"Look before you leap" to a University

Despite tuition fees reaching £9,000 per year, Which? has found that 23% of students surveyed are picking higher education courses without attending university open days and 47% of those surveyed failed to talk to staff before choosing their course.  This has raised concerns that students may be choosing inappropriate courses or courses that fail to meet their needs.  These concerns are mirrored with figures which show that 6.7% of students failed to complete their first year of their degree.

“Going to university is a hugely significant financial decision so it’s worrying that so many young people say they didn't do enough research before applying or that the advice they received wasn’t up to scratch.

“The vast majority of prospective students are going through this process for the first time, making it vital that they have proper guidance and as much information as possible to help them make the right choice." Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director.

The survey also found that only a quarter of applicants under 19 felt certain they had enough advice from school or college to make an informed choice.

Read the full article here  [ Source Cascaid and The Daily Telegraph ]

Increase in STEM degree course uptake

More students than ever have been accepted on to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses, according to new figures published by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFC).

In 2013-14, 98,000 students were accepted on to STEM undergraduate courses, the highest level ever recorded.  This is an 8% rise on last academic year, and an 18% rise since 2002-03. Acceptances onto engineering and technology courses "bounced back" by 6% after a decline, returning to the peak levels of 2010-11.  Acceptances onto computer science courses increased by 12% compared with the previous year, and are now at their highest point since 2003-04.

Read the full article here.  [  Source, The Guardian newspaper ]

Future-Talent.com

Future-Talent.com has just published its Alternatives To University guide for 2014.  It contains lots of helpful information about pathways at 16+ and 18+ into education and training and also a wide range of case studies for reference.  If you want to, you can also use the website as a gateway to applying for any one of the huge range of training and Apprenticeship courses listed or simply browse. It's worth a look just to see what's out there ...

Dropping out of uni ...

Official figures show that 6.7% of students failed to complete the first year of their degree, however, at 18 universities the figure is at least 1 in 10. It is estimated that 18.5% will fail to complete their course, after dropping out, transferring to another university or graduating with an alternative qualification.  The highest drop-out rate was at the University of the West of Scotland, where 19.4 per cent of students failed to complete their first year.  In England, the worst was London Met, where 15.5% dropped out, followed by 12.5% at City, 12.4% at London South Bank, 11.9% at Middlesex and 11.7% at Bolton University.  

[ source GTAssociates.org ]

University or an Apprenticeship?

Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has said that he wants teenagers to put universities and Apprenticeships on an equal footing when deciding future career paths.  To encourage this, the government has pledged £190m to support degree-level and postgraduate Apprenticeships in subjects like Engineering and Construction.  The announcement was welcomed by the general secretary of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt, who said, “Apprenticeships have the potential to be this country’s success story".

Is ABB enough for university?

Although the Government has increased the number of students universities can recruit by 30,000, some universities have had their allocation ( the number they are allowed to recruit who do not have ABB or above ) cut because they did not reach their targets last year. Leeds has had its allocation cut by 4.2%, Bath by 4.2% and Surrey by 4.1%.  Most of the other losers were new universities, with Kingston cut by 3.2%, UEL 3.1%, Liverpool Hope 3.1% and Staffordshire 3%. Leeds, Bath and Surrey did not meet their allocation because they were reluctant to admit many students who did not attain ABB or above.  [ source GTAssociates.org ]

Get Creative!

Did you know that the UK creative industries account for £71bn a year, or 5.2% of GDP, and have grown by 19% since 2010?  Three of the four most successful global movie franchises, Harry Potter, James Bond and Lord of the Rings, are British, whilst recent UK films include the blockbuster 'Gravity'.  Our music stars, such as Adele and One Direction ( love them or loathe them! ), have topped world charts for six of the last seven years, whilst our TV formats such as X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing are worldwide hits.  In addition, as a nation, we spend nearly twice as much per person on-line as Americans, and our super-fast broadband penetration is ahead of all other major EU countries.

Maybe you can "get a piece of that" ...