Written by Andrew Shanahan, content team, Graduate Prospects.
A recent report from the Institute of Directors (IOD) has raised questions about the government's targets for 50% of 18-30 year-olds participating in higher education. The report says that the government's target is 'ludicrous' and highlights what it considers to be the two main problems: there are too many graduates and not enough people with intermediate skills. The mass expansion of higher education, which has seen a 13.7% increase in the number of students in the last five years, has attracted criticism that standards are slipping in higher education because of the need to see more students graduating. Reports from both the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Park HR have given indications that employers believe that the quality of degrees is slipping. The intermediate skills that the IOD wants to see increased are based on the sort of qualifications that further education provides. GNVQs and Modern Apprenticeships all encourage vocational learning which increases the students' education and employability. However, a large proportion of FE students are continuing into higher education. First destination figures from the Learning and Skills Council show: - 265,547 FE students enter employment
- 1,763,187 FE students continue their studies.
- 65,392 FE students continue their studies in higher education
The encouragement that the government is providing, including the possible return of the grant in the form of Educational Maintenance Allowances (EMAs), is apparently enticing more students into higher education and not into the workplace, against the IOD's belief that the country 'is not short of media studies graduates'. Aside from the fact that media studies graduates have the fifth highest employment rates from all of the subjects, the benefits of being a graduate include earnings being 71.4% higher than non-graduates by the age of 50. As well as this, achieving a degree does not discount a graduate from lower level jobs, whereas there are some careers where a degree is necessary. For more information about this topic, see further education and higher education. Related topics
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