Does your son or daughter want to go to Uni?

[ConnexionsBerkshire]

Hi I work for Connexions Thames Valley and am conducting some research looking at the type of support that parents may find helpful when their son or daughter is applying to University.

I would really like to get your thoughts on this process and hear about the concerns you have had or the problems you have faced when helping your child make these important decisions. We would also like to get an idea of the kind of help you would expect from a careers adviser and from an online information resource.

We will use this information to help strengthen our services to young people and their families in and around the South East and eventually nationwide.

If you prefer to remain anonymous you can email me at [email protected]

Thank you very much for your time :)

Web: www.connexions-berkshire.org.uk
Twitter: @ConnexionsBerks
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help ... from a careers adviser and from an online information resource

This would be fabulous. Careers advice always seems pants: it was for me back in the day and seems no better now for the DC. DC once filled in a computer questionnaire to find the ideal job. No matter what permutations were keyed in the answer always included 'teacher'

The most helpful thing I would like right now is a crystal ball to see if it is worth stumping up all that money for tuition fees!

Sorry, I'll get me coat hope you get some more sensible comments ...

Thanks for your comments! So am I right in thinking you would like to know what kind of opportunties there are for graduates and in particular, those in the subject your son/daughter has chosen?
CB

?cart before horse?

I want them to choose a career and then, if necess, get the degree. Not blindly walk into fifty grand of debt and then think "d'oh! what do I do now?"

Like unfortunately so many graduates find themselves doing! That's really great thanks so much for taking the time to reply :)

Any more thoughts welcome :)

Several graduates I know took their degrees only to find that the opportunities that were available before they started had disappeared by the time they finished. How can you plan for that?

The graduate schemes in NHS, civil service and most other large employers no longer exist. The only recent graduates I know who are employed are in jobs that don't need a degree.

Good point. In many cases unless the student is training for a specific vocation e.g. medicine, teacher training etc, their degree could lead onto a wide variety of professions. You can't always predict what will happen in the labour market but you can prepare for the unexpected and ensure your skills are transferable. From this year universities and colleges that offer degree courses will be obliged to publish their graduate destination figures to help potential students determine the possibility of gaining employment after their degree which will hopefully ensure students can make well-informed decisions about that particular course or uni.
CB

We had always planned for DS1 to go to uni even though no one else in family has. It was a given that he would
He is now 18 and says he doesn't want to go. He doesn't want the debt and is worried about supporting himself whilst there.
I am disappointed bu t really can't blame him. His subject is music so it would be different if it was medicine or engineering.
We have bought him up with a strong No Debt ethic and we don't have credit cards etc.
Our family income is low and the idea of thousands of pounds of debt is terrifying.
I do not know anyone who isn't subbing their child through uni and we not have he money to do that.

It's a big concern for many people and as these are the first students to ever pay such high fees, parents haven't had the opportunity to save over the years as there was no indication this would happen.

More and more students are going to local Unis and living at home so the only loan they have to get is for the actual course fees - also others are studying part-time and from this year the student loan company is offering loans for part-time study to give students the opportunity of working whilst they study.
CB

What you are describing sounds very like The Good Old Days when youngsters did day-release at the Poly!

This section doesn't get that much traffic. Try posting it again in the Secondary Education section which- despite its name- often has debates about HE.

Oh thanks I will do!

Thanks so much for all your replies, they were really helpful!

CB