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Original poster

2:2 now not a 'good enough' degree?

391 replies

Cortina · 07/07/2010 13:49

I saw a thread, earlier today, I think on AIBU. Someone was cruising for a 2:2 at Uni. They said that this wasn't enough to secure employment and many were agreeing.

In my day, insert old git icon , a 2:2, especially from a well regarded university, was a perfectly respectable degree.

Have things really changed so much?

OP posts:
DeFluffy · 07/07/2010 16:51

only read op so dont punch me but, when i was at uni which was 15 years ago, only a 2i or first would do if you wanted to work for the likes of the magic circle or the big 4. my employer now doesn't take on anyone with less than a 2i and 24 ucas points (on to their graduate scheme i mean).

NorkyButNice · 07/07/2010 16:53

I got a 2ii from Manchester Uni 10 years ago and was VERY lucky to get onto a grad training scheme for an investment bank.

The only reason I did was because I was sponsored through uni by a defence company and had worked for them throughout holidays and for 6 months after graduating - ie plenty of experience.

A couple of years after I started they changed their recruitment guidelines so only a 2i was acceptable, and they only recruit from 8 universities.

GetOrfMoiLand · 07/07/2010 16:53

What's the magic circle (imagines training school with a load of Great Soprendos).

Law or accountancy I presume.

Lonicera · 07/07/2010 16:55

magic circle - certain law firms

mumblechum · 07/07/2010 16:57

Getorf, the Forces are quite an attractive option. DS is planning to be an Army doctor so as long as he gets into medical school (which seems to be the hardest part), then after the first three years the Army will pay his expenses and once qualified he'll go to Sandhurst to do officer training.

(seems like only yesterday dh could hold him in one hand....)

GetOrfMoiLand · 07/07/2010 16:59

Oh well I know bugger all about all those.

I am like cod in her conviction that industry = blast furnaces. I am convinced all law companies are like LA Law/Ally McBeal and everything is really glamorous in a shoulder padded way.

Not like engineering

GetOrfMoiLand · 07/07/2010 17:00

Don't mumblechum you will make me cry.

DD is 6 foot tall now.

She used to be big.

DeFluffy · 07/07/2010 17:00

big 4 pwc, kpmg, ey, dt (accountancy firms)

magic circle - cant remember but the big city law firms.

Lilymaid · 07/07/2010 17:03

It is partly a case of grade inflation and partly the fact that there are so many graduates now and unless you have a work related degree, the easiest way to sort out job applications is by having a requirement of 2.1 or more.
e.g DS has a job which required at least 3 A grade passes at A Level plus a minimum of 2.1 in a degree involving some Maths. Only applicants with degrees from a few highly ranked universities were considered.

DeFluffy · 07/07/2010 17:04

am wondering what to tell dds as they get older. uni was massively important to me andf i got a good degree and a fab graduate job which started my career.

BUT in terms of family friendly id have been better off doing something vocational perhaps or running my own business so i didn't get all the when i try to leave on time (im part time) and constantly have to struggle around admitting yes i have children, yes they're important to me, no i can't work till 1am tonight etc

think being a plasterer / plumber might be much better in terms of work life balance and money and family friendly and you get to run your own business. god im ranting.

GetOrfMoiLand · 07/07/2010 17:06

I often think I would have been better training to be a hairdresser. Could have had my own business and branched out doing nails and spa treatments and all that crap.

I mean look how much they bloody well charge.

OrientCalf · 07/07/2010 17:09

I am doing MA atm (though I have a job in a relevant industry) and have been told by a few people on the course that they are being pipped to the post by people who've been made redundant, possibly in other industries

fair play to them and no company is responsible for hiring recent graduates etc, but it's frustrating for them to hear that you can't get an entry-level job because you don't have enough experience after years of internships and work experience - and these are people with 2:1s and firsts from good universities and a relevant MA

just have to keep plugging away though

babysplotface · 07/07/2010 17:12

sadly it looks like rich kids who can afford MBAs and can also benefit from nepotism will increasingly take all the graduate jobs in the future. Privilege will become more entrenched and social mobility will be a joke.

tartyhighheels · 07/07/2010 17:14

I agree that a 2:2 is not good enough

GetOrfMoiLand · 07/07/2010 17:33

I agree baby.

The thought of a working class kid now becoming a doctor or a barrister is a joke.

You would have had more chance of doing so in the 50s.

Social mobility will be very much reduced. Poor kids will be competing not only with middle class and wealthy UK kdis, but all those coming in from abroad.

GetOrfMoiLand · 07/07/2010 17:33

My last sentence came across BNP - I did not mean it to come out that way. I am all for encouraging foreign students and graduates coming in - but we need to recognise them for teh stiff compeition they are.

msrisotto · 07/07/2010 17:40

"The thought of a working class kid now becoming a doctor or a barrister is a joke."

How so when there are government grants and targets for low income kids in university?

Bonsoir · 07/07/2010 17:44

"they say it is a delicate balancing act between informing the pupils but not terrifying them."

The trouble is that many pupils live terribly pampered lives. They are easily terrified - and their parents frequently don't want to do anything other than wrap their DCs up in cotton wool and play with them.

msrisotto · 07/07/2010 17:47

yeah but you can't get overwhelmed by the competition out there otherwise you'd never do anything.

I always wanted to do a particular career but knew it was incredibly competitive so assumed I wouldn't make the grade so made other plans. It was only meeting my cocky confident DP that encouraged me to go for it and by doing so, I have a chance at least.

Bonsoir · 07/07/2010 17:49

My experience of teenagers is that they are massively underwhelmed by the competition - if they are at the top of their class they think there is nowhere else to go...

frakkit · 07/07/2010 17:50

Because said grants don't cover the cost of uni and the targets are a joke.

msrisotto · 07/07/2010 17:50

Ah, well we're coming from very different view points. I understand your other post more now!

activate · 07/07/2010 17:50

IIii was always an OK degree - but hardly great

GetOrfMoiLand · 07/07/2010 17:54

I don't think the targets do anything concrete to be honest.

How can they? Poorer children have less of a chance of a decent education nowadays due to ridiculous catchment area restrictions and lack of choice.

If a child goes to a sink school they will not be encouraged to go on to do a challenging degree. I don't think I am saying anything controversial in that. If you are poor/working class, unless you have an adult fighting your corner and maximising your opoirtunities you are screwed.

tutu100 · 07/07/2010 17:56

I worked really hard to get my 2.2 at a very highly thought of university. I missed out on a 2.1 by 1% but 7 years on have just about got over that gutted feeling til I opened this thread and found out that my very hard, worked for 2.2 degree is apparently worthless.

Sadly not everyone is a genius.