Higher education plc: cheating in the marketplace of ideas

The recent plagiarism scandal at Harvard University, and the rise of essay mills, are a reflection of changing attitudes to higher education: if you can buy an education, why not an essay?

of US university students admit to cheating in some form; slightly fewer do in the UK. Much of that cheating is in the form of not attributing others' writing, cutting and pasting sentences from the web – but this is only part of the story. Essay mills, which provide papers for students to pass off as their own for a fee, account for a substantial portion of cheating. Such services, when generating original content, cannot easily be caught by plagiarism-detection software. In any case, there are questions about whether the software works at all, but what is certain is that using it only furthers the cat-and-mouse ethics of teaching which can undermine classroom trust. The truth is business is booming for the clandestine writers who deliver high school essays, university term papers, MSc theses, and even PhD dissertations in the massive custom-essay industry.

Teachers know that plagiarism undermines the foundational values of higher education. The recent cheating scandal under investigation at Harvard University is just one reminder that plagiarism is a pervasive problem, whether the school is online or Ivy League.

Blame for these developments cannot simply be attributed to a student's laziness or to the newfound availability of online content. It is due also to the way we collectively treat education: when our society prizes education as a private acquisition rather than a public good, its role in our culture is altered, and student behaviours will reflect such valuation. If you can buy an education, why not an essay?

When students tap into their beer funds to buy a passable essay, they bypass the difficult work of learning, the trust of their instructors, fair grading, and the common rules followed by fellow classmates. Short-cuts like buying essays seem all the more natural when higher education is increasingly presented, and marketed, as a commodity for those with access. When the university experience is conceived as a consumable good, a mere satisfaction of student preference, then the option of buying a term paper fits squarely within the value system of that institution.

Philosopher Michael Sandel has analysed the moral dimensions of the infiltration of 'market values' into ever more corners of our lives. Far from being ethically neutral, the spread of market values into new domains has serious moral consequences. Markets can clearly generate efficient distributions of many products, but they also change the nature of certain goods when they peg their value directly to cash. That's fine for bicycles, but more problematic for policing, health care, and education.

There are reasons to be concerned about the increasing scope of markets in higher education. Recent fee hikes have already resulted in a decrease in university enrolment for the first time in years. In America, where tuition can be several times higher than in the UK, many students understand a college education as a mere means to an end – an investment that will pay off in the form of higher starting salaries. As one student put it: "I'm not just going to college for myself to learn something new. I'm going to college because it's not easy to get by financially today and you need a college degree to get a well-paying job. It's definitely the investment, not an intellectual experience that I'm going for." If that is all there is to university, the values of learning are easily occluded by the values of the market.

Fee-based plagiarism helps us to see the obvious: that education is rooted in non-market values, including respect for learning, reward for merit, trust between teacher and student, and common rules. Of course that is not to say we don't expect education to lead to further career and life opportunities, but it is to insist that the rules of the classroom are not the rules of the marketplace. We need to articulate these obvious truths in the face of creeping market values, in order to help students see what education is and what it can be: as a public good, a collective goal that is important for both individuals and society.

It's clear that combating plagiarism involves student responsibility, but that cannot be the whole answer. Administrators must recognise that students – and their cheque-writing parents – are not consumers: they are not always right and they are not entitled to high grades. Universities must prioritise and incentivise good teaching. Educators need to motivate students to learn and serve students' needs, even when their own careers are increasingly tenuous and dependent on research. And our policies must ensure appropriate limits to the encroachment of markets into our hallways of learning.

Source: 5^th October 2012, The Guardian by Eric C. Martin (Postdoctoral researcher in the history and philosophy of science at the London School of Economics).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/oct/05/plagiarism-marketisation-of-higher-education

Report highlights benefits of part-time study

Part-time students gain higher pay, new skills and greater responsibilities in the workplace even while they are studying, a new survey has found.

Research commissioned by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HESCU) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills found 69 per cent of students said their part-time undergraduate course had improved both their confidence at work and their job performance.

Half said they were taking on more responsibilities, while 29 per cent of students received a pay increase, and 28 per cent a promotion.

Other advantages of part-time study reported by students include improvements to personal development (81 per cent) and self-confidence (70 per cent) as well as greater levels of happiness (55 per cent).

The study is based on interviews with 261 students in 2010-11, three years after they started their degrees.

It is part of the wider Futuretrack study which has monitored the progress of more than 50,000 students who entered higher education in 2006. The final report of this study will be published next month.

Jane Artess, director of research at HECSU, said the latest study confirmed the importance of part-time study.

"Part-time study is a very efficient way of raising and updating the skills of the existing workforce," she said. "It is essential that we continue to invest in developing employees to benefit the economy.

"Higher education policies need to support this rather than undermine it. The new availability of loans for part-time students is to be welcomed."

But Claire Callender, professor of higher education policy at Birkbeck College and the Institute of Education, both colleges of the University of London, who conducted the research with David Wilkinson, from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, believed many employers could be put off contributing towards the cost of educating their staff.

Twenty-seven per cent of students said their employers paid their full fees in 2007-8, which fell to 21 per cent for 2010-11.

From this autumn, part-time fees will be rise dramatically as they will be generally levied at a pro-rata basis of the full-time undergraduate fee, which is typically £9,000.

However, part-time students are now able to access student loans, which they will not pay back until they are earning more than £21,000 a year.

Professor Callender said: "We are concerned that some employers will not be able to continue to fund part-time study in the future and that this might restrict opportunities, particularly for students who want to re-skill or update their skills."

Source: 8^th October 2012, Times Higher Education by Jack Grove

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=421407&c=1

What do admissions tutors think of the social engineering of university places proposed by the Office for Fair Access?

