Why do we go to work?

While earning an income is largely about supporting you and any dependants, achieving fulfillment through you working life is also important.  Especially with the ever-increasing age at which you can qualify for a state pension to support your retirement ...

Students are "dropping out" of university

Student Loan Company figures show that 41,914 undergraduate students dropped out of their courses between the start of August 2022 and the end of August 2023. This was up 5% from 2021-22, and the highest figure since the data was first recorded in 2018-19. The real figure will be higher because it does not include those studying in Scotland. In addition, because not all undergraduates receive student funding, the figures are not representative of the entire student body. Comparisons with previous years reveal that about 9,300 students dropped out in the final three months of the academic year, down slightly from roughly 9,900 over the same period in 2022.

Most uni students have part-time jobs

Recent research has found that the majority of full-time students also have jobs for the first time as the cost-of-living becomes their biggest concern. The number in paid employment has increased in one year from 45% to 55%, while students are also working longer hours on coursework. In 2021 the number was only 34%. Significantly, students with jobs were less likely to say they would choose the same university and course again.

Earn while you learn, at university

In a poll in January by the Sutton Trust, 27% of students said they had been forced to take on jobs or work longer hours as loans became stretched and other forms of income, such as parental support, dried up. A Ucas survey in April estimated the number of students working part-time was 43%. Graeme Atherton, director of the National Education Opportunities Network at the University of West London, said students working had become the “norm” in some institutions, meaning “ostensibly full-time students are actually part-time because they are working half the time”.

"Grade inflation" in Degrees awarded

Universities are facing investigations over the issue of grade inflation, the head of the Office for Students told a parliamentary committee. He said that the proportion of students achieving first-class degrees rose from 15.7% in 2011 to 37.9% in 2021, when universities were encouraged to be generous because of the negative effects of Covid. Last year, the proportion fell to about 32% but was still higher than the 30% figure from 2019. Universities have said they intend to rein in the number of firsts given and return them to pre-pandemic levels.

The Gender Pay gap is still there ...

Gender pay statistics for 2022-23 show that companies such as Goldman Sachs and HSBC reported a growing differential in the average median hourly pay received by men and women. The average pay gap in finance was 22.5% last year, improving slightly from 23% in 2021 and lower only than construction (22.8%) and education (24.7%). Big banks with UK offices were some of the worst offenders. Goldman Sachs reported one of the biggest gender pay gaps, with women paid 53.2% less than men, up from 51.3%. Banks and City law firms say that their pay differentials are largely based on fewer women occupying senior well-paid positions. HSBC reported the biggest gender pay gap of any bank, paying women 51.1% less than men.

Employers with more than 250 employees have been required by law to publish gender pay statistics since 2017. The figures show that little progress has been made in closing the pay gap over the past five years despite political pressure. Overall, about 80% of employers across the economy awarded higher average pay to men compared to women, worse than the 77% recorded in the first year of disclosures in 2017. The average median hourly pay gap declined from 9.7% to 9.4% last year but remains at the same level reported five years ago.

The rise of Degree Apprenticeships

In 2022-23, 42,060 people began Higher-level Apprenticeships in various fields, from policing and social work to sales and retail. That number is dwarfed by the 560,000 accepted on to traditional degree courses. However, Universities Minister Robert Halfon, wants Degree Apprentices to make up half of all university-enrolled learners in the future, and Ucas is to display them alongside degree courses from next year. Currently, about 100 universities offer such apprenticeships. Greg Wade, policy manager for UUK, said, “Degree Apprenticeships are in a good place. More universities are engaging, we’ve seen more employer demand and increased recognition of their value among policymakers. We see this as an opportunity to assess the barriers, ask what would encourage institutions to deliver Apprenticeships and then reflect that back to ministers.”

Graduate salaries are rising

The average advertised salary for graduates in the UK rose 7% on the year, to £26,076 last month, according to Adzuna, the job advertising website. Job vacancies for graduates rose by 59% over the same period, to 14,690 in May.

Companies are opening new positions and increasing the advertised salaries in an attempt to replenish their workforces with young workers straight out of university. The data shows that the legal and banking sectors are offering the highest starting rates, with US employers leading the way. JPMorgan Chase had a base salary of up to £70,000, with Barclays is offering £50,000. In the retail sector, Lidl’s supply chain graduate programme has a starting salary of £37,000. Aldi offers £44,000.

The Rise of the Machines ...

 [ Source: i newspaper ]

Degree class related to future earnings

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has used DfE data to analyse the financial benefit, in terms of the earnings premium at age 30, of students gaining different degree classifications. After allowing for the characteristics of different students, such as prior attainment at school, they found that women with a 1st could expect to earn 4% more than those with a 2:1, while the premium for men was 7%. The "penalty" for getting 2:2 as opposed to a 2:1 was reduced earnings of 7% at age 30 for women and 11% for men. However, the IFS study also found variations in the benefits and penalties of different degree classes according to which subject was studied and the type of university that was attended. For instance, both men and women who left university with a 2:2 from the most selective universities earned a fifth less on average by the age of 30 than those who got a 2:1, a gap that was much lower (6% for women and 8% for men) for graduates of the least selective institutions. The study says “degree class premiums are in many cases bigger than differences in returns between university types. The results suggest that those who get a 2:2 from a selective university would mostly have been better off with a 2:1 from a less selective one.”

