VOCATIONAL DEGREES GUARANTEE FRESH INFLUX INTO HEALTH INDUSTRY

Latest report from Graduate Prospects reveals graduates’ destinations six months on

New research presenting the occupational destinations of graduates six months after completing their courses has highlighted the value of vocational subjects to the health sector, with nine out of ten graduate recruits holding related degrees, according to What Do Graduates Do? 2005 released by Graduate Prospects, the leading UK provider of information and careers guidance for graduates.

Well over half (54.9 per cent ) of graduates working as nursing and health professionals six months after graduating have nursing degrees and 36.1 per cent graduated in subjects allied to medicine.   Two thirds (66 per cent) of graduate recruits into the health profession are from medicine and dentistry degrees and a further 27 per cent from subjects allied to medicine.

What Do Graduates Do? 2005 tracks the career destinations of the 2003 first degree and HND graduating cohort, and examines the employment market by type of work and subject of study. The report is published by Graduate Prospects; the Association of Graduate Career s Advisory Services (AGCAS); and UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, and using data sourced from the HESA First Destination survey. The aim of the report is to provide a guide for Year 11 and 12 students, parents and careers advisors, on the potential outcomes of different degree subjects.

Other findings from What Do Graduates Do? 2005

One in six Maths graduates (15.5 per cent of the 2003 graduating cohort) are now heading for the classroom, either becoming teaching professionals or undertaking a postgraduate teaching qualification. This compares with fewer than one in twelve of 2002’s Maths graduates (7.9 per cent).

The appeal of teaching is broadening across other degree subjects too. Geography shows the second highest increase, delivering 12.7 per cent of 2003’s graduates up from 7.6 per cent in 2002. English is another boom subject for the education sector, with seven per cent of all new teaching professionals in 2003 possessing an English degree (up from one per cent in 2002). One in six English graduates (15.8 per cent) entered teaching, up from 9.6 per cent the previous year.

This year’s report also highlights that the numbers of graduates entering clerical and secretarial positions has declined, down three per cent from 14.3 per cent in 2002 to 11.3 per cent in 2003, yet still accounts for a significant proportion, over one in ten, of early job destinations for graduates. Despite these figures being presented by some to show that a degree is not a passport to a graduate job, they actually show something quite different when considered alongside longer term research as Mike Hill , chief executive of Graduate Prospects, explains:

“Recent research, ‘Seven Years On: Graduate Career s in a Changing Labour Market’, confirms that nine out of ten graduates secure graduate jobs within seven years of graduation. The ‘What Do Graduates Do’ report   simply highlights that graduates from some degrees take longer than others to decide on their long term futures often taking more administrative positions while they consider their options; others use such positions as footholds into companies for which they would like to work. The idea that all graduates should sail from university into high paid graduate jobs within weeks of graduation is a myth and always has been.”

The trend for students to leave job hunting until after graduation, focusing instead on academic achievement, is demonstrated by a survey of final year students undertaken by Graduate Prospects at careers fairs in summer 2004. Well over half, (58 per cent), of graduates were still ‘just getting a feel’ for the job market as their degrees came to an end.

Directly vocational degrees continue to offer excellent immediate career prospects: Civil Engineering emerges ahead of all other surveyed degree subjects in the employment stakes with 72.3 per cent of Civil Engineering graduates employed in the UK or abroad. Two thirds of recent IT graduates (63 per cent) now work in the IT profession. Of graduates working in the media, literary, design, PR and sports profession, nearly three in ten (28 per cent) have Design Studies degrees.

A large proportion of graduate level positions are likely to be open to graduates of any discipline: of all graduates, well over one in ten (11.2 per cent) take up roles as commercial, industrial and public sector managers. A similar number (nine per cent) enter professional, associate professional and technical occupations.           

Mike Hill , chief executive of Graduate Prospects, commented on the report findings:

“As a snapshot, this is a healthy indication that 2003’s graduating cohort is off to a flying career start. The health sector is certainly making the most of newly emerging talent to boost the workforce.”

Tony Butler, president of the Association of Graduate Career s Advisory Services, said:

“Year 12 and 13 students, and their parents, should be reassured that undertaking a degree is one of the best things you can do for your career, backed up with some well articulated work experience. As ever we are seeing graduates entering a wide range of professions, unafraid of trying them out to see if they are suitable, and making the most of the skills they have learnt. Employers are benefiting from the softer skills, such as communication, time management and prioritising, developed through the discipline of university study, in addition to technical, analytical and knowledge-based skills resulting from specific degree subjects.”

The full report is available online at www.prospects.ac.uk/links/wdgd or contact Claire Graves / Graham Smith on 020 7631 0737.

WDGD? 05 surveyed 198,730 graduates, 81.6 per cent of total 2003 graduating cohort of 241,450.

Graduate Prospects is the trading subsidiary of the charity HECSU.   Graduate Prospects gift aids its profits to HECSU annually to fund charitable projects for the HE sector.   HECSU and Graduate Prospects work in partnership with the Association of Graduate Career s Advisory Services (AGCAS) to maximise the career opportunities and support available to students and graduates.   The Graduate Prospects service includes over 800 different career guides, graduate marketplace reports and the Prospects Series of recruitment and postgraduate course directories and magazines, e-guidance, career planning software, web and online options to enhance the careers advice provided in higher education Career s Services.   All information is accessible on Prospects.ac.uk.   HECSU is an agency of Universities UK (UUK).

NCWE , the National Council for Work Experience, is a division of HECSU, the Higher Education Career s Services Unit.   It promotes, supports and develops quality work experience for the benefit of students, organisations and the economy.   This includes disseminating information and good practice, encouraging the development of quality standards and encouraging more employers to provide placement opportunities.

AGCAS represents the Career s Services and over 1450 professional staff in over 134 institutions of Higher Education throughout the UK and Ireland .   It enhances their activities through collaboration in areas such as professional development, raising quality standards, the gathering and dissemination of information on graduate careers and the production of information products and services, including many of those produced by Graduate Prospects, for HE students and graduates.

UCAS , the Universities and Colleges Admissions Services is the central organisation processing applications to degree, HND and other higher education courses at universities and colleges.

 (22/2/05)