It is, university admissions tutors insist, the crucial distinction. All of our top higher education institutions can show that they are straining every sinew to encourage more bright pupils from state schools to apply for their courses. But all are equally adamant that they will not set lower A-level grades for applicants from comprehensives than they do for private school entrants. To do that would, they protest, mean social engineering triumphing over academic excellence. And their universities stand or fall in a global market in higher education principally on the basis of academic excellence.

Yet what they regard as a straight educational issue also has a big political dimension. The determination to maintain academic standards is putting our top universities at odds with a government that is trying to soften the blow of its deeply unpopular tripling of university tuition fees by forcing up the percentage of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Office for Fair Access (OFFA), led by the controversial figure of Professor Les Ebdon, formerly vice-chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, has been negotiating targets with individual universities for admissions based on what sort of school applicants attended. Cambridge, Durham and Exeter are reported to be among 11 of the 20 elite universities to have agreed to such targets. And that in its turn has caused outrage in the independent sector, which fears that its school leavers will be shut out from landing a place at the top institutions on political grounds.

At this week’s annual gathering of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC), which represents 250 leading fee-paying schools, there has been open talk of a boycott against any university that puts up higher barriers to privately educated pupils than to those from the state sector. “We can influence [universities’] behaviour by advising [our] good students to go or not to go to them,” said Chris Ramsey, head of the independent King’s School in Chester and universities’ spokesman for the HMC. He backed up his challenge by pointing to a boycott organised nine years ago against Bristol University when it stood accused of discriminating against private school applicants. “They didn’t like that,” he recalled. “It definitely had an impact.”

Christopher Ray, high master of Manchester Grammar School, also lent his weight to the argument, warning that proposed OFFA reforms could lead to “the replacement of one type of perceived unfairness with another”.

Figures from the Higher Education Statistical Agency pinpoint the problem. Across the UK, 88.7 per cent of British-based students starting an undergraduate degree in 2010-11 came from state schools. But at the most prestigious universities – Oxbridge and those in the exclusive Russell Group – the numbers tell another story. At Oxford, state pupils make up just 57.7 per cent of new entrants – only slightly up from 2000, when Magdalen College, Oxford, declined to offer a place to read medicine to straight A* high-flyer Laura Spence, from Monkseaton Community High School in Tyneside, and found itself publicly castigated by Gordon Brown for “scandalous elitism”.

At the time, some said politicians should keep away from individual cases; others that the future prime minister had usefully highlighted institutional discrimination. Spence eventually accepted a scholarship to go to Harvard.

Cambridge is doing rather better than its age-old rival in widening access. In 2010-11, its state-school quota stood at 59 per cent. In figures for 2012, that has risen to 63.3 per cent, a 30-year high.

“Our aim,” says Mike Sewell, director of admissions at the university, “is to attract the very best quality of applicants and then treat them all fairly. The very last thing I would ever want to say to a parent of someone we offer a place to is that we are taking your son or daughter because of the school they went to. We offer places because we have confidence in that individual’s academic ability.”

So why agree a state-private target figure with OFFA? “It is one of several targets we have agreed,” Dr Sewell says. “We also have targets for the number of students we accept from what are called low-participation neighbourhoods – areas where numbers going to university, or to Cambridge, are small. But, of course, not all applicants who come to us from those low-participation neighbourhoods will have been to state schools. Some may have been on scholarships to a local independent school.” Some, perhaps, but not many.

The Cambridge target figure for state school admissions has been set in the range of 61 to 63 per cent, even though 93 per cent of children in this country are educated in the state sector. “Over the past few years we have looked very hard at academic performance in UK schools, and in particular at A-level attainment,” Dr Sewell explains. “And from those figures we have extrapolated that of the number of pupils expected to reach our entry grade of three As, roughly 65 per cent will come from the state sector. That seems to me to be a fairer measurement of our admissions process.”

If the Cambridge research is to become the new benchmark, that still leaves other elite institutions – Durham (59.5 per cent), St Andrews (60.1), Bristol (60.2) and University College, London (63.5) – with ground to make up. But it handily takes the spotlight off university admissions and their perceived unfairness, and places it firmly back on levels of attainment at A-level in state schools. Why does that 7 per cent of schools that are private produce such a disproportionate number of candidates with 3 As at A-level?

However, universities cannot quite so easily sidestep the intense scrutiny they are facing over admissions. With record numbers of applicants – last year showed a slight overall decline in those wanting to go to university, but 2010 had been an all-time peak – the job of admissions tutors remains a fraught one.

“It is certainly true,” says a recently retired dean of admissions at a Russell Group university, who would only speak publicly if her identity was not revealed, “that if we have someone applying from a private school with the requisite three As at A-level, but with mixed GCSEs, not all of them at A or A*, we will probably be more inclined to reject them than someone with a similar range of results from a state school. What leeway we have, we use there.” This is when, she says, what is sometimes called “contextual data” is taken into account.

“But the reality of university admissions,” she continues, “especially in the most popular subjects such as law, English and psychology, is that you have so many applicants with the right grades, compared to the number of places, that there is very little leeway at all. From suitably qualified applicants, I could have filled all my places with people from Grub Street Comprehensive. Or I could have filled them with products of Eton. My job, at interview, was to try to strike a balance. And I do that not on the basis of social engineering, but by trying to work out who has a passion for the subject.”

The principal tool has been interviews, but she fears that in the brave new world of OFFA, such face-to-face encounters may soon be outlawed as potentially discriminatory – as they have been for admissions to oversubscribed secondary schools.

“That will leave admissions tutors trying to make a decision on paper qualifications, a personal statement that someone else might have written for the candidate, and headteachers’ reports, which vary wildly in quality. It will become even more of a can of worms, even more unfair, and all in pursuit of fairness.”

