State of the Nation report: youth joblessness ‘a toxic legacy’

THOUSANDS of young Scots face a bleak future of poverty, joblessness and poor health, a new State of the Nation report has warned.

The number of Scots aged under 25 who are out of work has doubled to 90,000 since 2008, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said.

The report also found that a boy born in the most deprived 10 per cent of Scotland would have a life expectancy of just 68.

That is eight years younger than the national average, and 14 years below boys born in the least deprived parts of the country.

The foundation urged Scottish ministers to take action to help the nation’s poorest.

Julia Unwin, chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “The Scottish Government has powers to do a lot now. They don’t need to wait for constitutional change.

“Routes into work, childcare, training are all things they can affect now. It’s a fiendishly difficult time. We face a decade of destitution unless governments increase what they are doing dramatically.”

She warned high levels of youth unemployment would create a toxic legacy for future generations. “That’s a shocking indictment that we will be paying for for decades,” she said.

The report also highlighted the rise in part-time employment, from 70,000 in 2008, when the economic crisis hit, to 120,000 now.

Health inequalities “are not only stark, but growing”, the report warns. Rates of mortality for heart disease are twice as high in deprived areas, at 100 per 100,000 under-75s, compared with the national average. Cancer mortality rates are 50 per cent higher in poorer areas, at 200 per 100,000.

It is not all bad news, however. Over the past decade, the proportion claiming unemployment benefit in Scotland has fallen from 17 to 15 per cent. Despite still having the highest proportion of claimants at 22 per cent, Glasgow has seen the biggest fall.

However, the bulk of that decrease came between 2002 and 2007, with many areas seeing a slight rise since then.

Scotland’s child poverty rate has dropped 10 per cent in a decade, and is now lower than England and Wales, while pensioner poverty has almost halved. This continued to fall in recent years, with 220,000 children and 120,000 pensioners living in poverty, after housing costs in 2010-11, the most recent figures.

Anne Houston, chief executive of the charity Children 1st, said: “While the figures around child poverty are hopeful, the wider statistics on unemployment for under-25s and life expectancy really are quite stark.

“These issues are likely to be exacerbated by the impending [Westminster] welfare reforms. However, the Scottish Government needs to continue to look at areas where they have authority to see how the pressure on families in Scotland can be ameliorated.”

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, convener of Holyrood’s economy committee, added: “We have huge challenges on health inequalities in Scotland, and more needs to be done to get key messages through.

“Youth unemployment remains a concern, but across the UK things are beginning to look up.”

The Scottish Government insisted Westminster benefit cuts were the biggest threat when it came to poverty and inequality.

A spokesman said: “It is clear the impact of the cuts will extend across Scottish society, with vulnerable groups, women and working families all likely to suffer.”

Source: 21 January 2013, Scotsman.com by Gareth Rose

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/state-of-the-nation-report-youth-joblessness-a-toxic-legacy-1-2748586

Graduates without work experience will be left out in the cold

Many soon-to-be graduates will be left without a job due to lack of work experience, new research suggests. High Fliers’ The Graduate Market in 2013report, released today, declares that of all entry level vacancies available for 2013, over a third will go to those who have already completed internships or work experience for the company.

The toughest fields to get into without having experience are banking and law, it has been revealed. This may well be, but what happens when these internships are so fiercely competitive that they are practically impossible to come across?

In the legal profession, university students have the option to apply to take part in a vacation scheme: a two or three week paid work experience that provides insight – and contacts – in a law firm. However, Jack Denton, co-founder of the research website AllAboutCareers.com, estimates that for approximately 3,150 places on the schemes nationwide, there are more than 12,000 applicants.

Three thousand schemes might seem like a generous amount, but when one considers that most students who secure one work placement also manage to achieve at least one more in another firm, these get swallowed up very quickly by a fairly select bunch.

As former Labour minster Alan Milburn pointed out in his 2009 report, Fair Access to the Professions, law is one of the “most socially exclusive” fields to work in, and firms’ “closed shop mentality” means that connections, and ‘who you know’, is often prioritised above talent. It is unfortunate that this attitude isn’t limited to the legal profession.

So what other options are available to those who haven’t managed to secure this ever-important addition to their CV?

With most core Universities offering hundreds of societies which welcome the participation of anybody and everybody, there is no excuse for not getting involved. It is not, either, impossible to go one step further and assume a volunteer role in the committees of these societies. Invaluable budgeting experience could be gained in the role as treasurer, for example, organisational skills for social secretaries and management skills for presidents.

Students need to make the most of opportunities that are there for them,  before it is too late and all that can be done to beef up the CV is to work tirelessly for free in the hope that one pitiful employer might eventually hire you for, you know, real money.

Or, following Adam Pacitti’s recent example, entry level aspirators could make their own opportunities. This 24-year-old Portsmouth University graduate spent his last £500 on a Camden billboard begging employers to ‘Employ Adam’. Inspired, huh? He is looking for a job in the creative field of television production, so let’s hope someone takes a punt on him soon and ends the unemployed misery of at least one former student.

But it’s not all bad news for the next generation to leave university. The outlook is good for the 2013 graduate job market, with an expected increase of 2.7 per cent. Perhaps that will go some way to reduce the approximate 50 per cent of graduates from last year who are under- or unemployed.

Source: 14 January 2013, New Statesman by Catriona Harvey-Jenner

http://www.newstatesman.com/economics-blog/2013/01/graduates-without-work-experience-will-be-left-out-cold

Students want universities' help for working life

The vast majority of students want universities to help their transition into employment.

This is according to the Great Expectations survey, published today (Thursday 17 January) by GTI Media Research, part of graduate careers specialists Group GTI. More than 2,300 undergraduates from 125 different universities were surveyed for five weeks at the end of 2012.

The vast majority (97%) of the students surveyed fully expect their university to help them develop employability skills. While over a third think their university is mostly responsible for preparing them for the working world.

