When I was working as an adviser the question I challenged some young people about was Why do you want to go to university? Many young people in Year 13 who were eagerly waiting to hear back from Ucas who hadn't heard back from any universities or were not given offers almost seemed to feel as though this was the end of the world for them. Alot of these students seemed to be following a trend of applying because their friends had and were not aware of the other possibly choices that were available to them. In fact many students wanted to apply to universities which were not suitable for their potential grades and couldn't quite understand why they couldn't get in.
I also observed that alot of year 12 A level students were not sure if they actually wanted to do a degree and if in fact university life would be something they wanted to pursue. I had a young girl who came to see me and she had a few different career ideas in her mind but wasn't sure of the type or kind of degree necessary for her to take. Sitting down with her and explaining that certain degrees like psychology, English etc could set up a wide range of careers for her helped her to think a bit more clearly. However if these young people aren't able to access this kind of help and advice how will they make such decisions.
Then in contrast to that I met a young girl who was doing Alevels but wanted to pursue an Apprenticeship after she completes her Alevels. She has looked into the university way of life and wanted to do something more practical where she had the potential to earn some money. The reason why I give these brief examples is to show how different each client who came to see me was. They had different needs and wants. The need for going to university seems to be have lessened in the past few years.With so many people who have degrees but still find it difficult to actually obtain employment. Many have criticised David Cameron for allowing a rise in fees to divide a line between middle class going to university and those who from poorer families not being able to go.
This may seem like the case to many but what I have observed is many young people ended up or are still going to universities without all the options being explained to them. I am not saying this for everyone but many of the young people I spoke said they were unsure if they even wanted to go to university and alot of them were worried about how they would cope financially and also for many of them a fear of being far from family was not something they thought they would be able to manage. I think this is where we as careers advisers need to come in and help educate young people. It shouldn't be the case of if you go to university only then will you be successful. There were many people I know of who did a certain degree and struggled to find a job related to it or ended up doing something totally different. I am not saying that a degree is useless but for many it seemed to be more like a trend they followed then a necessity.
Vocational qualifications are still being frowned upon and it seems that many young people I spoke to didn't want to disappoint their family by doing a apprenticeship or btec. Even though they didn't have necessary entry requirements to do Alevels etc. 'I want to go university because its the best way for me to earn lots of money ' a ypung person said to me once. I challenged them about this because they were not a sutiable candaiate for Alevels. This was difficult but what I want to put across in this post is that those young people who want to go university in the next few years will need to think more carefully about whether it really is the best decision for them. Fees for degree courses have escalted to up to 7000+. Maybe a line of elite vs non elite will be established who knows.A young person has a right to know to what their other options are and that is why more then ever organisations like 'Not going to Uni' etc are essential for young people to know about. To end on a note of saying the number of careers advisers being cut will effect this because if advisers aren't around how will a young person really know what all of their options are.
I also observed that alot of year 12 A level students were not sure if they actually wanted to do a degree and if in fact university life would be something they wanted to pursue. I had a young girl who came to see me and she had a few different career ideas in her mind but wasn't sure of the type or kind of degree necessary for her to take. Sitting down with her and explaining that certain degrees like psychology, English etc could set up a wide range of careers for her helped her to think a bit more clearly. However if these young people aren't able to access this kind of help and advice how will they make such decisions.
Then in contrast to that I met a young girl who was doing Alevels but wanted to pursue an Apprenticeship after she completes her Alevels. She has looked into the university way of life and wanted to do something more practical where she had the potential to earn some money. The reason why I give these brief examples is to show how different each client who came to see me was. They had different needs and wants. The need for going to university seems to be have lessened in the past few years.With so many people who have degrees but still find it difficult to actually obtain employment. Many have criticised David Cameron for allowing a rise in fees to divide a line between middle class going to university and those who from poorer families not being able to go.
This may seem like the case to many but what I have observed is many young people ended up or are still going to universities without all the options being explained to them. I am not saying this for everyone but many of the young people I spoke said they were unsure if they even wanted to go to university and alot of them were worried about how they would cope financially and also for many of them a fear of being far from family was not something they thought they would be able to manage. I think this is where we as careers advisers need to come in and help educate young people. It shouldn't be the case of if you go to university only then will you be successful. There were many people I know of who did a certain degree and struggled to find a job related to it or ended up doing something totally different. I am not saying that a degree is useless but for many it seemed to be more like a trend they followed then a necessity.
Vocational qualifications are still being frowned upon and it seems that many young people I spoke to didn't want to disappoint their family by doing a apprenticeship or btec. Even though they didn't have necessary entry requirements to do Alevels etc. 'I want to go university because its the best way for me to earn lots of money ' a ypung person said to me once. I challenged them about this because they were not a sutiable candaiate for Alevels. This was difficult but what I want to put across in this post is that those young people who want to go university in the next few years will need to think more carefully about whether it really is the best decision for them. Fees for degree courses have escalted to up to 7000+. Maybe a line of elite vs non elite will be established who knows.A young person has a right to know to what their other options are and that is why more then ever organisations like 'Not going to Uni' etc are essential for young people to know about. To end on a note of saying the number of careers advisers being cut will effect this because if advisers aren't around how will a young person really know what all of their options are.
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