institute for employment studies
Pearson R, Perryman S
Report 374, Institute for Employment Studies, March 2001
a review supported by the IES Research Networks
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Higher education is as popular as ever it was, though the nature of the university experience has changed radically in recent years. As the first fee-paying students enter HE and get ready to enter the labour market, what is the profile of those studying and graduating?
This is the first of three updates to the IES Annual Graduate Review 2000. This first examines the characteristics and number of students entering and leaving Higher Education (HE). Part 2 then examines the new graduates’ entry to the labour market, salary levels and employers’ recruitment difficulties. Part 3 focuses on the position of those with sought-after IT, engineering and science qualifications. These three parts update key elements of the IES Graduate Review 2000 which remains a relevant and broader based source document.
The UK has radically increased the number of students entering higher education (HE) over the last decade. The proportion of 19 year olds in higher education is now catching up with that of our European neighbours. In total, there were 1.8 million students in HE in the UK in 1998/99.
Recently, there has been much speculation about the medium-term impact of changes to student finances on entry to HE. While there has been a slight decline in the number of home (ie UK based) students applying though UCAS, the central universities application system, the numbers actually entering HE have continued to increase by around 5,000 in each of the last two years. This is an increase of nearly two per cent per annum. Indeed, there is still strong competition for places, with one in five home applicants either not getting a place, choosing to defer or dropping out. Many others do not get places for their first choice of subject, university or college.
Growing numbers stay in full-time education to the age of 18 - over 37 per cent in 1999. Therefore, the proportion of young people gaining ‘A’ levels, has continued to grow in recent years - one quarter of 17-year olds passed three ‘A’ levels/ AGNVQs in 1998/99. Around one-third of 18-19 year olds now make their way into HE. The figures are boosted by the large number of mature entrants.
The stereotypical student, male, 18 years old, white and leaving home to study full time has vanished. Well over half of those entering undergraduate courses are female (56 per cent in 1998/99), nearly one in three begin their undergraduate studies in their 30s, and one in seven comes from the ethnic minorities. One-third of all first year students now study part time.
While three-quarters of new students have traditional, academic qualifications on entry to HE, typically ‘A’ levels, some subjects are particularly attractive to those with GNVQs, BTECs, SCOTVECs and from access and foundation courses. The subject areas are very mixed and those with high proportions of entrants with non-traditional qualifications include:
In other areas, attempts to widen access to HE have proved less successful. For example, the proportion of students from different types of schools and colleges has not shifted greatly in the last five years. Changing the social class mix has also proved particularly difficult. Although the numbers from social classes IIIM, IV and V have increased in line with total student numbers, the proportion entering HE has not risen. They were under-represented twenty years ago and that is still the case as we start the twenty-first century. This is being addressed by the government’s Excellence Challenge.
The traditional model of students leaving home to pursue their studies also no longer holds up. This has been widely attributed to the increased cost of studying, with the reduction, then abolition of the maintenance grant and the introduction of means tested fees. In 1994, 41 per cent of applicants from the North East entered HE in that region. By 1999, 57 per cent chose to study at or near home. Although this is the most extreme example, this pattern is found in most of the regions outside of the South East, with the exception of Scotland (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1: Those entering university in their home area, 1994 to 1999 (per cent)
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Source: IES/UCAS various years, Table E1.1
This trend is also being driven by the growth in mature entrants who are not normally so mobile. Not only is the proportion of students choosing to remain local increasing, but there are other changes to students’ experiences in recent years.
In terms of both numbers and the share of new entrants, there has been a marked rise in the number of home students accepting places on courses in subjects allied to Medicine, Mathematics and Informatics (which includes computing), and the creative arts. However, the number and proportion of new entrants has declined in the Physical Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Business and Administrative Studies, and Combined Subjects (Table 1).
Table 1: Number and percentage growth in full and part-time first degrees awarded, by subject area, 1994/95 to 1998/99
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Source: IES/HESA (1996/2000), Figures 13
It has been the case for some years that certain subjects attract students from different ethnic and educational backgrounds. Overall, about 15 per cent of new students are from a minority ethnic group. This is higher than the proportion of ethnic minority people of this age in the wider population. In some subjects, for example Medicine or Mathematics, the percentage can be as high as 30 per cent. However, subjects such as the humanities and education do not attract as many from ethnic minorities, in some cases as few as five per cent. While ethnic minority students are particularly drawn to vocational subjects that can lead to good employment prospects, this has not been the case in the key subject of education (Connor et al., 1999).
Whilst many mature entrants have work experience, some 100,000 students a year gain some experience in the world of work through formal sandwich placements. Working while studying is also now a widely accepted part of the student experience - 40 per cent of students have or are actively seeking a job. The majority of potential students have every expectation of working and studying simultaneously (Connor et al., 1999). Although the jobs they get are usually stable, the jobs and industries they work in indicate the low status type of work they do, typically in catering and sales (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2: Occupations of full-time, first degree students in work, UK, 2000
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Source: IES/LFS Spring Quarter, 2000
Working while at university may be driven by financial need, but it is not always a negative experience. If it takes place in moderation, students can, for example, learn time planning and improved interpersonal skills.
Overall, the labour market remains well-supplied, as record numbers are graduating. The UK produces as many graduates as do other OECD countries.
Fig. 3: Graduation rates* in European countries
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| * | The graduation rate is the number of degrees awarded as a percentage of those of the age at which graduation typically occurs |
| ** | No data available |
Source: IES/OECD Education at a Glance 2000
While up to 20 per cent of undergraduates are believed to drop out from their courses, 264,000 qualified with first degrees in 1999, along with another 116,000 with postgraduate degrees, and 68,000 with Higher Diplomas, Certificates and similar qualifications. Although the growth in the number of new graduates each year is no longer matching the frantic pace of the early to mid-90s, the total number of graduates (of all types) still increased by nearly two per cent between 1998 and 1999.
In the recent past, the largest subject groups for new graduates were Business and Administration, and Combined Subjects. Along with Computer Science, subjects allied to Medicine, Biological Sciences and the Creative Arts, these subjects have experienced a significant growth. However, despite overall growth in student numbers, numbers qualifying in the key vocational subjects of Engineering, Maths, Physical sciences and Education have actually declined.
The problem of science and technology losing out in the competition for new students, which will impact on some key areas of demand by employers, is addressed in Part 3.
Much has been written about the expansion of higher education in the last decade. To give some idea of the scale of the expansion, in 1999 the universities produced nearly as many Business and Administration graduates as the entire HE system awarded for all subjects in 1965.
There is no doubt that the university experience is different now. So what do twenty-first century graduates have to offer? As students, they may well have gained more work experience, but it remains to be seen if they will be less worldly or independent, more having remained at home.
In conclusion, it is no longer right to talk about a single, stereotypical graduate, who is part of a uniform ‘graduate labour market’. As demonstrated above, there is great diversity in the types of people who enter higher education, and their experiences within the system. Graduates’ experiences on leaving university, and the evidence as to the extent this record supply is meeting the needs of a growing economy, is considered in Part 2.
The analysis, graphs and figures for this project are based on data published by HESA, UCAS, DfEE, ONS (the Labour Force Survey), CSU, as detailed in the IES Graduate Review 2000. Key sources are:
The IES Annual Graduate Review, 2001 update: Part 1: The Diverse Graduate Supply, Pearson R, Perryman S. Report 374, Institute for Employment Studies, 2001.
ISBN: (no ISBN). £free
2001 © institute for employment studies
Source URL: http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/summary/summary.php?id=374&style=print
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