Rising tuition fees, spiralling student debt and the financial crisis gripping many institutions are more than enough to give pause to sixth-formers currently trying to decide whether it makes sense to go on to university. Reports that graduate job vacancies in the UK have sunk to their lowest level since tracking began a decade ago have only added to the gloom. Just 8,383 jobs for people leaving university were advertised in July, according to the recruitment website Adzuna, down 45% compared with the same point last year, amid fears that AI is wiping out many entry-level roles.
So is university still the right choice? And how can undergraduates make the most of the experience and use it as a springboard to building a successful career? According to Hillman, the current state of the graduate labour market actually makes the case for going to university even stronger.
And what are these alternatives that people are meant to be doing? Degree apprenticeships are wonderful, but they are incredibly hard to come by. You go to higher education to mature as a person and very often to have the best years of your life.
It is an expensive thing to do, but normally it turns out to be an investment and you get more than your money back.” Research published recently by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) attracted a lot of attention when it estimated that as many as one in four UK graduates can expect to be financially worse off as a result of going to university, especially those who take creative arts degrees. The other side of the equation however, according to IFS projections, is that the majority of those who go on to university will be £100,000 better off over their lifetime, while some graduates will see far greater returns for their investment if they study economics or medicine, for example. But it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go and do an arts degree.” Hillman advises young people to listen to their heart as well as their head as they try to decide on their degree course.
So you’re not just doing your course work or spending every spare hour working in paid employment,” though he acknowledges that the cost of living crisis makes it essential for many undergraduates to work. Young people considering going on to higher education may want to look at universities that are developing programmes to try to maximise employability among their graduates. The University of Manchester, for example, is promising work placements to all undergraduates regardless of their degree, to better equip them for the challenges of the job market.
The university is also launching a campus recruitment agency, connecting students with part-time jobs, placement opportunities and graduate-level roles. Dan Hawes, co-founder of the Graduate Recruitment Bureau, is confident going to university can still open doors and launch careers, especially where a degree is essential such as law, medicine, engineering or teaching. Information is available to applicants on the employability rates by subject and institution.
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