The survey also found that greater numbers of undergraduates are using their university career service compared to six years ago. The 36% of respondents who had not used the service either said they did not have enough time to or they had not got around to it. Six years ago, the most common reason was that they could not find it.  

While students favour the heavy use of email and internet communication by university careers services, they think social media is poorly utilised.

Chris Phillips, Information and Research Director at GTI Media, says: “With the cost of higher education rocketing and the economy suffering, it’s more important than ever to examine how well universities and the ‘university experience’ prepare students for life after graduation.

“Almost all students surveyed said that developing employability skills was their No.1 aim. The careers service has a big role to play in helping the university give students multiple opportunities to improve the skills needed in a competitive job market.”

Source: 17 January 2013, Ask Grapevine HR

http://www2.askgrapevine.com/news/hr/article/2013-01-17-students-want-universities-help-for-working-life/

SMEs given more support to offer apprenticeships

Small and medium sized businesses will receive more support to offer apprenticeships after the Government today announced plans to enable increased access to funding. Employers will also receive a new level of support from the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS).

Government confirmed an extension of the Apprenticeship Grant for employers of 16-24 year olds to March 2014. The £1,500 grant is available to help businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees take on an apprentice.

The grant funding was initially only available during the 2012/13 financial year, but it has been extended following a positive response from employers. The level of funding available under the grant has also been increased, so eligible employers can claim the grant for up to ten apprentices.

Business secretary, Vince Cable said: "I know it can be a big decision for busy, small companies to take on an apprentice. Employers may be concerned about the time recruitment and training will take, and anxious about how it will work. So the £1,500 grant is a token to acknowledge this and thank employers.

"I hope many more people will take us up on our cash incentive to grow their business, and train up the workforce of the future."

David Way, chief executive of the NAS, said: "We know that many businesses believe Apprenticeships deliver the skills needed for growth so we are delighted AGE 16-24 has been positively received by employers for helping them to do just that.

"Apprenticeships come with a guarantee of quality, giving young people a job with training, and are proven to deliver a significant return on investment, so this really is a win-win initiative for employers."

Way added: "There has never been a better time to recruit an apprentice, so I hope more organisations will look at how they can benefit from this grant over the coming 12 months and reap the rewards of a more motivated, skilled and qualified workforce."

To further support businesses, the NAS has announced a minimum level of support employers can expect from the Service. A new service standard offers an end-to-end commitment by NAS to responsiveness during initial call handling, to analysing need, referral to providers and an after-service follow up review from their dedicated team.

Providers who receive referrals as part of the service from the NAS will by implication also be signing up to the minimum expectations especially in terms of responding promptly to the referred employers, posting information to the apprenticeship vacancies system and in terms of ongoing support that will be monitored by NAS.

Source: 9 January 2013, HR Magazine by Tom Newcombe

http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1075889/smes-support-offer-apprenticeships

Getting on the career ladder in 2013

If you want to make the most of the new year impetus and get onto the career ladder in 2013, here are some tips to help you on your way.

Before you start, know what and why

The single most important preparation for job-search success is to clarify what you're looking for, what you offer and why this particular job role and industry are right for you.

Complete the following statement: "By 2016, I want to be earning my living by doing X. I will be good at it because Y and it is the right job for me because Z."

It really doesn't matter if over the next 12-18 months you change your mind; just adjust your career plans accordingly. The benefit of clarity now is that you have an objective for your search and will be able to prioritise your efforts on the most suitable jobs for you.

Don't start researching vacancies until you are clear about what you want and need from the job that will launch your career, even if you're studying a vocational degree and looking into a specific profession. Consider issues such as: your definition of job satisfaction, location, training opportunities, salary, personal interests, your current skill level and what you definitely don't want to do. If you can't describe for yourself what interests you in the world of work, you won't be able to articulate that to a recruiter or potential employer.

Quality above quantity

Remember, this says "above", it doesn't say "not". Don't be panicked by the economic news into applying for everything and anything. Your health and grades will suffer if you overstretch yourself. Start with your long-term vision and focus your efforts on the right jobs for you. Certainly you'll have to work hard (successful applications usually take days of work), but you'll be working on the right areas.

Differentiate yourself

You've already demonstrated that you're capable of learning and undertaking new tasks – university and school proved that. What potential employers are interested in is what makes you tick? How are you unique and do you describe your unique potential?

Even if you're heading for a technical role that applies your degree, your competencies, such as leadership, problem-solving or collaboration, are still important. In your applications, include examples where you demonstrated these core behaviours, for instance, through volunteering, holiday jobs, work placements or study.

Get organised

Successful applicants are never surprised by deadlines and can always find their notes when required to deliver at a phone interview. Complete applications well within deadlines to give yourself review time; it's astonishing how many people deliver material that has not been proofread, with an hour to go until the deadline.

Try buddying up with someone targeting a different industry and help each other critique applications. Always review any interview or assessment centre immediately afterwards too: take some notes on what went well, what went less well and what you'll learn for your next application. You'll see your interviewing skills and confidence grow as you get more experience. For example, one of my coachees last year decided to dress up for every phone interview. She had all her notes ready on the desk and felt confident in her interview suit. It might sound silly but it put her in the frame of mind for success.

Spread your net wide

While still applying point one, be creative in your jobseeking. SMEs are offering far more graduate entry career development nowadays. Look across the market to see if roles outside the milkround could work for you.

Source: 8 January 2013, The Guardian by Sian Case - a job-search coach and author of Nail That Job, the complete guide for the less–experienced jobseeker.

http://careers.guardian.co.uk/getting-on-career-ladder-2013

Rethink required on graduate training

It’s 25 years, almost to the day, since I started at the Financial Times. “One tip,” confided a more experienced colleague, early on: “Don’t stay more than five years, or you’ll be here for ever.”

The miracle, however, is not that I’m still here but that the graduate training programme is – alongside much larger versions operated by bigger companies, from Accenture to Zurich Insurance.