The accusation that there is currently a bias in Russell Group universities towards private school applicants is simply wrong, she maintains. “We are not a group of old farts in tweed jackets choosing people who went to our old school, but we are not about to exclude a whole group of able applicants just because some might perceive them as Hooray Henrys. We teach at global universities and some admissions tutors come from overseas, or have been educated there. They will just not understand the gradations of the British school system when they read the word Eton. They will see an individual.”

All sides in the debate find rare accord in agreeing that it would be a big mistake to see applicants as representatives of a particular class, or type of school. But that is where OFFA’s targets are taking them.

Source: 2^nd October 2012, The Telegraph by Peter Stanford

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9582120/It-will-become-even-more-of-a-can-of-worms-even-more-unfair-and-all-in-pursuit-of-fairness.html

New report card for graduates could spell end of the 2.1 cut-off

Universities are set to provide a new, fuller record of students’ achievements alongside traditional degree certificates. The new system should help graduate recruiters to move away from using 2.1s as a cut-off point when assessing job applications by providing them with a more detailed and balanced picture of graduates’ academic and extracurricular achievements.

The Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) will include information about graduates’ course marks and activities such as involvement in sports or societies and volunteering. It is a concise electronic document that follows a standard template, and has been trialled in 30 institutions across the UK over the last five years.

It has been endorsed by the higher education sector’s representative bodies, Universities UK and Guild HE, and both organisations have recommended that all institutions should adopt the HEAR, although they are not obliged to do so. It is likely that universities that were not involved in the trial will seek to introduce it for students who are now starting their degree courses.

How the HEAR will help you get a graduate job

Carl Gilleard, the chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), said that the HEAR would allow students to present a fuller picture of themselves when applying for jobs, and would help employers move away from using the achievement of a 2.1 degree as a cut-off point when filtering applications.

He said, ‘It is widely accepted that the degree classification system is not fit for purpose. As a recruitment tool it is a blunt and inconsistent measure, and so it is a shame it has become so heavily relied on and used by employers.’

The trialling of the HEAR has already begun to have an impact on how students present themselves to recruiters, Mr Gilleard said. ‘I have already noticed how it is acting as a catalyst for change, with students better able to articulate what they have to offer to employers and considering the skills they have developed more carefully.’

Every mark that counts towards your degree goes in

According to a report in Times Higher Education, students will be able to review their HEAR throughout their degree, and universities will validate the extracurricular activities that are included.

In a blog post for The Guardian’s higher education network, Professor Bob Burgess, who chaired the steering group that developed the HEAR, commented that student representatives were concerned about the inclusion of fails and low marks on the record.

He explained, ‘Employers were firmly of the view that anything less than a complete record might be seen as a cover-up. On balance, we decided that for the sake of simplicity and completeness, everything that counts towards the final degree result should be recorded, including fails and low marks.’

Source: 4^th October 2012, TARGETJobs by Alison

http://targetjobs.co.uk/news/302948-new-report-card-for-graduates-could-spell-end-of-the-21-cut-off

Top graduates needed in children's social work

A new report highlights the severe shortage of graduates pursuing careers in social work and lays out plans to transform perceptions of the sector.

There are always many challenges facing graduates trying to enter the workforce, and the current economic crisis only compounds the difficulty of moving from learning to employment. Graduate unemployment levels are soaring, and many students fear poor employment prospects no matter how good their results are.

At the same time, there is a shortage of children's social workers – last year, there were more than 1,350 vacancies in this field. But only 6% of graduates from Russell Group universities started work in social work and just five of graduates from Oxbridge applied for postgraduate social work courses last year. In comparison, 10% of Oxford graduates applied to the highly competitive Teach First programme.

I was one the participants in Teach First, which started in 2002 and provides graduates with intensive teacher-training and a two-year contract to teach some of the most educationally-deprived children in the country.

In my first year of teaching, I worked with a child who had been taken into care and wasn't behaving or achieving at school. Although the school tried hard, nothing was enough; something was happening beyond the school gates. When we got in touch with his carers it turned out he had seen six social workers in 12 months, his current social worker was an agency member of staff, and he was one of over 30 cases being dealt with by the social worker. That child deserved the best and the brightest working with him but instead he fell victim to a system that was short-staffed and run-down. This is a familiar story.

What we need is a Teach First model for children's social workers. Like teaching, social work is tough, but the stakes are higher. Social workers need to have excellent academic and emotional skills. A typical day can involve speaking at the High Court as part of a referral case, writing reports, putting children in foster placements, and visiting at-risk children in their homes. It's hard work, but it improves the lives and chances of young people across the country. The role social workers play in the UK cannot be underestimated. Every day they are on the frontline, promoting social justice by being a bridge between danger and safety.

When you consider the demanding and highly skilled nature of the job in contrast with the low esteem in which social work is held, it demonstrates the scale of the challenge. This is why we investigated the idea of a high-profile-fast-track route. Could we attract exceptional graduates and career changers into a demanding and socially valuable job?

A new report from the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) puts forward the case for the establishment of 'Frontline' – an independent social enterprise providing 12 months of intensive training culminating in accreditation as a social worker, and followed by a minimum of one year as a practising children's social worker.

As with the Teach First programme, Frontline participants would be working with children on the 'frontline' from the very start. They would be exposed to the realities and excitement of the job, and develop excellence in their field as well as leadership skills.

This plan of action comes at an important time for social work. Recent years have seen a concerted effort to improve the status, training and development of social workers. It is important to point to the work already undertaken by the social work reform board and task force as well as Dr. Eileen Munro. We want to see a programme that attracts and prepares exceptional graduates to be outstanding social workers and I believe this goes with the grain of other reforms.

