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December 07/January 08/February 08

Education

Student issues

Employment

This bulletin summarises reports and surveys, press releases and newspaper articles under the following headings: education; student issues; and employment. In education, reports investigating access to and participation in higher education, student retention, ethnicity and gender in higher education were published, while on the student front, research into fees and bursaries was unveiled. In employment, the Association of Graduate Recruiters published its anticipations for the graduate recruitment market in 2008, and various developments also occurred in the legal sector. A study into the Teach First training programme was also published.

Education

Northumbria receives funding for work-based learnings

Northumbria University has been awarded £350,000 of funding to develop more work-based learning for employers in the North East of England. The grant, from regeneration agency One NorthEast, will go towards enhancing skills of employees in the region, by developing more work-based learning programmes in key sectors such as business services, defence and marine, energy, health and social care, and food and drink, to meet employer demand.

(Northumbria University gets £350,000 grant to develop more work-based learning for employers in the North East, Personnel Today, 8 February 2008.)

City law school gets top marks

The City Law School’s Legal Practice Course (LPC) has received top marks from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The course scored the highest ‘commendable’ grade in teaching, learning and the curriculum; assessment; students and their support; learning resources; leadership and management; and quality assurance and assessment. Assessors also praised the progress made by the LPC team. The SRA carries out LPC inspections on a three-year cycle.

(City Law School awarded top marks, The Lawyer, 29 January 2008.)

Rise in student numbers

Data from the Universities and Colleges Applications Service (UCAS) show that the number of full-time students accepted on to undergraduate courses starting in 2007 rose from 390,809 to 413,430. This represents a 5.8% rise between 2006 and 2007. In the same period, the overall number applying was up from 506,304 to 534,495 and rises were also noted for accepted applicants aged 20 or under, females, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and overseas accepted students.

(Final figures for 2007 entry - 5.8% rise in accepted applicants, UCAS press release, 17 January 2008.)

Student finance arrangements in HE

This report provides an overview of progress made under the new student finance arrangements. It covers estimated and actual expenditure on financial support for lower income students, bursary take-up and additional outreach. The study also offers evidence that the higher education sector is meeting its obligations that progress is being made in the promotion and safeguarding of fair access to higher education for under-represented groups.

(Access agreement monitoring: Outcomes for 2006/07, Office for Fair Access, January 2008.)

Routes into languages scheme unveiled

Routes into Languages, a programme designed to increase and widen participation in language study, has been launched. The three-year £8 million programme, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and Department for Children, Schools and Families, targets Key Stages 4 and 5 and higher education, and aims to support the national role of HE languages as a driver for economic and civic regeneration. The programme is coordinated by a team at the University of Southampton.

(Widening participation in language study, HEFCE press release, 21 February 08.)

Rise in student enrolments

Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show a 1% rise in the total number of HE enrolments at UK institutions in 2006/07. Increases in postgraduate, full-time first-year enrolments were also noted. While there was no percentage increase in enrolments of UK-domiciled students, the number of EU-domiciled and non-EU-domiciled students increased. In 2006/07, there were 319,260 first degree graduates, compared with 315,985 in 2005/06. The data are also broken down into enrolments and qualifications by England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Higher education student enrolments and qualifications obtained at higher education institutions in the United Kingdom for the academic year 2006/07, HESA press release, 10 January 2008.)

Student retention in HE

This report concludes that there has been no reduction in the percentage of students in England not completing their original higher education course since 2002.; Other conclusions include: increasing and widening participation in higher education attracts more students from under-represented groups who are more likely to withdraw from courses early, below-average first-year continuation rate in Mathematical Science, Computing and engineering subjects, and that information on why students leave their courses is unreliable. The report also advises universities on what they can do to improve student retention.

(Staying the course: The Retention of students on higher education courses, House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, February 2008.)

2008 priorities for HE unveiled

John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, has set out priorities for higher education for 2008/09. These priorities, documented in Mr Denham’s annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), include increasing student numbers by 60,000, fostering closer ties between universities and industry, continuing to expand Foundation Degrees and developing work on widening participation. Making progress on flexible learning pathways and building on investment in research and innovation are also among the priorities.

(Secretary of State sets out priorities for higher education in the year ahead, DIUS press release, 21 January 2008.)

Ethnicity, gender and HE

This study offers an overview of research and development outcomes under the Ethnicity and Gender Degree Attainment project. It highlights key outcomes and examples of existing practice and recommendations aimed at reducing degree attainment gap by gender and ethnicity. The report’s recommendations concern data collection and action, learning, teaching assessment and student support, perceptions and understandings, institutional infrastructure and governance and policies are practice.