Such programmes face many threats, however. Companies face accusations that they hire graduate trainees as cheap labour. But the opposite risk worries boardrooms more: that such programmes are a costly investment in all-too-mobile assets. According to one more recent FT trainee, his contemporaries in other schemes regard their apprenticeship with “utter cynicism”, as a way of gaining the imprimatur of, say, a Big Four accountancy firm, before moving on to something trendier. Those who do stay risk becoming the most insular followers of a restrictive management culture – a charge laid against the BBC in a recent review of the missteps that eventually triggered the departure of the broadcaster’s director-general George Entwistle, himself a BBC lifer and former graduate trainee.

When companies are shedding experienced employees, some chief executives may feel it is perverse to go on sucking in ingénues, who think they know everything but in fact can’t locate the stationery cupboard, let alone the corporate strategy. Demand for jobs far exceeds supply and popular employers can use technological tools to attract and screen the best candidates, including proven experts. So why bother applying the cumbersome filter of an official scheme and wasting time and money on a formal training process for novices?

The continuity of some schemes has indeed fluctuated through the financial crisis. In 2009, in the middle of a redundancy programme, UK telecoms company BT suspended some of its campus recruitment to concentrate instead on redeployment of trained staff to the few vacancies available. Goldman Sachs won’t run a formal two-year programme for would-be analysts in investment banking and investment management from this year; it has opted instead to employ college graduates full time on permanent contracts. (The FT took a break from its scheme in 2012, having hired more graduates than usual in previous years, and restarts this year.)

But graduate recruitment and training should be a priority, even in a downturn. It may be unfeasible to expect career-long loyalty from the latest intake, but employers’ investment in graduates will be repaid later. A few may go on to lead the company – as the current chief executives of Munich Re and Barclays have, among others. The rest, even if they leave, could form a diaspora of sympathetic customers and suppliers. There is a reason big graduate recruiters such as Procter & Gamble and McKinsey cultivate alumni networks.

Meanwhile, what looks like inexperience should be read as fresh thinking. Younger staff may hold the key to technological change and innovation. Phil Clarke, chief executive of Tesco (and another former trainee), has a 25-year-old staff member in his office, to provide him with a youthful perspective.

It is, however, no longer realistic to expect these advantages to spring from traditional programmes of general management training – what Gordon Chesterman, director of Cambridge university’s career service calls “Cook’s tours” of different departments. In line with the more specialised nature of business, companies are seeking out recruits with affinity for specialist areas and tailoring programmes to attract promising candidates who have, in Mr Chesterman’s words, been “learning about logistics from the age of 12”. Universities also find companies are fishing for younger candidates, hooking students who have proved themselves on company internships before their final year.

One further element is essential. Companies that wish to attract and retain skilled staff must now apply the same flexible thinking and close attention they focus on recent graduates to employees entering the last quarter-century of their careers. I’ll be surprised if I’m still working here in my 70s, despite my colleague’s 1988 forecast. But I’ll almost certainly be working somewhere and I hope some future employer will be as committed to training me in my 50s and 60s – and I as committed to being trained – as the FT was when I joined it, aged 23.

Source: 7 January 2013, Financial Times by Andrew Hill

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b6fded90-4ab2-11e2-9650-00144feab49a.html#axzz2HNiF0pcE

Pearson to close apprenticeship unit putting 500 jobs at risk

The media and education group, which also owns publisher Penguin Books, said that changes to the way apprenticeship schemes are funded had had a “radical” impact on demand for the courses offered by Pearson in Practice, which are tailored to specific industries and each last between three months and a year.

Around 5,000 apprentices signed up to the schemes will be farmed out to other providers, and around 500 staff, largely based in Nottingham, Manchester and Banbury, have been put into consultation over their jobs.

Pearson paid £95m for Pearson in Practice, then called Melorio, but is expected to take a £120m hit from the closure of the business.

John Fallon, who took over as chief executive of Pearson at the start of this year, said: “We very much regret the decision to plan for closure but we believe we have explored and exhausted all alternatives.”

The company said in October that it would put Pearson in Practice under review because of the changes to the industry.

For a long time, companies hiring apprentices were effectively forced to use third-party providers like Pearson in Practice in order to secure Government funding. However, they are now allowed to bid for funding for an apprenticeship scheme and use that money to pay a third-party company to provide the training, or organise the training themselves.

The change in policy was introduced in a pilot scheme last year and is expected to be formalised shortly.

Pearson is in talks with further education colleges to take on some of Pearson in Practice’s assets, as well as its students.

Separately, Pearson has denied a report in the South China Morning Post that the company has started sounding out potential buyers in China to buy the Financial Times.

Speculation that the group will sell the newspaper has stepped up a gear since Mr Fallon’s predecessor, Dame Marjorie Scardino, announced last year that she would be stepping down.

The group has been clear that it wants to focus on its fast-growing education business, but the Financial Times muddies the waters for investors.

The newspaper is thought to be worth around £1bn, but could go for as much as double that as a trophy asset, despite its falling readership.

Source: 7 January 2013, The Telegraph by Katherine Rushton, Media, Telecoms and Technology Editor

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/9785531/Pearson-to-close-apprenticeship-unit-putting-500-jobs-at-risk.html

Britain's qualification spiral is beginning to unravel

Is our long love affair with education coming to an end? In a post-Christmas announcement that went largely unreported, Matthew Hancock, the skills minister, said non-graduates will be able to qualify, through apprenticeships, as lawyers, accountants, and chartered engineers. It marks a rare reversal of a century-old trend: for longer and longer periods of full-time education to be required from anyone aspiring to a professional career (defined in the broadest sense to include occupations such as journalism, publishing and management consultancy that aren't, strictly speaking, professions). It has been called "the diploma disease" or "the qualification spiral".