Today's report is a call for change to the profession and the government. It is not inevitable that social work remains one of Britain's least appealing careers when it is in fact one of the most demanding and important. A scheme like this could transform perceptions of social work and contribute to the huge task of tackling social disadvantage.

Source: 4^th October 2012, The Guardian by Josh MacAlister (Teacher, Researcher at the IPPR and Teach First ambassador).

http://careers.guardian.co.uk/graduates-social-care

University student’s reports to acknowledge both ‘work and play’

Alongside degree grades, accounts of non-academic achievement will be noted in changes to university reports

A new project is to be implemented that will add a detailed account of the non-academic achievements of students in university reports.

The change is expected to be adopted by "most universities".

The Higher Education Achievement Report (HEARS) will provide potential employers with more information about the skills and successes of University graduates, giving them a more complete picture of potential employees.

The project is being led by Sir Robert Burgess, a sociologist and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester. Sir Burgess said the new system would move society away from a “damaging obsession with 'first' and 'upper second' degree classifications”.

Indeed, Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, said three quarters of its members used a 2:1 as a cut-off point, excluding anyone below this grade.

The change is also partly in response to concerns that too many students are awarded upper second and first class degrees. It is hoped that the new system will make clear to potential employers which students possess drive and interests outside of their academic career.

“The degree classification system is not fit for purpose. As a recruitment tool it is a blunt and inconsistent measure,” argued Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

However, the information provided in the report will be informed only by the student’s time at the university, and will be unchangeable at the point of graduation.

The use of Hears is being endorsed by the representative bodies Universities UK and Guild HE, and has been extensively piloted. 45,000 Hears reports have been produced this year alone.

"The Hear is designed to encourage a more sophisticated approach to recording students' achievements in the 21st Century”, professor Burgess concluded.

Source: 4^th October 2012, The Information Daily by Information Daily Staff Writer

http://www.egovmonitor.com/2012/10/04/university-students-reports-to-acknowledge-both-work-and-play

Ed Miliband's education vow – end elitism

Ed Miliband put himself on the side of the "forgotten 50%" on Tuesday by drawing on his state school roots and promising to reform an education system that he says fails half of Britain's teenagers by giving them second-rate vocational qualifications of little value to employers.

In his address to the Labour party conference in Manchester, constructed around the theme of working together to rebuild Britain from recession, he contrasted his commitment to help those who don't go to university with a Tory plan for an education system designed "for a narrower and narrower elite".

He explicitly called on his party to shift focus from Tony Blair's earlier commitment to increase the numbers going to university towards helping the teenagers between 14 and 18 who are in need of good vocational education to keep them from dead-end jobs.

"We cannot succeed if we have an education system that only works for half the country. It's time now to focus on those who don't go to university," he said.

Repeatedly drawing on his own experience at a London comprehensive – implicitly contrasting his own schooling with the Eton-educated David Cameron's – he said that although for a quarter of a century children successful at exams have found the world open up, for the remainder school has offered very little and they have found themselves written off.

His schooling at Haverstock school in north London taught him "a lot more than just how to pass exams", he said. "It taught people how to get on with each other, whoever they are and wherever they're from. I will always be grateful because I know I would not be standing here today as leader of the Labour party without my comprehensive school education."

He explained why his roots are so different to Cameron's, saying: "My family has not sat under the same oak tree for the last 500 years. My parents came to Britain as immigrants, Jewish refugees from the Nazis. I would not be standing here today without the compassion and tolerance of our great country." Setting out plans for a clear vocational route to a gold standard qualification at 18 called a Technical Baccalaureate, he will require all young people to study English and Maths to 18 as a strict condition for the award of the "Tech Baccs".

He will also propose a German style shakeup of post-18 apprenticeships, in which companies, on an industry or regional basis, can sign legally enforceable agreements requiring all participating firms to pay a levy to cover the cost of training, so – ending the scourge of freeloading companies refusing to pay the costs of apprenticeships, but stealing skilled staff from firms that do train.

He also vowed to give businesses control of the £1bn budget of the Skills Agency.

Labour regards its plans for the forgotten 50% as far more sweeping than the tinkering reforms to A-levels proposed by the education secretary, Michael Gove.

The proposal for a Tech Bacc, which was supported by Miliband's industry adviser, Lord Adonis, originates from a report by Prof Alison Wolf in 2011 commissioned by Gove.

Wolf found: "The staple offer for between a quarter and a third of the post-16 cohort is a diet of low-level vocational qualifications, most of which have little to no labour market value. Among 16 to 19-year-olds, the review estimated that at least 350,000 got little to no benefit from the post-16 education system". The report highlighted that only 4% of 16-year-olds who have failed GCSE Maths and English go on to pass them by the age of 19, an omission that contrasts with the rest of the world's absolute determination to improve basic numeracy and literacy of its post-16 vocational students.

Gove welcomed the report, but has not implemented it, prompting Miliband to claim Gove has contempt for vocational qualifications.

More broadly Miliband called for a society in which everyone can, and is expected to, play their part in restoring Britain. He called for banks to work together with small firms and businesses to co-operate with long-term shareholders.

Conservative sources dismissed Miliband's reform initiative, saying Gove has already set out the goal Miliband is discussing, has already changed the funding system to begin this transition, and that Miliband's pledge will already have happened long before the election.

Miliband knows he faces a huge task to convince voters he is prime minister material, and much of the speech, some of it delivered away from the podium, was designed to re-present himself to unimpressed voters.

His task was not made any easier by the frequently critical Blackley and Broughton MP Graham Stringer telling a fringe meeting in Manchester that Miliband had "failed to make a human connection with the electorate" and was "incapable of fighting the next election on personality".

