 2007.
• The postgraduate earnings premium over graduates has widened over the last year across both young and working age populations.

Graduates and postgraduates continue to have higher employment rates and are more likely to work in 'high skill' jobs than non-graduates. Employment rates among the working-age population of graduates and postgraduates marginally increased since last quarter with 87.5% of both groups in employment, compared to 69.3% of non-graduates.

The end of working Saturdays?

A new study suggests that teenagers are ditching old-fashioned Saturday jobs because of their fear of failure in their studies. Instead of focusing on enhancing their extra-curricular activities through part-time work, 16 and 17-year olds are solely focused on their studies, a new report from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) revealed. The report showed the number of teenagers combining part-time work with studies has halved from 42% in 1996 to only 18% last year. Over half of youngsters said they want “to concentrate on their studies” instead of taking up a Saturday job. However, it should also be remembered that the research from the UKCES also found out that 66% of employers rate work experience as a critical or significant factor in recruitment.

Making the wrong choice?

The results of new research show that around a third of university students have said that if they had known what they know now about their course when they chose it, they would have made a different choice. This makes using impartial guidance sites like the ones listed on the left hand side of this page all the more important. Read the full article here.

UniStats.Gov

Just like any other product or service you might be considering "buying", there are comparison websites for universities and the courses they offer. The most popular, What Uni and Which University are included in the useful links on the left hand side of this blog. One more to consider is UniStats.Gov. Like the other sites, this includes official data for undergraduate courses on each university and college's satisfaction scores in the National Student Survey, jobs after study and other key information for prospective students.  It has a very useful comparison tool and provides data on percentage of graduates entering employment from each course and their average salary after six months. Worth a look ...

More graduates are in work but they're earning less

Graduates in England have seen a fall in their median salary of more than £1,000 in the past five years but more are in work than at any time since 2007, according to Department for Business, Innovation and Skills data. Graduates earn much more than people without degrees, with an average wage of £31,200, compared to £22,100. However, in 2010 graduates typically earned £32,396. The median salary for people with a postgraduate qualification rose from £37,180 to £39,000 during the past five years, whilst for non-graduates it rose from £20,800 to £22,100. Some 87.5% of working-age graduates were employed during the three months to March, the highest proportion since the end of 2007, when the rate was 88.3%. This compares with an employment rate of 69.3% for non-graduates. There was an improving employment market for graduates aged 21-30, with only 3.9% unemployed, again the lowest for this time of year since 2007, when it was 3.5%.

Are opportunities in Medicine increasing or decreasing?

David Cameron has promised that 5,000 new GPs will be recruited. However, an article by Peter Stanford in the Independent he notes that GP numbers are falling due to early retirements and GPs going into private practice, whilst at the same time fewer graduates are opting to go into general practice.

In 2013 there were 84,395 applications for Medicine and 7,515 places, 1,800 students with AAA at A level did not get offered a place. However, the UK has one of the lowest ratios of practising GPs per head of population, with 2.71 per 1,000 people, ranking us 24th out of 27 EU countries. Given the 11:1 ratio of applications to places there is no shortage of well qualified people who want to be doctors.

Mr Stanford says that a constraint is that it costs £175k to train a doctor and takes 5-8 years and thus is beyond the electoral time-frame for a government. He said that 30% of GP training places around the country were empty following the first round of recruitment, with some areas having a 65% vacancy rate. 97, 910 of the 267,000 registered active doctors had studied medicine outside of the UK, with 29,000 from other EU countries and 25,000 from India. He says that given the £175,000 cost of training a UK student, and the long gestation before a student become a doctor, there is a huge pressure on the NHS to keep student numbers down and recruit from overseas. He quotes a senior A&E consultant who said, “Were getting doctors on the cheap, and that’s the dominant philosophy in the NHS right now”. [ source: GTAssociates ]

Do Russell Group graduates have an edge?

The international recruitment agency Universum has said that Russell Group graduates have an edge because they are more likely to have done an internship, with 44% of Russell Group students taking part in internship programmes in the UK and 20% abroad. The figure was 30% among non-Russell Group students. However, their research report said: “We expect this difference may close over time as more and more universities incorporate work and internship programmes into their curriculums to help their students gain real-world, relevant experience in their chosen careers.”

"Work Experience is more important than University"

Top employers value work experience among graduates more than the grades or the university they have been to, this is according to new research from a major Scandinavian ‘employer branding’ consultancy firm Universum. In their international survey of some 2000 chief executives and HR professionals, 58% rated work experience as the most important factor, with an applicant’s personality coming second with 48%. Only 16% said that they were looking for a degree from a prestigious university.

Need a PUSH to get to university?

PUSH claims to be 'ruthlessly independent', impartial and informative when it comes to university choices. Its website offers a range of articles about the application process, including how to 'pimp your Personal Statement' as well as advice on taking a gap year. Part of its work is in talks given to schools, several of which you can find on YouTube.

For example, click here for the Push guide to applying to university.

Changes to student finances released

The National Scholarship Programme, which was a government initiative established to support students whose household incomes was £25,000 or less has been scrapped.  There are no changes to the maintenance loans and grants system however. Many universities do offer extra bursaries and scholarships so it is wise to check their websites and talk to finance departments. This additional funding is typically offered to students from low household incomes or particular groups, for example, care leavers will receive £1000 bursary per year at the University of Hertfordshire.

Click here for government advice on student finances.

Changes to UCAS tariffs announced

There will be a new tariff system for university entrance for the 2017 admissions cycle.  It will therefore affect students starting 'A' level and BTEC Level 3 courses in September 2015. Students who apply 2016 and then defer their places will still be under the old tariff.  A key change is that AS levels with now be worth 40% of an 'A' level ( i.e. the "full" AS + A2 course ) and not 50%.  The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is still worth 50% of an 'A' level.

Click here for a fact-sheet from UCAS on the changes.

Click here for an explanatory video from UCAS.

Hertfordshire leading in Apprenticeships

According to a new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA), hundreds of school-leavers are being failed by the government’s Apprenticeship drive, with too few places to fulfill demand. Last year, there were 1.8 million applications for only 166,000 Apprenticeships in England. The picture is very different in Hertfordshire where we have more Apprenticeship opportunities than we can fill. Take a look at current availability on the Youth Connexions website here or follow them @hertsjobs16to19