We take it as axiomatic that the longer you stay in school and university, the better you'll do in life. Sixty years ago you could still enter most professional jobs – in law, management, finance, the civil service, engineering, surveying, nursing, midwifery, and so on – with the equivalent of five GCSEs at grade A* to C, sometimes less. Since then, employers and professional bodies have, by stages, raised the requirements: to one A-level, then two A-levels, then a degree. Now, increasingly, postgraduate study is needed before a young person starts work.

Education is regarded as an unmitigated good, of benefit to society, the economy and the individual. More means better, we think. In many respects, that is true: if we are a more tolerant, more inclusive society than we were 50 years ago, that is largely because most of us are better educated. But we should look more closely at how the demand for ever higher pre-career qualifications has affected professional and managerial competence, the educational experience and, above all, social mobility.

Take, first the demand for higher general qualifications: the batch of GCSEs and A-levels or a degree without which most employers won't look at a job application. These credentials carry little or no information about knowledge and skills that may be of relevance to a particular career. They are sifting devices, allowing employers to exclude those they perceive as unintelligent or lazy. They create, in students, an instrumental attitude to education. Subjects are studied and examinations taken, not because of enthusiasm for history, chemistry or German literature, but because they are required if the student is to progress.

Moreover, because children from affluent homes do better academically, the requirements stop many from poor homes getting even a foothold in a professional or managerial career. The paths that once took 16 year-old school-leavers from shopfloor to boardroom or from copyboy to newspaper editor are blocked. Journalists and broadcasters born in 1958 typically grew up in families where income was only 5.5% above average, against 42.4% above average for those born in 1970. That is the most dramatic example of a pattern evident across nearly all professions. Look no further than the rise of what Americans call "credentialism" for an explanation. Examination-based credentials – introduced to guarantee that merit, not birth or social connection, determined who got the top jobs – now act as barriers to social mobility. Solutions usually focus on giving disadvantaged children a better shot at acquiring qualifications. Almost nobody considers how the qualifications themselves may be at fault.

As more employers and professions aspired to "graduate entry" status, universities developed degree courses – in business, accountancy, sports management, nursing, journalism, for instance – that purport to cover knowledge and skills directly relevant to careers. They allow students to lop a year or two off the period of full-time education before they actually start earning.

But if such courses are to escape the "Mickey Mouse" category, they must maximise academic content and marginalise mundane practical skills. A "vocational" course's academic acceptability is in inverse proportion to the extent to which it teaches anything necessary for doing a job. The most quoted example is nursing, the shortcomings of which are highlighted again this week in a report on patient deaths at the Mid-Staffordshire hospital trust. As Ilora Findlay, professor of palliative medicine at Cardiff University, has put it, "a nurse can graduate without being able ... to apply the scientific basis of illness to real patients or respecting the importance of hands-on care". Textbooks take priority over bedpans.

We have reached a situation where, for many, full-time education does not end and work begin until their mid-20s. We then accept people as competent doctors, accountants, engineers, and so on, for the next 40 years. Does this make any sense in a fast-changing world? Why do we cram so much education into the first third of the average lifespan, and offer so little of it in the remaining two thirds? Why do we make it difficult for people to attempt a mid-life switch or simply take a break, whether to put right a mistaken career choice or to alleviate boredom? Given our approach to education and training, is it surprising that so many institutions – from banks to hospitals – seem beset by disasters, exposing incompetence at all levels?

Some careers, such as medicine, may always require long periods of initial training. But in most, we may get higher levels of professional competence and job satisfaction – alongside increased social mobility and an even better educated society – if we swapped a few years of initial full-time education for more apprentice-style training, and followed that with short periods of full-time education at seven-yearly intervals throughout life. Hancock's announcement is only a tiny step in that direction, but a welcome one nonetheless.

Source: 8 January 2013, The Guardian by Peter Wilby

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/08/qualification-spiral-is-unravelling

Coalition review focuses on universities' economic role

The coalition government has praised universities as "the driving force behind our increasingly high-tech, knowledge-based economy" in its mid-term review.

Universities and further education were given a page and a half in the 46-page review, published today after being launched by Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

The document, titled The Coalition: together in the national interest, offers little in the way of fresh policy directions for higher education. The two innovations it identifies as future priorities - the uncapping of recruitment for high-grade students and Key Information Sets - are already well underway.

However, universities are likely to be pleased that the review assigns them a central role in the economy, echoing recent comments by George Osborne, the chancellor.

"For years, Britain has undervalued both the academic and technical skills a modern economy needs," the review document says. "This government is determined to rectify both defects."

It continues: "We are willing to take the tough decisions needed to ensure that our universities thrive. We value them for their intrinsic, as well as their economic, worth: as seats of learning and research dedicated to increasing the sum of human knowledge and understanding, and as centres of innovation and invention, the driving force behind our increasingly high-tech, knowledge-based economy."

The review also recaps funding and student finance changes. "We have put universities on a secure and sustainable financial footing by increasing the maximum tuition fee to £9,000, and backed this with income-contingent loans so that no first-time students need to contribute to their tuition costs upfront," it says.

In a section on the future, the review says: "We will give our world class universities more freedom to compete by giving them more control over the number of highly qualified students they can admit, and we will require the publication of key outcome information - such as destinations, wage levels and student satisfaction - to guide applicants' university choices."

And on research, it says: "We will invest an additional £920 million in UK science research infrastructure, as set out in the Autumn Statement."

Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg say in their foreword to the review: "Whether it is reducing the deficit, rebalancing the economy, regulating the banks, tackling climate change, modernising our energy and transport infrastructure, putting our universities on a sustainable financial footing or dealing with the challenges of an ageing population and reforming public sector pensions, we have consistently chosen to do what is right over what is easy or popular; what is in our country's long-term interest over our parties' short-term interest."

Source: 7 January 2013, Times Higher Education by John Morgan

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=422305&c=1

Do job-hunting stunts ever lead to work?