Source: 2^nd October 2012, The Guardian, Patrick Wintour - Political Editor

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/oct/01/ed-miliband-speech-education-vow

How to use volunteering to kickstart your career

After graduating with a degree in English, Cat Clark worked in a series of temping jobs that did very little to fulfil her ambition of working in the events industry. So, after seeing an advert for volunteers for Oxjam, she applied for a position in the Bath team.

Oxjam is a month-long music festival that runs throughout October. There are hundreds of gigs around the UK all organised by volunteers.

Cat began working as production co-ordinator, booking the bands and venues. "In the four months prior to the event, I recruited, trained and managed a team of around 20 volunteers, working alongside my marketing co-ordinator, fundraising co-ordinator and production co-ordinator," she said.

The following year, in 2010, Cat became the overall event manager, balancing the volunteer role alongside her day job. "As well as developing event and project management skills, Oxjam is a brilliant opportunity to think creatively and to make some great contacts within the local music scene," said Cat. "The events we produced in Bath were a real success, raising several thousand pounds for Oxfam and showing off amazing local talent.

"After working for Oxjam, I applied to an events company for an admin-based job, but when the interviewer noticed my experience, he recommended that I apply for an events role instead.

"I'm now in my third year with the company, and there's no doubt that having Oxjam on my CV helped me get the role. The people in charge of hiring me all agree that my practical experience was more valuable to them than any formal events qualification I could have earned."

Cat's story highlights a number of key lessons about how to use volunteering as a way to break into your chosen career. Here are some of the key points:

Follow your interests: From working in a shop to running a gig, there is a wide range of volunteering opportunities out there. Do your research to find volunteering opportunities that are aligned with your interests, skillset and personal goals.

Volunteering is a two-way relationship: Your time and energy should be repaid with enriching experiences, and the chance to develop transferable skills. Don't be afraid to talk about your personal development goals and to ask for roles and responsibilities that will help you achieve these.

Communicate your achievements: Make the most of volunteering on your CV and in job interviews – be specific about what you achieved and learned along the way, and how the skills you gained are relevant to the job you want.

Source: 3^rd October 2012, The Guardian, Nick Bryer (Manager at Oxjam)

http://careers.guardian.co.uk/volunteering-kickstart-career

UCAS launches new application scheme for GCSE students

UCAS, the universities and colleges admissions service, has launched a new online application scheme enabling pupils aged 16 and younger to apply for apprenticeships and training programmes as well as traditional sixth form courses.

The scheme, which sees the non-profit admissions company extend its remit beyond traditional university and college applications, is called UCAS Progress, and will particularly target students about to enter Key Stage 5 – the two years of education immediately following GCSEs.

“It’s about helping all young people, with a direct thread into higher education,” said Gina Bradbury, head of the new scheme. “If people are going to make the right choices on the way to higher education from their GCSEs, it’s very important to engage with young people earlier.”

Over four thousand further education providers including schools, University Technical Colleges and other training providers are listed on the new platform, which features nearly 200,000 courses to which students can apply.

“It’s something higher education institutions are keen on – widening participation, and increasing information,” said Bradbury. “We also want to help people who won’t go on to higher education, as we expect an increased need for people to find work-based learning in the future."

Source: 1^st October 2012, The Telegraph, Andrew Marszal, Education Digital Editor

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/9579055/Ucas-launches-new-application-scheme-for-GCSE-students.html

Aldi to create 4,500 jobs amid sales boom

Discount supermarket chain Aldi plans multimillion-pound UK expansion after luring more middle-class shoppers into its stores.

The discount supermarket chain Aldi plans to create 4,500 jobs in Britain in a multimillion-pound expansion that will see it break through the 500-store mark.

The German retailer is back in the black after attracting more cash-strapped middle-class shoppers, making a pretax profit of £57.8m in 2011 compared with a loss of £56m the year before. Turnover grew by nearly 30% to £2.76bn.

It increased its market share in June by 54% compared with the same month last year, taking a 4.1% slice of UK grocery spending, according to the data firm Nielsen.

Last year, the budget grocer opened 29 stores in Britain and has earmarked £181m for 40 stores by the end of 2013, taking its total UK stores to more than 500.

Aldi has focused on working with a growing number of suppliers in Britain to offer more fresh food, and sources two-thirds of its core range from UK suppliers. Sales of fresh meat doubled, fruit and vegetables sales climbed 48% and bakery sales are up 40%.

"The success of Aldi comes as no surprise," said John Pal, retail analyst at Manchester Business School. "This is, after all, the German retailer that saw off the world's largest retailer, Walmart, in its home country a number of years ago.

Despite the rather derogatory comments about Aldi and other limited-line discounters' entry into the UK in the 1990s by the likes of senior Sainsbury executives, it is clear Aldi in particular has found favour with UK consumers. But operating in the value end of the market is no guarantee of success as Kwik Save, Shoprite and Netto have found out."

Pal credited Aldi's simple TV adverts, special weekly deals and limited choice, along with an adherence to a standard store footprint that can fit into smaller centres.

Figures from Nielsen showed Aldi enjoyed 39% sales growth in the four weeks to 15 September, helped by the feelgood factor lingering from the London Olympics and the mini heatwave in the first couple of weeks of September. Sales at the market leader, Tesco, were disappointing, up just 1.4%, while Morrison's sales fell for the first time this year, by 1.3%. Waitrose and Sainsbury's recorded sales growth of 7.5% and 5.6% respectively.

Aldi's joint managing director, Roman Heini, said: "Consumers are attracted to Aldi by our brand-matched quality products and keep returning to our stores when they realise their weekly shop can cost around a third less than in the big supermarkets. Aldi has become more relevant to British consumers. They can buy what they need and want at Aldi, at a price they like."

Pal said the worry for the big four - Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrison's - is that they may not be able to entice customers back when the good times return.

