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YOU ARE IN » Home page > News and information main menu > Labour Market Information > March 2007

March 2007

Education

• Funding council providing over £7 billion support
• Foundation degree developed for BT staff
• Coventry University unveils work-based learning courses
• Website to help students find bursaries launched
• Prosperity Scotland: How higher education creates Scottish wealth
• University of Paisley and Bell College in merger
• Changes to university applications for 2008 announced
• Scottish HE receives over £1 billion funding

Student issues

• 7% increase in student rents
• Increased support for part-time students announced
• Fee increase for international students announced
• New scholarship scheme announced

Employment

• Bar Council unveils widening participation package
• Mouchel Parkman increasing its graduate intake
• City law firms seek review of LPC
• Argos launches new graduate management programme
• PwC to use mobiles to target students
• Business leaders call for more science and engineering graduates
• Universities join forces with College of Law for mentoring scheme
• BBC Radio Newsroom scoops work experience award

Education

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is providing £7,137 million in funding for universities and colleges in England in the academic year 2007-08. The funding will provide for additional students, particularly to support growth in key areas such as foundation degrees. The funding also provides for increases in funding for widening participation, research funding and funding per student for teaching. An extra £25 million will also be allocated for certain very high-cost science subjects.

(Funding of over £7 billion supports strong growth in student numbers in higher education, HEFCE press release, 1 March 2007.)

Telecoms giant BT has joined forces with the University of Sunderland to offer a foundation degree to staff working at the firm’s global services division. The course will be developed internally and is designed to offer business-focussed work-based higher education. The programme will cover various skills, including customer account management and financial planning. The course is aimed at employees without higher education qualifications, although it may be opened up to other BT divisions in the future.

(BT teams up with University of Sunderland to develop business-focused higher education scheme for staff, Personnel Today, 8 March 2007.)

Coventry University has received £3.5 million to design training courses for people in full-time employment. The university will work with Parcelforce Worldwide, the Automobile Association, Perkins Engines and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, and will provide customised courses on companies’ own premises. The scheme will combine higher education level study with professional development in order to enhance business skills.

(Training plan for those in work, BBC Education, 27 February 2007. )

The government has launched an online map in a bid to help students find out the types of bursaries being offered by universities. The interactive Bursaries Aware map will provide links to 219 higher education institutions in England. Students will be able to select the location in which they intend to study, click on their selected institution and link through to an information page detailing financial support.

(Website helps locate bursaries, The Guardian, 28 February 2007.)

The study examines the impact of higher education on the Scottish economy. This economic impact is based on five modes of influence: employer/producer; human capital; research and innovation; consultancy; hub/cluster. Higher education in Scotland is a £2 billion business and earns £400 million for the Scottish economy in terms of exports. Over a quarter of all academics are involved in providing around £20 million in consultancy to businesses. Private and social rates of returns for graduates are also discussed.

(Prosperity Scotland: How higher education creates Scottish wealth, Universities Scotland, March 2007.)

The University of Paisley and Bell College have received government approval for the two institutions to merge, creating Scotland’s largest university. The merger will comprise 17,000 students and will be based on four regional campuses. It will also provide a local university for 30% of Scotland’s population. Professor Seamus McDaid, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Paisley University, is the new institution’s Principal designate, while Professor Alex MacLennan, Principal of Bell College, is Vice-Principal-designate.

(Minister gives green light to create Scotland's largest new university, University of Paisley press release, 6 March 2007.)

The University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has announced a number of changes to be made to the application process for 2008. From next year, the number of choices an applicant can make will be reduced from six to five; students applying for medicine, dentistry and veterinary programmes, will still be able to make four choices. Applicants will also be asked about whether their parents have any previous experience of higher education and whether they have experience of being in care.

(UCAS announces changes to 2008 applicatiions, UCAS press release, 15 March 2007.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has provided £1,004 million in funding to 20 Scottish universities for teaching and research for 2007/08. The largest proportion of the investment - £667 million – is for teaching, while £263 million is being provided for research and knowledge transfer. A total of £74 million has been allocated for improvement and other grants, and for ring-fenced grants. Scottish institutions will also receive a share of the £75 million funding from the Learning and Teaching Infrastructure Fund to modernise their estates and facilities.

(Funding for Scottish higher education exceeds £1 billion, SFC press release, 22 March 2007. )

Student issues

Research by Accommodation for Students suggests that students will pay a weekly rent of £60 on average this year. The cheapest accommodation is in Crewe, Middlesbrough, Stoke, Wolverhampton, Bradford and Sunderland, while London and the South-East have the highest charges. Weekly rents in St Andrews, Cambridge, Oxford, Glasgow and Edinburgh were also above average. The study was based on 37,000 privately owned properties in over 60 university locations across the UK.

(Student rent rises 7%, The Guardian, 7 March 2007. )

More people on low incomes will be able to participate in Scottish higher education following the Scottish Executive’s announcement to increase financial support available for part-time study. The income threshold for support will rise from £13,000 to £15,367 and will cover course-related costs such as travel and books, rather than living costs. The loans were introduced in 2000-01 to help support people on low incomes wishing to study part time.