We have seen people do it with T-shirts, songs, viral marketing campaigns and endless rounds of sandwich-boards. Now, 24-year-old media production graduate Adam Pacitti is the toast of the internet – and all over the news – after he rented a large poster site in London to advertise himself for work. "I spent my last £500 on this billboard," the billboard says. "Please give me a job."

You have to admire Pacitti's chutzpah, but do stunts like this work? Does he have a job yet? "I don't," he says. "But a lot of companies are expressing interest." How many? "At least 50. They're saying they like what I've done. They like my initiative. They all just want to meet up and see where they can take things … There's a couple of production companies who are talking about roles I'd be really interested in."

He has certainly gone about this like a pro, working in an amusement arcade all summer to save the money, then spending two months preparing the campaign. In the ad itself, he also had the sense to trim the truth a little bit. "The billboard was actually £530 plus VAT," he admits, "but that didn't sound very catchy." The snootily inclined might point out that Pacitti has done this sort of thing before, having scored another viral hit in 2008 with his quest to find The Girl of my Dreams. In the eyes of a media boss, however, that surely makes him more impressive.

Indeed the billboard tactic has a record of success. Last May, Bennett Olson got a job in marketing after buying $300 worth of ad space on a revolving site in Minneapolis. The summer before, it was Féilim Mac An Iomaire, who got a job with Paddy Power after he rented a site in Dublin. In 2010, an unemployed marketing executive called Pasha Stocking spent $2,000 on a billboard in Bridgeport Connecticut, imploring passersby to "Hire me!" In the event, no one needed to, because she ended up launching her own PR agency.

More subtly, in the summer of 2010, Alec Brownstein found work as an advertising copywriter using a scheme he called the Google Job Experiment. For $6, Brownstein bought online advertising that would show a message from him whenever one of New York's leading creative directors entered their own name into Google. Around the same time, a young actor, Elyse Porterfield, staged a hugely successful hoax, pretending to resign from her job in a blaze of glory, and in the process drummed up a number of real ones.

People using old-fashioned sandwich boards to find jobs outside media or marketing, however, have a more mixed record. Among recent examples, Jason Fruen, David Rowe, Giles Metcalfe and James Elgeti all did find work. Yet there is no sign of any good news about Michael Adlington, Robin Norton or Debi Wendes, which points to a depressing trend. Everybody in the first group was in their 20s or 30s; everybody in the second was in their 40s or 50s.

The rules, then, seem simple. If you're going to try a trick like this, be young, be inventive, aim for a job that involves attention-seeking – and if it works, be ready. "I've never been so stressed in my life," Pacitti says. "So many people are contacting me, and I can't get back quick enough!"

Source: 7 January 2013, The Guardian by Leo Benedictus

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/shortcuts/2013/jan/07/do-job-hunting-stunts-work

Students' dreams of PhDs dashed as they face harsh reality of funding gap

When Em Johnson received a letter offering her a place on an MA course in social work at London Metropolitan university, she was thrilled. Caring for others was what she wanted to do. Sitting down at the kitchen table examining the costs of studying, however, it dawned on her: this vital step towards the job she yearned to do was impossible. The numbers did not add up. "It was the rent. I simply could not afford to live."

Today, seven years later, Johnson, 28, who lives in Hanwell, west London, with her husband and two-year-old son, is a substance misuse worker at a GP's surgery. She still yearns to join her chosen profession, but it still isn't possible. "The social work course is essentially a nine-to-five job with no payment, plus all the academic side. I had worked throughout my undergraduate degree to get by, but even that was not possible if I wanted to do this postgraduate course," she said.

"We have done everything in the right order: a mortgage at 22, married at 23, we don't live an extravagant lifestyle – but I just can't make this next step to do the job I want."

Johnson's story is typical of thousands who, on completion of their undergraduate degrees, need to develop their skills to take the next step, be it in a profession or academia, but cannot because they are not from wealthy families, do not have easy access to credit or cannot find a sponsor.

The problem itself is not new. But what is troubling many is its growing scale and seriousness, prompting vice chancellors from leading universities across the UK to talk of a looming "catastrophe" both for social mobility and the British economy.

When the undergraduate system was reformed, in line with the recommendations of former BP chief executive Lord Browne, to allow universities to charge up to £9,000 a year for courses, postgraduate course fees quietly followed to make up for the huge cut in finance from central government for teaching. The latest figures show an 11% fee increase this year – and the universities predict that will be just the start.

Facing huge financial pressures, research councils – the public bodies that award grants for academic research – have completely withdrawn support for people taking standalone taught master's degrees (usually one-year courses that do not form part of a PhD).

Meanwhile, last year banks agreed to give professional and career development loans to fewer than half (44%) of the 22,716 people who applied, and then only at onerous interest rates.

Inevitably, the latest figures show that there were over 8,000 fewer UK students taking up taught postgraduate courses in 2010-11 than the year before, a 4.3% contraction. This year's figures, due out on Thursday, are expected to be worse still.

But it is in a year and a half that the true postgraduate crisis looms, senior academics say. Then it will be the turn of the students loaded with debts from the new system to decide whether they can afford to do more studying.

Students from wealthy backgrounds may be able to afford to study the subjects they need to grab the best jobs and the biggest salaries. Foreign students, particularly from China and Brazil, are flocking to the UK for postgraduate courses – often supported by their governments, who spy a chance to grab a top-class education without establishing their own expensive institutions. But for the majority of home UK students, this world-class education may be out of reach.

Now, 11 leaders of universities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have condemned the existence of a "policy vacuum" where there should be a funding model for would-be postgraduate students, as Professor Simon Gaskell, the vice chancellor of Queen Mary, University of London, puts it.

The absence of such a scheme for "an advanced economy that needs high level technical skills and workforce flexibility" is a "catastrophe", according to Professor Don Nutbeam of Southampton University, or, in the words of Professor Jules Pretty, deputy vice-chancellor at Essex university, a "ticking timebomb".