Source:  1^st October 2012, The Guardian, Julia Kollewe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/oct/01/alid-create-jobs-sales-boom

Transport for London to recruit up to 100 graduate trainees

Transport for London (TfL) today announced that it will begin recruiting up to 100 graduate trainees in areas including engineering, project management, technical and corporate roles from Monday 8 October. Depending on their subject, graduates will spend up to three years as trainees with TfL. TfL welcomed 86 graduate trainees in September 2012.

The new roles have been made available as TfL continues its huge upgrade of London’s transport network. The multi-billion pound investment programme is delivering a faster, more efficient and comprehensive transport network and requires a highly skilled and trained workforce. The graduate scheme at TfL provides a hands-on opportunity for the new recruits to take part in the upgrade programme and a fantastic learning curve. Those interested can apply from 8 October 2012 at: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/microsites/graduates/default.asp

The graduates will join teams at various sites across the Capital. They will be involved in all aspects of TfL’s work including projects like the Victoria Station upgrade, Barclays Cycle Hire, Northern Line Extension and London Overground among many other TfL services.

TfL is an employer committed to developing and maintaining the skills and talents of its workforce. With the current skills shortage in the transport industry, TfL is working to address the shortage by training its own workforce for now and the future.

TfL currently employs more than 24,000 employees directly and tens of thousands more through its suppliers. Many of these are in highly skilled roles and TfL has a vital role to play in ensuring these skills are maintained and passed on to the future. Within the last two financial years, 135 graduate roles have been created in TfL, with 86 graduates enrolling in September 2012.

Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy CBE said: ’TfL, along with the Mayor and our suppliers, are all committed to offering fantastic opportunities both on our graduate and apprenticeship schemes. The transport industry needs highly motivated recruits and we can offer a long and fulfilling career with world-class training. I know, as I started as a Graduate Trainee in 1975.

’The Tube upgrade and Crossrail are firmly on track, so this is a particularly exciting time to join TfL. We have been working closely with our supply chain to ensure the industry has the highly skilled workforce needed to deliver the huge upgrade of London’s transport network.’

Within the last three financial years, more than 2,500 apprenticeship roles have been created through TfL and its supply chain. This forms part of the Mayor’s commitment to create apprenticeships for Londoners. So far this financial year, TfL has taken on more than 500 apprentices. The next recruitment round for apprentices for TfL will be in spring 2013 and will be available on the TfL website.http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/jobs/17128.aspx

Highways Technician apprentice at TfL, Gregory Thame, said: ’Like many young people today, it was my expectation that after school I would attend university. After my first year at university, I realised that it wasn’t the path for me. Looking for an alternative, my dad suggested an apprenticeship. Since finding the highways technician apprenticeship I haven’t looked back.

’I am thoroughly enjoying my job, while at the same time studying for management and civil engineering qualifications. It has been a steep learning curve but I have learnt a lot, gained invaluable experience, discovered new areas of interest, and I am very much looking forward to the future.’

Since 2007, TfL has consistently appeared in the Graduate Times 100 list for best companies to work for, voted for by graduates, it is also recognised by the National Apprenticeship Service as one of the top 100 Apprenticeship Employers. TfL also offers a variety of training to all staff at three main training sites in West Kensington, Acton and Stratford to strengthen their skills.

The GLA Group’s Supplier Skills Team (SST) has assisted in developing a programme tailored to the skills needs of TfL and its supply chain, as well as supporting the opportunity to bring young talent into the industry. In the last financial year, more than 40 TfL suppliers have worked closely with the SST creating over 1,000 jobs for unemployed Londoners and over 800 apprenticeship opportunities. As a result of this joint approach Vital Rail, a TfL supplier has recently successfully recruited more than 70 young NEET’s (Not in employment, education or training) as Track Maintenance Apprentices.

TfL’s suppliers will create 650 apprenticeship roles this financial year. These cover a variety of disciplines and they include roles in civil engineering and building services engineering, quantity surveying and vehicle maintenance and repair engineering apprenticeships.

Source: 5^th October 2012, WebWire.com

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=162059

Fujitsu is committed to creating more apprenticeships

Fujitsu UK & Ireland has announced that it is recruiting 95 new apprentices within the next two months, recognising the need for business to tackle rising youth unemployment and to help its own growth ambitions.

£7,800 is the salary for “Intermediate” apprentices who are school-leavers with GCSEs, and will join a one-year training programme. This salary is 50% higher than the recommended minimum salary of £2.65 per hour.

£14,500 is the starting salary for “Advanced” apprentices who are college-leavers with A-levels, and will join a two-year programme. They will also get a twice-yearly pay review.

The apprentices will be based in Bracknell, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Solihull, Stevenage, Swansea, Telford, Wakefield and Warrington, in a wide variety of roles from customer service to software development.

The aim is to provide all apprentices with full-time positions at the end of their programmes, provided they meet performance objectives. Intermediate and Advanced apprentices will work towards BTEC Level 2 and 3 qualifications respectively, with the option to continue to Level 4 and 5 Diploma level.

First4Skill supports Fujitsu by helping to identify talented young people to shortlist for interview. It will also help Fujitsu to create bespoke training plans, comprised of on-the-job as well as vocational training, delivered in-house by Fujitsu and externally by First4Skills and Telford College.

Gavin Bounds, chief operating officer at Fujitsu UK & Ireland is personally committed to helping young people develop a career: “As an ex-apprentice myself I am delighted with the national resurgence in apprenticeships. Our apprenticeship scheme isn't new; in fact we've been recruiting apprentices for over 25 years, and our 2012 scheme is our largest ever intake. Apprenticeships offer the chance for young people to see the IT industry as a great career.”

