Low Value Degrees

[northernladuk]

. He strutted around like he was Roger Penrose and spent most of his time writing bulltulip books and attending bulltulip conferences.

Can you pass his name on to dante0 please.

[wattaj]

Is being a political researcher a professional job?

Only if one is the [ son | daughter ] of a sitting MP. Ka-ching!

[SueEllen]

I am fairly convinced most new universities exist more for the benefit of the staff rather than the students unlucky enough to study there.

My ex brother in law was a lecturer in some awful course at a very poorly ranked university. He strutted around like he was Roger Penrose and spent most of his time writing bulltulip books and attending bulltulip conferences.

I take it you don't like your ex brother-in-law?

[TheDude]

I am fairly convinced most new universities exist more for the benefit of the staff rather than the students unlucky enough to study there.

My ex brother in law was a lecturer in some awful course at a very poorly ranked university. He strutted around like he was Roger Penrose and spent most of his time writing bulltulip books and attending bulltulip conferences.

[SueEllen]

Is being a political researcher a professional job?

[NotAllThere]

Put fee caps on high value degrees (whatever they are); for the rest, the sky's the limit. No taking away anyone's aspirations - so long as they don't mind the debt.

[northernladuk]

So I know posters on here have degrees including more interesting ones from the Open University. Well the government wants to clamp down on them if they are "low value".

You insinuating degrees from the Open University are low value?

[SchumiStars]

The Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) degree at Oxford is the unofficial finishing school for UK politicians. Whether it makes students into good politicians is another matter.

Eton/Harrow is of course the school beforehand.

[wattaj]

Whether it makes students into good politicians is another matter.

I think that the facts speak for themselves.

[edison]

The Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) degree at Oxford is the unofficial finishing school for UK politicians. Whether it makes students into good politicians is another matter.

[wattaj]

As one wag put it over on that LinkedIn recently:

"It would be very interesting to know whether these subjects are considered low value and if the 'successful' careers of the 5 most recent UK Prime Ministers that studied them are exceptions

- 3x Philosophy, Politics and Economics
- 1x Classics, ancient languages, literature, history, and philosophy
- 1x Geography"

[SchumiStars]

I'm a big fan of letting people decide their own desired future. Generally young adults do not enjoy direction from the older masses. My son has just graduated from Notts studying Economics. He chose the university and course, having researched the entry requirements for investment banking first.

I did recommend Oxbridge, however, having seen the results from myself, he believed he was better off without my advice

[edison]

It can be quite subjective. Something like half of degree level jobs don't specify a particular subject and about the same proportion of graduates don't work in their field of study. Having a STEM degree is no guarantee you're fit for the workforce.

My main issue with this though, is what is going to be the alternative post-school education route for over 18s? There always seems to be a bit of a mismatch between what employers say the want and the skills actually possessed by school leavers/graduates/workers.

Yet UK employers are generally not very good at investing in training and development of people. I'm a fan of apprenticeships but higher level ones (level 4 and 5) and degree level ones are few and far between and good ones appear to be just as competitive as getting into a good university. They often use education providers in the same bracket as the kinds of universities being decried for poor quality degrees.

The whole post-18 education and training system needs a major rethink but I doubt it will deliver what's really needed.

[SueEllen]

So I know posters on here have degrees including more interesting ones from the Open University. Well the government wants to clamp down on them if they are "low value".



https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/l...-b1094754.html


Rishi Sunak has announced plans to cap the number of students who can take “low-value” university degrees.

Limits will be imposed on courses that do not have a high proportion of graduates getting professional jobs, pursuing further studies, or starting businesses.

The policy will restrict student applications in England for the first time since the Government scrapped the previous numbers cap in 2015.

Critics argue the plans are a rehash of previous policy announcements and will make it harder for young people to pursue their aspirations.
The maximum fee that can be charged for classroom-based foundation year courses will also be reduced to £5,760 — down from £9,250 currently — under the measures.

Opposition parties criticised the measures on Friday, saying they would make it harder for young people to achieve their aspirations.

The announcement by the Prime Minister, and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan on Monday (July 17) is part of the Government’s response to the Augar review, established by Theresa May back in 2017.

PM Sunak said: “The UK is home to some of the best universities in the world and studying for a degree can be immensely rewarding.
“But too many young people are being sold a false dream and end up doing a poor quality course at the taxpayers’ expense that doesn’t offer the prospect of a decent job at the end of it.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “After 13 years of failure in education, all the Conservatives and this out-of-touch prime minister have to offer are yet more barriers to young people’s aspirations — rather than working to raise standards and outcomes.
“The difference between our parties couldn’t be clearer: Labour wants to smash the class ceiling while the Conservatives simply want to reinforce it.”

Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, said: “Rishi Sunak is so out of ideas that he’s dug up a new version of a policy the Conservatives have announced and then unannounced twice over.

“Universities don’t want this. It’s a cap on aspiration, making it harder for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to go on to further study.”

In response to the proposals, University and College Union general secretary Jo Grady said: “This shows how wrong Tory government’s priorities are. If they get their way, only the richest students would be able to study cultural subjects.

“Sunak was able to study philosophy, the Tory Government should stop trying to deny working-class people the same opportunities.

“It is clear they have misunderstood the value of learning and the value our members add to society.”

But what is considered a low-value degree? Here is everything we know:

What is a low-value degree?


Student caps will be introduced on courses that do not have a high proportion of graduates getting a professional job, going into postgraduate study, or starting a business.

Under the plans, the Office for Students (OfS) — which regulates universities in England — will be asked to limit the number of students universities can recruit on to courses that are seen to fail to deliver good outcomes for graduates.