The situation is less serious in Northern Ireland and Scotland than England and Wales. In Scotland, the number of UK students undertaking taught postgraduate courses at Edinburgh University is not growing as well as the vice chancellor, Sir Tim O'Shea, would like, but students will not face the same debt as those south of the border because fees have not trebled. In Northern Ireland, the executive has pumped money into universities as an economic stimulus and the institutions are using the cash to fund research degrees. But the vice chancellor at Queen's University, Belfast, Professor Sir Peter Gregson, says the lack of a funding model for students who need to do a taught master's course also worries him.

The problem demands action, according to Professor Thomas Docherty of Warwick University, who sits on the steering committee of a newly formed campaign group, the Council for the Defence of British Universities. "There is a massive problem already emerging here and we are very concerned by it," he said. "Postgraduate funding has been totally neglected. It is almost as if the government thinks the problem will go away, will sort itself out."

The council, whose members include Lord Bragg, Sir David Attenborough and Professor Richard Dawkins, believes it is one of the biggest issues facing the country and is meeting this month to find a solution. But the academics who are now voicing their fears – from Edinburgh to Exeter and Belfast to East London – know that it will be the government that needs to take the bull by the horns. "We have got a year and a half to get this right before this cohort, who are paying £9,000 in undergraduate fees, come through to make a decision on postgraduate study," Pretty said. "We need some sort of loan system by then, otherwise the home market is likely to evaporate."

"We are getting very nervous as it gets closer and closer," admitted Professor Trevor McMillan, pro-vice-chancellor for research at Lancaster university. Professor Robert Allison, vice-chancellor at Loughborough university, added: "People are sort of ducking the issue. We need someone to say that we are going to solve this."

Source: 5 January 2013, The Observer by Daniel Boffey – Policy Editor

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jan/05/studentsphds-reality-funding-gap

School leavers to join civil service on fast-track apprenticeship scheme

Bright school leavers will soon be able apply to become apprentice civil servants under a scheme to be launched on Monday by the Cabinet Office and civil service.

The first 100 apprentices, aged 18 to 21, will be recruited in April, and will learn on the job in government departments from September 2013 for at least the next two years.

The Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude and the head of the civil service, Sir Bob Kerslake, will announce they plan to increase the number of places available to 500 a year, matching the fast-track scheme already in place for university graduates.

. A department spokesman said the scheme would offer the chance of a permanent career. "The apprenticeships will be advertised as permanent opportunities to join the Civil Service and, subject to satisfactory performance they are guaranteed to be a civil servant once it is over," he said.

The scheme is being launched at a time when departments are shedding thousands of civil servants, with many more to come under cutbacks coming down the line. At the Department for Education alone, the education secretary, Michael Gove, is planning to cut 1,000 of almost 4,000 civil servants.

Further details of the scheme, including the grades expected of applicants and which departments they may be heading for, will be announced later, but in a statement the government says: "The scheme will strengthen the civil service with talented young people who have chosen not to go to university."

Maude said: "We are working to reform the civil service, building on its strengths while addressing its weaknesses. Like any big organisation, the success of the civil service depends on its staff. It already employs some of Britain's best and brightest and we have one of the most popular graduate schemes. But we are in a global race and we need to attract more of the best talent, including those who have chosen not to pursue higher education."

Kerslake, possibly apprehensive that the prospect of going straight into the civil service might not look instantly alluring to school leavers, said a recent survey showed 89% of staff were interested in their work.

"Our graduate fast-stream programme is consistently ranked in the Times top 100 graduate employers and our ambition is for this civil service fast-track apprenticeship scheme to have the same credibility and status. Indeed, the scheme would place the civil service amongst the best in the private sector.

"We are committed to giving more young people a chance to work at the heart of government and to receive first-class training. Just because someone hasn't been to university doesn't mean they shouldn't have a bright career ahead of them."

Source: 7 January 2013, The Guardian by Maev Kennedy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jan/07/school-leavers-civil-service-apprentices

David Cameron Wants Young Entrepreneurs To 'Create The Next Google'

David Cameron has told young entrepreneurs he wants to encourage new businesses in the hope Britain can create the next Amazon or Google.

The Prime Minister met young people involved in starting their own firms on a visit to the University of Central Lancashire in Preston.

The event came as it was announced funding for the government's Start-Up Loans scheme was being boosted by £30m to £110m over three years.

It means thousands more young people could get Dragons' Den-style government-backed loans to help them turn business ideas into reality.

Cameron was accompanied on his visit by James Caan, one of the Dragons in the BBC show and chairman of the scheme.

During a question and answer session, the Prime Minister said some of the world's biggest brands did not even exist just a decade ago.

But Britain's strength in having English as the international business language, and its IT sector and universities, allied to encouraging entrepreneurs meant it had the ingredients for success.

"There's absolutely no reason why Britain can't create the next Google, the next Amazon, the next Facebook," he said.

"These are tough times I know, but we have to do everything we can to encourage that private sector growth, that small business growth."

The government says it is on target to issue more than 2,500 loans by March - despite criticism that only a few hundred worth £1.5m have been finalised since the scheme was formally launched last autumn.

Some 3,000 people are said to have registered an interest in the money and mentoring packages, which are only available in England and are being delivered through charities such as the Prince's Trust.

Those whose business plans are deemed "robust" typically receive £2,500, which can be repaid over five years at a relatively low rate of interest.

Caan said: "There has been a major shift in the way business is viewed by the public, and entrepreneurs are now seen as creative and exciting role models.

"I am delighted to see that more and more young people are now looking to set up their own business.

"It is only with this renewed focus on youth entrepreneurship that we will create more jobs and wealth and see the economy flourish once again."

But Labour said the scheme was not doing enough.

Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said: "With our economy flat-lining, it's essential that initiatives like the Start-Up Loans scheme are delivered effectively if they are to provide real opportunities for our young entrepreneurs.