(Funding for part-time students, Scottish Executive press release, 14 March 2007. )

The government has announced an increase visa fees for international students coming to study in the UK. From 1 April 2007, the fee for a student visa will rise from £85 to £99. Higher education Minister, Bill Rammell, said the move would ensure the UK continues to attract students from overseas. The student visa fee, which was last raised in 2005/06, is part of a wider review of charging those coming to the UK to work, stay or study.

(New immigration fees - UK position as top destination for international students to be maintained, DfES press release, 8 March 2007. )

Oxford University and the Weidenfeld Institute for Strategic Dialogue have launched a new scholarship to provide support for future leaders in their graduate studies. The scholarships will be open to candidates mainly from Eastern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Around 25 scholarships will be awarded annually. The The programme aims to promote the careers of recipients via work placements, mentoring and involvement in leadership and conference programmes. Postgraduate research student will be expected to undertake a pro bono project during the vacation.

New Weidenfeld Scholarship announced for Oxford, Oxford University press release, 20 March 2007.)

Employment

The Bar Council has launched a series of new measures to help people from less privileged backgrounds to qualify as barristers. Geoffrey Vos QC, Chairman of the Bar Council, unveiled various initiatives, including a placement programme for gifted students from state schools and various bank loan packages that will be made available to Bar Vocational Course students from less-privileged backgrounds. Mr Vos, in a speech to the Social Mobility Foundation, argued that the measures would help students wanting to enter the profession to overcome various challenges.

(Bar Council unveils package of measures to help the less privileged access the Bar, Legal Week, 1 March 2007.)

Professional support services group Mouchel Parkman is to double its number of graduate recruits. The new 18-month programme is now hiring 200 graduates, from both engineering and non-engineering backgrounds, for its 2007 intake. Graduates work on various real-life projects, with roles interspersed with training events and developmental assignments. Trainees can also work towards professional qualifications, including support in achieving chartered status.

(Mouchel Parkman addresses engineering skills shortage, Mouchel Parkman press release, 27 February 2007.)

A group of leading City law firms is seeking the views of the UK’s top law schools about the future of the Legal Practice Course (LPC). Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith, Lovells, Norton Rose, and Slaughter & May have asked BPP, the College of Law, and Nottingham at Kaplan Law School to submit proposals for developing a new course, which could allow trainees to study while undertaking their training contracts. The consultation follows a review of the LPC’s structure and content by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority.

(City law firms seek review of LPC, The Lawyer, 2 March 2007.)

Argos has launched a new graduate leadership programme aimed at developing its future business leaders. The 24-month programme will allow the six recruits to gain experience and understanding in commercial trading, commercial supply, marketing and e-commerce. Graduates must have a minimum 2.1 and 300 or above UCAS points and will begin the programme in September 2007. There will be tailored guidance to chart the direction and pace of trainees’ career development.

(Argos searches for future business leaders in new graduate programme, Home Retail Group press release, 23 January 2007.)

Global professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is set to use mobile technology to target students. The firm will use a mobile internet site primarily to help students locate PwC recruitment events at universities across the UK. The WAP site will contain several hundred pages of extra information. The service is set to be promoted via leaflets and the PwC website. .

(PricewaterhouseCoopers uses mobiles to target students, NMA.co.uk, 14 March 2007.)

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that the UK must increase the number of science graduates from 45,000 to 97,000. Failure to do so could risk losing skilled jobs overseas, which could have an adverse effect on the pharmaceuticals, aerospace and biotechnology industries. The CBI has identified four issues holding back the growth of student in science, engineering and technology subjects: poor science laboratories in schools; lack of teachers with specialised knowledge; curriculum; and poor careers advice.

(UK needs to double new science graduates over seven years or see skilled jobs disappear - CBI, CBI press release, 12 March 2007.)

The universities of Leeds, Manchester, Southampton, Warwick and the London School of Economics are partnering with the College of Law and Sutton Trust to provide a mentoring scheme for underprivileged students. The universities will work with students in their local areas as part of a drive to encourage more people from lower socio-economic backgrounds to enter the legal profession. The College of Law and the Sutton Trust are in the process of signing up law firms to the project to ensure that students can get work experience.

(Universities join College of Law mentoring scheme, Legal Week, 22 March 2007. )

The BBC Radio Newsroom has won the National Council of Work Experience (NCWE)’s overall Award for Best Work Experience at the NCWE’s annual awards, held on 14 March 2007. BP, Intel, Cancer Research UK were also rewarded. The awards recognise, encourage and reward employers providing work experience placements for students that help students enhance their employability. There are ten categories in total, including short-term and long-term placements, best work-experience provider in the charitable sector, and organisations with over 250 employees.

(NCWE announces National Work Experience Award winner, Onrec, 16 March 2007.)