Rachel Rose who, as head of talent management, is Fujitsu’s champion for apprentices said: “The calibre of applications this year has surpassed our expectations and we’re looking forward to welcoming our apprentices into the business. They will be recruited, many from areas of high unemployment, to take on a wide variety of important roles, from customer-facing ones – manning our service desks to help resolve customer queries; to technical roles, where they will learn a range of programming skills.”

Andy Payne, who joined Fujitsu 26 years ago as an apprentice, is now Director of Fujitsu’s Engineering Services division. He says: “Fujitsu has a long track record of offering apprenticeships to young people, and there is ample opportunity to succeed if they demonstrate a willingness to learn a variety of skills and a hunger to progress.

“I’ve personally worked in UK and European roles within the company, in departments as diverse as technical support and HR. In my present role as director of Engineering Services, I’m enjoying welcoming some of the new apprentices into my team as they take their first steps up their personal career ladders.”

Under a separate scheme in Northern Ireland, 10 apprentices will be recruited into roles in Belfast.

Fujitsu employs over 12,000 people, making it the largest Japanese employer in the UK and Ireland. It will also take on 55 graduates this year as well as offering industrial placements to 21 undergraduates on sandwich courses.

Source: 3^rd October 2012, Fujitsu UK & Ireland

http://www.fujitsu.com/uk/news/pr/fs_20121003.html

University graduate finds work as human scarecrow

It sounds like the ideal job - the chance to sit down, read a book and perhaps idly strum a ukulele.

But Bangor University graduate Jamie Fox has to do it in all weathers, as a human scarecrow in a field in Norfolk.

Mr Fox, 22, has been employed to scare partridges from a field of oilseed rape at Aylsham because conventional birdscarers have not worked.

As well as wearing a bright orange coat, Mr Fox uses an accordion and a cowbell to frighten the birds.

Mr Fox, who graduated in the summer with a degree in music and English, earns about £250 a week scaring the partridges from the 10-acre (four-hectare) field.

'Friends are envious'

 "I get to sit and read for a lot of the time but whenever I see the partridges, I have to get up and scare them off," he said.

"I ring a cowbell and I've even played the accordion, but the ukulele doesn't seem to have any effect on them."

Mr Fox, of Aylsham, hopes to travel to New Zealand next year and is saving to pay for the trip.

“It's not a bad job. I've read some books and listened to a few podcasts," he said.

"A couple of my friends in busier, more generously-paid jobs, are slightly envious.

"It's nice to be out in the fresh air, although it gets very cold when the wind whips across the field and I've had to shelter in a wood when it's rained."

'Fillet steak'

The only company Mr Fox gets during his eight-hour shifts is from the occasional passing dog-walker or farm worker.

Farmer William Youngs also drops in to check on him every day.

He said he decided to employ a human birdscarer after other methods failed to stop the birds eating the young rape shoots.

"Partridges love rape - it's like fillet steak to them," said Mr Youngs.

"They nibble the leaves off, just leaving the stalk, and then it dies. Two or three years ago, we lost 30 acres (12 hectares), worth thousands of pounds.

"We've tried using bangers to scare them off but the partridges just come back a few minutes later.

"The only way to get rid of them is to walk down the field and push them off."

He said Mr Fox was proving a very effective deterrent.

"Jamie's doing a good job. You can really see the difference," he said.

Source: 5^th October 2012, BBC News, Jon Welch

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-19846642

Young workers: 'Never forget your dreams' - Part 2 of 2

Although millions of young people globally are searching desperately for a job there are many who have bucked the unemployment trend and have successfully taken their first step on the career ladder.

Here are some more stories about youth unemployment around the world, how they succeeded in these tough circumstances, and what advice they would give to others still searching.

 

Tom Gibby, 23, Trainee Solicitor, Nottingham, UK

'A willingness to volunteer is also vital as it illustrates that you care about more than just yourself'

Getting a first job as a trainee solicitor was the hardest challenge I ever faced.

I have emerged from the process a stronger, tougher and better person, having learned vital skills to survive in both a tough profession and economic world.

To cross the line, I had to show dedication to the legal profession. This I did through working, unpaid and funding my own expenses, at nine firms every holiday. I needed teamwork and leadership skills, which I acquired through getting involved in university activities, and experience in the workplace which I got by working in a supermarket and a local restaurant.

A willingness to volunteer is also vital as it illustrates that you care about more than just yourself.

Also crucial is business acumen. It is simple to get, given how easy it is to access information online and via television programmes. Taking notes of the key points and issues gives you enough to have an opinion and so score points at interview.

Laura Hoskins, 24, Assistant Manager, La Libertad, Peru

'Perseverance is key'

Immediately after leaving university I was lucky to land a seven-month unpaid internship at the Oxfam campaigns office in Manchester in the UK.

However, my dream was to work for an non-government organisation in Peru and so I decided the only way to launch my career was to study for a masters in international development.

Finding my first job wasn't as stressful as I'd imagined. In fact, my first application landed me my dream job. I worked extremely hard for my interviews and here I am today in a small town in northern Peru using both of my degrees.

I believe that by gaining as much relevant experience as possible during and after university and being willing to start at the bottom have paid off. It really made the quest for my first (and dream) job relatively pain-free.

Use any contacts you might have in your area of work who can help you source job vacancies and just apply for everything you can - perseverance is key!

Bahruz Naghiyev, 25, Treasury Controller, Baku, Azerbaijan

‘Be willing to accept new challenges and risks so you can discover just how far you can really go'

I started working when I was still in college in the US.

Unfortunately things didn't go the way I was planning and due to the economic crisis, investment firms started laying off foreigners so my chances of getting hired by one of them was almost zero.

I decided to go back to Azerbaijan where I went through several exams and interviews before I finally got my first full-time job at Pasha Bank as a treasury controller.