(Ethnicity, Gender and Attainment Project: Final Report, HE Academy, January 2008.)

Funding for employer-engaged courses announced

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is to provide at least £105 million over the next three years to support the development of courses where the individual, the state and the employer share the cost. Professor David Eastwood, HEFCE’s Chief Executive, told the Conference of Northern Universities that HEFCE was on track to create 5,000 new places part-funded by employers by 2008/09. In addition, funding from the employer engagement stream could be used to help a university or college change its work with employers.

(HEFCE to provide £105 million to expand employer engagement courses, HEFCE press release, 21 February 08.)

Student issues

Teach First graduates to help gifted pupils

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has unveiled new plans to help gifted pupils from state schools in London, the Black Country and Greater Manchester apply for university places. The scheme is part of a £15million package to raise aspirations and attainment of pupils from state schools. It will involve ‘Teach First Advocates’, who will mentor students and their families, work with their peers to help them raise expectations and improve advice to pupils about the right university for them

(‘'Teach First' graduates to help gifted pupils from state schools aim for university, DCSF press release, 30 January 08.)

Fees, bursaries and access in HE

This report investigates the impact of financial considerations on sixteen to twenty-year old students’ decisions about participating in higher education (HE), concentrating on intentions to live at home whilst studying at university and extent to which bursaries affect institutional choice. Key conclusions include: finance affects the likelihood of participation in HE and decision of whether to study at a local university, bursaries only make a difference when substantial, and most students make choices about HE before hearing about bursary options.

(Knowing where to study? Fees, bursaries and fair access, Sutton Trust, P Davies et al, February 2008.)

Employment

AGR Graduate Recruitment Survey Winter review 2008

This report reviews AGR members’ recruitment intentions for the 2008 recruitment year. It covers predicted salaries and vacancies, actual vacancy and salary levels in 2007, recruitment shortfalls and challenges, recruitment marketing budgets in 2007 and 2008 and responses to current hot topics in graduate recruitment, such as school-leaver programmes, age discrimination, overseas recruitment, and generation Y. AGR members anticipate a 16.4% increase in vacancies. Starting salaries are expected to rise to £24,000, with Investment banks and law firms being the most generous employers.

(AGR Graduate Recruitment Survey 2008: Winter Review, AGR/Trendence, February 2008. Report not publicly available. Contact AGR for more information.)

Law firm to hire London trainees

Birmingham law firm Wragge & Co has announced plans to recruit trainees to its London office. Five trainees are being hired to start in September 2010 and March 2011, adding to the 25 recruits for the firm’s Birmingham office. Wragge’s London office is responsible for generating 80% of the firm’s turnover. Around 80% of the firm’s work comes out of London and the South East.

(Wragges makes London pledge with trainee recruitment plan, The Lawyer, 10 December 2007.)

Deloitte on tight graduate market

Big Four accounting firm Deloitte has said that students graduating this year may find it difficult getting a job. Deloitte has seen a 22% rise in the number of students applying for graduate positions starting in 2008, indicating that that there are more students competing for available graduate jobs than ever before. This year Deloitte opened applications three months early to enable students to start applying during their summer holidays and by October, when applications would normally open, almost 2,400 students had already applied.

(22% increase in graduate applicants as stuents find job market competitive, Deloitte press release, 12 February 08.)

Junior lawyers’ group announced

The Law Society has launched the Junior Lawyers Division, a new representative body for law students, trainee and junior solicitors. Free membership is open to all law students, trainees and solicitors with up to five years’ experience. Benefits of membership include an extensive web area to support members through the early stages of their career, a telephone line, career advice and planning services, social and networking events, and professional development training.

(Law Soc launches junior lawyers group, The Lawyer, 8 January 2008.)

DLA Piper unveils social networking for graduate recruits

Law firm DLA Piper has launched an internal social networking site for its future trainees. The portal, called ‘Inside the Tent’, is similar to other social networking sites such as Facebook, and allows the firm’s graduate recruitment team to communicate more easily with its future trainees. The team will post updates regularly, in addition to news about the firm and advertisements for forthcoming events and social activities.

(DLA Piper launches Facebook for trainees, The Lawyer, 29 January 2008.)

Review of Teach First training programme

This study evaluates the Teach First teacher training scheme, with a particular focus on the London-based programme. It details trainees’ experiences, noting that the programme attracted applicants who would not otherwise have considered teaching, that trainees made positive contributions to their schools and how trainees were motivated to make a contribution. Recommendations include improvements in initial identification of trainees’ needs, the quality of subject training, target setting and action planning, and recognition of importance of subject mentors.

(Rising to the challenge: A review of the Teach First initial teacher training programme, Ofsted, January 2008.)