Students miss out on university places
14 June 2011
Figures released by UCAS show that a record 688,310 people have applied for university places this Autumn, but over 200,000 have failed to land a place.
A couple of months ago in ‘Born into a bankrupt system', I looked at the issue of university fees and its effect on the future of this country’s GDP, but also wondered if an industry-wide preference for experience over academic skills could render the whole debate superfluous.
Well, it seems that students are not completely deterred by the mounting costs that loom ahead, although of the 688,310 people that did apply for a university place this year, over 200,000 failed to land a place.
The high demand and tough competition meant that 188,697 (27.4%) of applicants were eligible for clearing but received no offers, did not meet the required grades, or applied too late, while a further 18,081 disheartened individuals actually withdrew their applications.
According to UCAS, competition for university places is heating up and coupled with the prospect of record levels of graduate unemployment, more and more young people will be looking into alternative options for employment and training.
Meanwhile, as the latest crop of graduates prepares to hit the jobs market, their prospects do not look any brighter with recent figures from the Office of National Statistics revealing record levels of unemployment in the 16-24 year old age group. In the past year, one in five graduates remained unemployed.
Commenting on the statistics, Liz Field, CEO of the Financial Skills Partnership (FSP) said: "These figures reveal how increasingly young people will be looking at alternative options such as school leaver programmes and apprenticeships to get them work ready and onto the jobs ladder. It is imperative for a myriad of stakeholders to collaborate together to meet the challenges presented by this problem and tap into the rich talent pool available. It is the role of policy makers to be open to funding a variety of initiatives; the education sector needs to work with employers to prepare these individuals by developing 'employability' skills which are in high demand and companies must create a structured and accessible programme to open up access to work."
The FSP goes on to say that one of the highest sought after career paths for graduates lie in the financial services. It has been actively campaigning to convince employers on the benefits of increasing accessibility into their workplaces and embracing various initiatives such as apprenticeships to strengthen the talent pipeline for the sector.
Findings by High Fliers Research showed that there were 343,000 graduate job applications in the 2010-11 academic year, with financial services being top of the career list. The Financial Skills Partnership works with employers, professional institutes and careers advisers to inform young people of the myriad of opportunities available in the sector, most of which are 'hidden professions' and which offer rewarding careers.
So it seems that the few that do successfully get to university, and stick it out to the end of their course, are likely to enter the financial sector and turn their backs on manufacturing, meaning that Britain will soon become a nation of bean-counting bookkeepers.
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