Young returners to work are in insecure employment

A report by the Resolution Foundation has found that young people had returned to work rapidly in late 2021, with unemployment now slightly lower than pre-pandemic levels, but a third of the 18-34 year-olds back in the workplace were now in "insecure work". The young "returners", those who were employed pre-Covid but became unemployed in the pandemic, were now much more likely than those who stayed in work to be on a temporary or zero-hours contract, or doing agency work or unsteady hours. 33% of the returners, among 6,100 people surveyed by YouGov, were now in such roles, compared with 12% of those who had stayed in work throughout the pandemic.

The Gender Pay Gap is widening

The "gender pay gap" reported to the government by Britain’s biggest firms is widening, prompting warnings that women face a bleak and worsening economic picture in 2022. Three years after a new law compelled companies to reveal the difference between male and female wages, data shows that 8:10 organisations with more than 250 staff still pay men more than women. The most recent data shows women are being paid a median hourly rate 10.2% less than their male colleagues, nearly a percentage point higher than the 9.3% gap reported in 2018. The pay gap in the private sector grew from 8% in 2018 to 9% in 2021, while, in the public sector, it grew from 14.4% to 15.5%.

Increase in graduate and school-leaver salaries but ...

A survey by the Institute of Student of Employers (ISE) has found that the typical pay for graduates rose to £30,500 in 2021, up by £833; while school leavers saw a jump of £1,039. However, the number of applicants per job reached a record high of 91 per graduate vacancy, a 17% increase on last year. It also marks the highest number since the ISE started collecting data in 1999. The 2021 cohort of graduates has been competing for jobs against last year's cohort, who graduated in the year the pandemic began. The 177 respondents, each large employers of students and young people, suggested that the jobs market had still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

Animation accolade for Herts Uni

Hertfordshire University has been crowned the UK’s top animation and games school for the second year running by The Rookies. The community for non-professional digital artists announced their list of the top 50 creative media and entertainment schools and colleges in the world, with Hertfordshire ranking 22nd on the list, higher than any other British institution. It also ranked as best 2D animation school in the UK, 2nd in the world; best in the UK for production excellence in 2D animation, 7th in the world and second best game design and development school in the UK, 12th in the world. 

Current shortage occupations

The list of the 10 occupations where, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and industry data, worker shortages are among the most acute are

• HGV drivers - 100,000+

• Nurses - 79,123

• Programmers and software development professionals - 68,929

• Care workers and home carers - 49,751

• Primary and nursery education teaching professionals - 30,574

• Chefs - 29,996

• Sales and retail assistants - 26,183

• Cleaners & domestics - 24,148

• Metal working production and maintenance fitters - 19,748

• Carpenters and joiners - 6,364

The jobs covered by the government's approved list currently include all health professionals, vets, architects, engineers, scientists and orchestral musicians.

Don't underestimate the earning power of technical qualifications

A review of post-18 education and funding showed that only 66% of graduates were in high-skilled employment in 2019 and we have a smaller proportion of people with higher-level technical qualifications in this country compared to competitors like Germany and Canada, for example. Research shows that in the UK men with a higher technical (level 4) qualification earn on average £5,100 more at age 30 than those with a degree (level 6). For women achieving a higher technical (level 5) qualification, the difference is £2,700. [ source DfE ]

Potential shake up to UCAS process

UCAS is to recommend changing the university admissions system so students will receive their exam results before getting offers for places. John Cope from UCAS said they were “cautiously backing” such a model. He said he wanted a system whereby students apply in the usual way during term-time but offers would only be made after results day in the summer. He said that the other option on the table, where students would apply to university and receive offers after 'A' level results day and then start degree courses in January, was a “step too far” was “not practical” and would put the country “out of sync internationally”.

Colin Hughes, AQA chief executive, said: “Post-qualification admissions (PQA) could help more young people get the university places they deserve, but schools, exam boards and higher education all need to be willing to give a little to make it happen. If schools can prepare their Year 13 students for exams that start a little earlier, exam boards can mark and award grades a little more quickly and more universities can move the start of term into October, there’s no reason why we can’t do this.”

Benefits of going to University

 [source: the i newspaper]

Decline in Graduate Employment

The latest survey by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) found that the number of graduate jobs declined by 12% and that the majority of employers anticipated a further decline next year. Employers in the retail and consumer goods sectors made the biggest cuts, slashing 45% of graduate jobs. The ISE, which surveyed mostly large employers, also said that employers reported a 29% decrease in internships and a 25% decrease in placements in 2019-20 with further falls expected next year. Stephen Isherwood, chief executive of the ISE, said, “Employers have had to make significant adjustments. As a result, graduate jobs do not appear to be collapsing and school and college leaver recruitment is holding up, but the decline in internships and placements is more worrying. Around half of placement students get rehired, so diminishing these roles damages the talent pipeline.”

Increase in Job Vacancies reported

A survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation has found there were 1.36 million job adverts across the UK in the first week of November, the largest number since early March. However, the research shows the recovery has not been evenly distributed across the different regions and sectors. Half of the UK's major regions now have higher numbers of job adverts than in March, while some still have fewer. The bounce back has been led by North-West England and Wales, which last month respectively had 37% and 33% more vacancies than in March, but London is lagging behind with 18.7% fewer posts on offer. The study also shows roles in construction, logistics and food and drink have recovered strongly, while hospitality and leisure remain at significantly lower levels than in March. However, there were 48.7% fewer adverts for bar staff than in March, despite a recovery during the summer months. Vacancies for chefs were down by 46% and for fitness instructors by 37%, significantly lower than before the pandemic hit.