"That's why it was disappointing that figures released at the end of last year suggested delivery of this scheme, like so many others from this government, was not living up to David Cameron's rhetoric."

John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "Finance continues to be hard to get for people that want to set up a business, so it is good news that more funding is now available to more people.

"However, in some cases £2,500 may not get a business very far so we would call for a more flexible approach where a start-up could apply for more if needed."

Source: 4 January 2013, Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/04/david-cameron-young-entrepreneurs-google-amazon_n_2407287.html?utm_hp_ref=uk-universities-education

University applications down by 6%

The organisation representing British universities has expressed concern about the potential impact of tuition fees after figures showed a drop of more than 6% in student applications with less than a month to go before the deadline for 2013 applications.

Data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) showed there were 265,784 university applications by UK-based candidates up to 17 December, 6.3% down on the parallel period in the admissions cycle the year before. While this is less than the 8.4% year-on-year fall seen in earlier Ucas figures, released in mid-November, the looming January deadline makes it ever more likely that the total 2013 applicant figure will see a second sizeable fall following the introduction of annual fees of up to £9,000.

Nicola Dandridge, the chief executive of Universities UK, stressed that the situation could change over the next few weeks, noting that 2012 saw a sudden rush of January applications. She said: "However, we must be concerned about any drops in the numbers applying to university and in particular, we must look closely at how the increase in graduate contributions in England may be affecting the decisions of prospective students. However, the December figures show a drop in numbers across the UK, suggesting that it is not solely a question of tuition fees in England putting students off from applying."

A breakdown of the Ucas figures to mid-December shows a 6.5% fall for applicants in England and 11.7% for those in Wales, with smaller drops of 3.9% and 0.5% for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. Scottish students at home institutions pay no fees, while those from Northern Ireland have fees capped to £3,575 for Northern Irish universities.

Dandridge added: "Going to university can transform lives, increase the chances of getting a job and increase your salary. No one should be put off applying to university because of worries about finance."

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, contrasted the figures with comments by the universities minister, David Willetts, that institutions should do more to target male applicants from poorer white families. She said: "Unless this government makes access to higher education a realistic and genuine possibility for young people from less privileged backgrounds, his concern for white, working-class boys will be just empty rhetoric."

A spokeswoman for Willetts's department said: "It is too early to form a definitive picture about university applications for the 2013/14 academic year. Traditionally fewer than 50% of applicants have submitted their applications by this point in the cycle.

"It is important that no one is put off applying to university because they do not have information about the student support available to them. Most new students will not pay upfront, there will be more financial support for those from poorer families and everyone will make lower loan repayments than they do now once they are in well paid jobs."

Source: 3 January 2013, The Guardian by Peter Walker

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jan/03/university-applications-down-6percent

Universities should set up 'summer schools' to help working class children

The summer schools could be targeted at schools “that aren’t sending people to university”, David Willetts said.

In an interview on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, said: “There have been summer schools for a long time.

“But I want to see real summer schools which aren’t just a visit for an afternoon which involve targeting the schools that aren’t sending people to university and saying – send you kids to this university for two or three summers.

“They can work in the labs, they can have some mentoring from current students, then they can raise their performance and get to universities – that kind of stuff.”

He said universities should not be used as “instruments of class war”, but could offer conditional offers to working class children who come to the summer schools.

He said: “I don’t believe in class war and I certainly don’t believe in universities as an instrument for class war.

“I believe that what universities should look at is merit and potential – what they should look at is who can best achieve, who can benefit from coming to university, and in the kind of programmes I described.

“When the universities have got to know a youngster, when they’ve seen them by working with them, perhaps from the age of 15 or 16, then sometimes they make what in the past we used to call ‘conditional offers’ - they’ll say, if you carry on turning up at our summer schools, visiting our university labs, then we’ll make you an offer with the following A-Level grades, but those are ultimately, those offers, who they accept, who they admit, are for universities to decide based on their assessment and potential.

“What I want to see, this extra hundreds of millions of pounds that’s coming into university, which thanks to our reforms – and of course students don’t pay up front, I want to see that used as effectively as possible, because there are groups that are underperforming, there is a shocking waste of talent by some young people who could ally benefit from going to university but aren’t going there.”

Source: 3 January 2013, The Telegraph by Christopher Hope - Senior Political Correspondent

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9777615/Universities-should-set-up-summer-schools-to-help-working-class-children.html

University applications fall: 'some talented young people choose not to go'

As the number of university applications drops by 18,000 in a year, Richard Irwin, Head of Student Recruitment at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, says there are many opportunities for those who choose not to pursue higher education.

Figures show that demand for higher education is down by 6.3 per cent amid a continuing backlash over fees of up to £9,000-a-year.

It emerged that 265,730 British students had applied for university places by mid-December – the lowest number since the data was first collated in 2008/9.

The figures – published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service – relate to courses starting in autumn this year and are likely to reignite the debate over higher fees.

Overall, numbers are down by more than 41,000 – 13 per cent – compared with two years ago before the introduction of the new student finance regime.

Richard Irwin from Pricewaterhouse Coopers says it makes sense for firms to offer opportunities to those who have chosen not to go to university, as well as to graduates.

"For us, it's about offering a range of opportunities to young people, whatever the choices they make as they come through their academic careers," he said.

"Some talented young people may choose not to go to university for whatever reason and we'll be in a great place if we can offer a compelling opportunity for them to join our firm."

Source: 3 January 2013, The Telegraph – University Education

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9779178/University-applications-fall-some-talented-young-people-choose-not-to-go.html

David Willetts: Why higher education is getting better by degrees

A lot has happened since Parliament agreed to increase the student fees to £9,000 in December 2010. At the time, we argued that this controversial decision was necessary because it was preferable to the main alternatives – significantly reducing student places or funding each place inadequately. That remains true. But the first students within the new system have recently completed their first term of study, so it is a good moment to take stock.

