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July 08

Education

Employment

This bulletin summarises reports, surveys, press releases and news articles under the following headings: education and employment. This month saw the publication of reports examining university admissions, challenges and opportunities facing the UK higher education sector, and teacher training. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), meanwhile, published its latest graduate salary and vacancy review, the latest recruitment report for the Fast Stream was published, and the winners of the 2008 AGR Awards were announced.

Education

Scottish Government announces part-time student funding

The Scottish Government has unveiled funding for around 20,000 part-time students. The support, provided in the form of a £500 grant, will be open to new and existing higher education students earning £18,000 a year or less and studying at 50% or more of a full-time course. The grant will be delivered through ILA Scotland. Education Secretary Fiona Hislop announced the Scottish Government’s plan to introduce a part-time grant for the 2008/09 academic year in December 2007.

(Funding for part-time students, Scottish Government press release, 1 July 2008.)

UUK report on university admissions report

This paper concentrates on various aspects of higher education admissions policy, including entry profiles; admissions tests; adjustment period; feedback to unsuccessful applicants; information, advice and guidance, art and design courses, and international, mature and part-time applicants. The study also describes key drivers for admissions policy, such as the Schwartz review into fair admissions to higher education and a review by the then Department for Education and Skills into improving the higher education applications process, and also provides a checklist for work in progress.

(Admissions: The Higher education sector's plans for change, Universities UK, July 2008.)

HE-business interaction report published

This report argues that the position of higher education institutions (HEIs) as drivers of the UK knowledge economy is becoming increasingly embedded. It notes, for example, that the total income represented in the higher education-business continuity interaction has increased from £2,267 million in 2005/06 to £2,641 million in 2006/07, a rise of 17%. The study also looks at commercialisation of intellectual property, investment in intellectual property, centrality of HEIs to their communities, and HEI spin-off companies.

(Higher Education and Business Continuity Interactions Survey, HEFCE, July 2008.)

Report into future of UK higher education sector

This study contends that the UK’s higher education sector faces significant demographic challenges over the next 20 years amongst the age groups from which it traditionally recruits undergraduates. Trends and policies relevant to future student demand, such as government policies for 14-19-year olds, and the impact of increasing levels of student loan debt, are also discussed. Three scenarios for the sector’s future are proposed, the future size of the sector is considered and recommendations regarding institutions’ response to threats and opportunities are presented.

(The Future Size and Shape of the Higher Education Sector in the UK: Threats and opportunities, Universities UK, July 2008.)

Employment

AGR graduate salary and vacancy review

This study documents an 11.7% rise in graduate vacancies for 2008 compared with 2007 levels, with accountancy and banking and financial services industries, and the regions of London and the South East dominating the number of vacancies. The median salary paid to graduates in 2008 was £24,500, a rise of 1.8% on the previous year. Law firms moved ahead of investment banks in terms of median starting salaries. The report also considers skills, noting concerns about graduates’ writing and readership, communication and time management skills.

(The AGR Graduate Recruitment Survey 2008, Summer Review, AGR/Trendence, July 2008. The survey is not available publicly. Please contact the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) for a copy of the full report.)

Rise in graduate employment

Figures published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show a fall in unemployment among recent first-degree graduates. The data show that 5.6% of first-degree graduates were ‘assumed to be unemployed’ six months after graduation in 2006/07, compared with 6.1% in 2005/06. Unemployment rates vary between subjects, with medicine and dentistry, veterinary science, and education having the lowest unemployment rates, while mass communication and documentation, creative arts and design and computer science had the highest.

(Reduction in rate of unemployment for recent graduates, HESA press release, 8 August 2008.)

Fast Stream report published

This report documents recruitment to the Civil Service Fast Stream, the training and development scheme that attracts talented graduates into the civil service, in 2007. It notes a very slight fall in applications, a fall in the number of female and ethnic minority candidates who were appointed, and a rise in the proportion of candidates registering a disability and recommended for appointment. The proportion of successful candidates from Oxford and Cambridge Universities in 2007 rose slightly from 2006.

(Civil Service Fast Stream Recruitment 2007, Cabinet Office, July 2008.)

Median starting salary for grads is £19,000, according to HESA figures

Recently released figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that the median salary for first-degree graduates from 2006/07 and reported as being in paid employment, was £19,000. In 2006/07, of the full-time first-degree graduates who were employed in the UK, 32% of these posts were Associate professional and technical occupations, 27% were Professional occupations and 10% were Sales and customer service occupations. Other key points cover postgraduate and part-time student destinations, and data are also broken down into England and Scotland.

(Statistical Release 124, HESA, 3 July 2008.)

Entrepreneur scheme launched

Over 30 graduates from Yorkshire and Humberside have been selected to attend a programme aimed at helping boost the number of successful female entrepreneurs in the UK. The Flying Start programme, designed to help women launch a successful business, follows the results of research from the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship among female graduates and final-year students aspiring to run their own businesses.

(Female entrepreneur programme gets off to a Flying Start, Startups, 23 July 2008.)

AGR award winners announced

The winners of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) annual awards for 2008 were announced recently. The Bank of England took the Best of the Best and the Best Graduate Development Programme awards, the Audit Commission won the Best Website Award, Accenture took the Best Literature Award and Barclays Bank won the Best Integrated Marketing Campaign Award. RWE nPower scooped the 2008 Innovation on Campus Award. The awards recognise and reward graduate recruiters for creative campaigns designed to attract graduate talent to the organisations.

(Association of Graduate Recruiters announces its 2008 annual award winners, AGR press release, 9 July 2008.)

Teaching report published

This report argues that attempts to mould teaching into a traditional high-status profession have failed, that there are few features about the profession that attract well-qualified candidates and that deterrents to teaching cause recruitment shortages and reduces the quality of entrants to the profession. Recommendations cover school and employment-based training routes for undergraduates and career-changers, continuing professional development, fast-track routes to higher salaries to attract and retain high-quality graduates, and phasing out of the B.Ed.

(More Good Teachers, Policy Exchange, July 2008.)

Macfarlanes unveils trainee salary raise

Macfarlanes is the latest law firm to announce salary hikes for its trainee solicitors. Wages for trainees, newly qualified and one-year post-qualified experience all rose by £1,000, to £37,000, £65,000 and £71,000 respectively. Those with two years’ post-qualification experience have seen their salaries rise by £5,000, from £77,000 to 382,000, representing a 6.5% increase. Associates with three years’ post-qualification experience saw their salaries rise from £85,000 to £88,000, a rise of 3.5%.

(Macfarlanes ups salaries across the board, The Lawyer, 30 June 2008.)

Teacher training study published

This paper summarises entry characteristics, Ofsted ratings and trainees’ take up of teaching posts of all training providers. It focuses on three aspects of the teacher training providers – inspection ratings given by Ofsted, qualifications of entrants and the percentage of trainees in teaching in the January following completion of training. The study compares training providers, comparisons are set in the context of the national picture and trends in teacher training, and recruitment by subject.

(The Good Teacher Training Guide 2008, Centre for Education and Employment Research, July 2008.)