I believe achievements don't come with strength but with perseverance. The traits which most successful people have in common are perseverance, persistence and determination.

The key to success is being able to develop these characteristics, stay passionate about your ambitions and be able to take a risk when necessary.

If you would like to get your dream job you need to persistently improve yourself, be willing to accept new challenges and risks so you can discover just how far you can really go.

Gebe George, 27, Marketing Specialist, Manama, Bahrain

'Keep studying even if you have to work at the same time'

I am an Indian who was educated in Bahrain and finished my masters in Australia. I am currently working as a marketing specialist for Techno Blue, which represents Samsung in the country.

I was unemployed for nine months and was finally ready to call it quits and return to India when I got an interview call from the company for a role in logistics.

I went along but the chief executive officer refused to employ me. He told me that he hated to see a person like me stuck behind a desk and instead gave me the marketing role. He was aware I did not have much experience but guaranteed full support and mentoring. I said yes immediately.

Though I found it extremely hard to find a decent job in Bahrain, I did not lose hope. Bahrain is home to me, and although I am not a Bahraini passport holder I love this tiny island with a certain passion.

Bahrain was also going through a tough year with all the protests taking place as part of the Middle East "revolution". Trade was bad and businesses were shutting down everywhere. But I kept at it.

I would advise other jobseekers to keep studying even if you have to work at the same time.

Ngoc Nguyen, 22, Sales Assistant, Saigon, Vietnam

‘Seize every chance going and step out of your comfort zones'

I'm working as a sales assistant in a furniture company - it's a job I started a few months ago.

My sister worked at the same company and when she decided to leave, she told me about the vacancy. She helped me send my curriculum vitae to the human resources department. But when I had the interview the boss was impressed with my English language skills - so it was a mixture of luck and talent.

At university I studied import-export business administration but I'm not really using my specialism much. I do like my job now as sometimes I have the chance to meet new customers and learn how to deal with them, solve problems and do the best I can. But I am still studying as I want to know more about foreign trade.

I would say seize every chance going and step out of your comfort zones.

Source: 30^th September 2012, BBC News by Dhruti Shah

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19464117

Young workers: 'Never forget your dreams' - Part 1 of 2

Although millions of young people globally are searching desperately for a job there are many who have bucked the unemployment trend and have successfully taken their first step on the career ladder.

Here are some stories about youth unemployment around the world which include war, luck, determination and realism surrounding how people succeeded in these tough circumstances, and what advice they would give to others still searching.

Bruno Menzan, 30, human rights consultant, Dakar, Senegal

'Do not get discouraged by failure and keep trying'

I was interviewed for around 10 of the many positions I had applied for. But I think when you fail to be shortlisted for roles, it does make you question your capabilities and skills.

There were also lots of obstacles I had to face. My home country - Ivory Coast - was going through a civil war and so I would be being interviewed over Skype while there were bomb blasts going off in the background. My priority was finding a good job while caring for my daughter. For me it became an issue of survival.

Don't just look for paid roles - volunteer or intern in order to get an insight into a professional environment and structure your CV so that it highlights your accomplishments and talents.

Do not get discouraged by failure and keep trying. Learn from your unsuccessful attempts.

Anthony Kogi, 23, Technical Support, Nairobi, Kenya

'Keep on trying and if you have to settle for an internship, do it to gain experience'

After university I sent out a bunch of applications and dropped off my resume at offices all over Nairobi. I also did a lot of networking.

Although Kenya has a high rate of unemployment, I chose not to give up.

I bumped into my current employer one day and handed him a copy of my curriculum vitae on the off-chance he needed somebody. A day later he called me. I was first an assignment research assistant but am now working in technical support.

This is a small start-up company but it's giving me the experience I need.

I would say keep on trying and even if you have to settle for an internship, do it so that you at least gain experience.

Emilie Prattico, 29, Business Consultant, Paris, France

'Find a strategy that emphasises how interesting and unique your background is'

After a long time spent in academia working on a PhD in philosophy and teaching, I changed direction completely and enrolled in a one-year masters programme at a French business school.

The change turned out to be radical as I have now just started working at a management and strategy consulting firm.

But I had entered the recruiting process many months before my first interview. I met people who worked in the industry at the companies I wanted to work at, friends of friends and alumni from the various international universities I had attended.

That helped me to feel comfortable entering the complicated and arduous process of applying and interviewing.

My advice is to find a strategy that emphasises how interesting and unique your background is.

Farah Syahirah, 26, Economic Analyst, Malaysia

'The job you settled for could be the stepping stone to achieving your dream job'

After studying in the UK, I hoped to enter the field of foreign affairs and diplomacy but then realised that I had no idea about how to get into that line of work in Malaysia.

I still hope to work in foreign affairs but I have come to terms with the fact that not everybody gets their dream job immediately after graduating. My current job teaches me how to track and analyse economic trends so I'm hoping that will help me in the future.

My advice to those looking for a job - sometimes you just need to settle, but never forget your dream.

The job you settled for could be the stepping stone to achieving your dream job. That hope is what forces me to wake up each morning to go to work.

Kristin Cornett, 23, Social Media Analyst, Virginia, USA

'Be stubborn, be determined, be thorough'

After graduation, I spent nine months waitressing until I found a part-time internship opportunity via a family friend contact. I moved to take up the position at the drop of a hat.

I applied all over the world stating I'd be happy to relocate. Many companies never responded despite my follow-up phonecalls and emails.

But I now work in a small team of analysts conducting social media analysis and drafting reports which focus on the Western Africa region.

Persistence is key. Be stubborn, be determined, be thorough. Apply to positions you may not be directly interested in.

As a young jobseeker you are full of so much potential, don't let yourself be lost among the discouraged!

Source: 30^th September 2012, BBC News by Dhruti Shah

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19464117