The streets of Durham have been swelled recently by a plethora of potential university students. Accompanied by sharp-eyed parents and full of the enthusiasm that only seventeen-year olds can have, they have wandered the cobbled streets imagining themselves queuing outside the popular cafes, wandering past the university bookshop and, I dare say, staggering home up and down the hills
For their parents, it must be a slightly disorientating process. For those of us who went through the university application process in the eighties or nineties, the process was relatively simple. You flicked through the pages of the UCCA Handbook, looking at the various courses on offer at the different universities; you asked somebody who knew somebody what such a university was like and perhaps, if you were lucky, you used your Young Person’s Railcard to visit the town or city to see for yourself. Broadly speaking, most universities offer similar courses and the final choice often boiled down to the feel of the place, or knowing someone else who went there.
Now, the university application process is a different story. UCCA has been transformed into UCAS and its website is a one-stop shop for information and applications, giving far more information than was conceivable a generation ago. What is also hugely different is the number of courses available. A simple search for, say, Geography yields 788 results from 88 different providers. And it is not simply Geography; courses range from Aviation and Airport Management through to Flood and Coastal engineering. The number of universities has increased massively too, from the post-1992 polytechnic transformation through to many newly minted institutions. How on earth is your son or daughter to choose the right one for them?
The question really hinges on what you want to get out of university. There are many good reasons, and some less good reasons, to go on to further study; however, it is not unfair to say that, through Tony Blair’s laudable target of 50% of eighteen year olds going on the higher education, the process can feel something of a conveyor belt, with youngsters feeling they need to go simply because everybody else does. The fundamental question to be addressed is whether the degree is a means to an end or an end in itself.
There is no doubt that for many students, the degree qualification is another step along the journey towards a good first job and an ensuing successful career. There is nothing wrong with that and most universities are streets ahead of where they were in preparing their graduates for the world of work. An important first step for applicants though is to look at employability statistics for graduates of each university after 12 months or so. Clearly the pandemic has affected recent years, but the trend over time will give an indication of what your future prospects look like when you emerge into the employment sphere.
Whilst the names at the top may be somewhat predictable, there is significant variation across different degree disciplines and one or two names may surprise.
nother increasingly popular option is the degree apprenticeship; these courses offer a degree level qualification together with the benefits of a paying job. They are slowly but surely shedding the unfair and incorrect reputation they have and many graduates of these go on to successful jobs in blue chip companies.
If however it is a genuine love for your subject is what draws you to university, then you are blessed indeed; university tutors want nothing more than to teach keen, committed students who will explore their interest in and out of their classes. For you, it can be the most enriching time of your life, so enjoy it!