The main method for funding undergraduates is no longer grants from a centralised funding agency but taxpayer-backed student loans. No eligible person has to pay university tuition fees upfront; they pay back only once they are earning more than £21,000, as graduates through the tax system. This system ensures our universities are well-funded. We predict the total income for higher education institutions for teaching home and EU students will increase from £8bn in 2012/13 to £9.1bn in 2014/15.

As part of the new system, we have also strengthened student choice. In the past, universities were told exactly how many students to take, with penalties for over-recruitment or under-recruitment. We have liberalised student number controls so that universities can accept as many high-grade students as they can attract. One of my new year resolutions for 2013 is to give universities even more flexibility over their numbers.

Some critics claim our funding mechanisms ignore the public benefits of higher education. We do recognise the wider social and economic benefits of having more graduates. However, our reforms have just shifted the balance, so that now graduates make a greater contribution to the costs of their own education and taxpayers pay less. According to the OECD, our reforms shift from taxpayers covering 60 per cent of the costs and graduates 40 per cent, to taxpayers paying 40 per cent and graduates 60 per cent.

There is more support for students and graduates, too. We have increased maintenance support, made up of non-repayable grants and repayable loans. We have introduced a more progressive repayment system that encompasses lower monthly repayments than under the previous system.

And we have retained direct public support for subjects that are either more expensive to teach (such as sciences, engineering and medicine) or especially vulnerable (such as modern languages, after the last government's decision to reduce language teaching in schools).

The result, according to Ucas, is that application rates for people from disadvantaged backgrounds have held up well, or even increased. Nonetheless, there was a decline in the total number of new applications for higher education in 2012/13 and this fed through to a decline in overall enrolments, too. I would rather this had not happened, but the fall is comparable to that of 2006 when fees were last raised. Moreover, the key factor seems to have been a drop in the number of people taking a gap year as a means to avoid the higher fees. This meant more people enrolling at university in 2011 and fewer in 2012, which exaggerates the year-on-year effect.

The application data for 2012/13 include other information that is a challenge for the whole education system. There are now more women who enter university each year than there are men who submit a Ucas form. That marks a tremendous achievement for women, who were in a minority among undergraduates as recently as the 1990s. But it is also the culmination of a decades-old trend in our education system which seems to make it harder for boys and men to face down the obstacles in the way of learning. That is a challenge for all policymakers.

The Ucas cycle for entry in 2013 is now well under way. Many people will have spent part of their Christmas break completing a Ucas form or helping someone else complete theirs. The initial deadline for some courses – those at Oxbridge and in medicine and veterinary science – has already passed and the numbers are slightly up on 2012/13. But provisional data for other courses show a further decline. This cannot be due directly to England's tuition fees, as the fall has occurred in all four nations of the UK, but it shows there are no grounds for complacency.

One reason for a delay in the submission of Ucas forms may be the massive improvements we have made in the information available for prospective students. This is likely to lengthen the decision-making process on what and where to study. Previously, prospective students would rely on friends and family to discover a university's reputation. Middle-class families with a history of higher education were able to negotiate that system best, but even their information was often out of date or based on a hunch rather than evidence.

That is why we launched the Key Information Set in October. It provides 17 core pieces of information on 31,000 higher education courses and is one of our reforms of which I am most proud. The data includes the costs of studying, student satisfaction and employment outcomes and is available for use on others' websites too. The official websitee, unistats.direct.gov.uk, has received nearly 150,000 visitors, alone.

To complement this, we have been running a student finance tour that puts recent graduates into schools and colleges to explain how the student finance system works. But information challenges remain, which we are determined to tackle during 2013 – working with the Office for Fair Access and universities themselves. One target is parents, who reportedly understand the details of the student finance system less well than their children.

Another target needs to be prospective part-time learners, as we have extended tuition loans to part-time students on the same basis as full-time ones for the first time. This under-rated change rights an ancient wrong, and delivers the extra support for part-time learners that Robbins, Dearing and Browne agreed was important.

But it is not only the journey to university that matters. What happens when you get there is even more important. The National Student Survey shows most students enjoy high-quality teaching, although some are less satisfied with assessment and feedback, and in some cases the teaching experience has just not been good enough. The challenges on teaching are not universal but they are serious.

Our universities rightly appear at the top of the world's league tables but these tend to be weighted towards research rather than teaching. Students are not straightforward consumers and going to university is not like buying a service. But they deserve the same protections as other consumers and, ultimately, the framework of consumer protections can apply to education the same as anything else. I am pleased to see the National Union of Students working with the Consumers' Association on their popular new website university.which.co.uk.

Our goal is to ensure the incentives to deliver world-class teaching become as strong as the incentives to deliver world-class research. The greatest strength of our university sector is its autonomy – one recent survey found we have the most autonomous universities in Europe. So the way to make universities more responsive is not through diktat but through liberalising the whole system. That way, student-focused institutions will thrive and others will be forced to up their game.

We also need to give more real choice to students by ensuring the sector is more diverse. During 2013, we have allowed the first for-profit university, given permission for 10 smaller specialist university colleges to upgrade to full university status and awarded degree-awarding powers to a small number of proven institutions. We hope this is just the start and that more diversity and choice will drive improvements through the sector as a whole.

The UK is relatively well placed to help satisfy the growing demand for higher education across the world, there is no cap on the number of international students who can come and study here. But as higher education becomes more global, we need to do more to improve access to UK institutions for people who have no intention of coming to the UK. The Open University is working with a range of other leading universities to launch the UK's first massive open online course in early 2013, which will compete with those already in existence in the USA. I hope there will be other new initiatives that deliver accessible higher education, that help deliver the best match between students and institutions and which maintain the world-class status of our higher education sector.

Source: 2 January 2013, The Independent by David Willets

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/david-willetts-why-higher-education-is-getting-better-by-degrees-8435937.html