Degrees which are in demand, good graduate schemes etc.

[jennylamb1]

Wondering which university degrees lead into good careers. My son is keen on history and geography, however is also getting good reports for science, although he is not super keen on maths. We have been encouraged to look at 6th form colleges options as part of supporting him in choosing his GCSEs. A local 6th form college strongly recommends taking A level maths if choosing a physics A level which I'm not sure he'll enjoy. He loves history but apart from generic 'any degree' graduate schemes it doesn't seem to lead him directly into a job. Given the cost of going through university we are keen to know a bit more about potential post-graduation destinations.

I suggest @RantyAnty looks at employability stats for geography graduates. They will find that geog grads are in high demand across a wide range of professions and the various aspects of the public sector. An ignorant comment.

It’s not true to say many humanities grads are in high demand. They have to compete for jobs. There are plenty of not great humanities grads that don’t get grad work. That’s because they need more than a degree! It’s true to say good humanities grads that meet employer requirements will get a grad job.

My dc went to crap universities.

Ones a lecturer at Oxford
One works in the national media
One in civil service.

All went to fairly bog standard new uni.

It’s what you do post degree that counts.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

What kind of things make the most difference post degree?

I vaguely remember reading a summary of research that came to the same conclusion, saying that the first 3 years after your degree are the most important for your career overall.

Genuinely interested & this is the kind of info that not everyone has at their disposal & should know about. TIA

What made the difference for 2 was doing a really good MA. One went into a PhD and now is a lecturer. The other did a really well regarded MA which led directly into a job.

The other one did just a bog standard degree and just went into the civil service and worked his way up.

None of the places after their degree cared where’d they’d done their degree. It was after that counted.

I sort of look at all the red brick stuff a bit bemused. All kids mature at different paces. Those who hit peak performance at 18 go to red bricks. But those that don’t do it later. In a different way.

Actually I’ve. Just remembered. One of them went to a crap uni to do his MA. Then did a PhD. He’s the lecturer😂

All this crap about red bricks red bricks. They just reached their peak later. As l said no one seemed to care where they’d done their degree. When applying for an MA it seems all degrees are equal as long as you have a 2:1

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Thanks, that's interesting. And well done to your kids, glad they found the right path/jobs for them!

I was going to ask if they all got firsts, because I guess that can make a difference too, regardless of uni ranking. Then you mentioned 2:1 for MAs.

I guess the problem with postgrad for some students will be costs, unless there's extra funding, bursaries etc. Such as Gov / NHS funds for AHPs, which have been cut in the past few years.

@DuskyBlueDepartingLight I’m not sure your assumptions are correct. It is not seen as anything that special to get a first from some unis because unis are not all equal. Some are competitive (very) and some are bums on seats and are ok with 2 A levels. Or three CCC or lower. A first from
one of these really won’t equate with a 2:1 from Oxbridge or similar. The syllabus, depth of work, speed of work and self directed learning tend to me much more developed at the higher tariff unis.

Some of the info above doesn’t really stack up either. Many people can get a masters. They can even get a PhD, but are they actually the brightest or just good at what they are interested in? Many top unis are competitive for masters. Just look at the MLaw from Cambridge. A person from a lower ranking university would be doing well to get on one of those courses.

Also lecturing isn’t very well paid. Many jobs pay a lot more, very much more quickly. Subject studied and your full range of attributes actually matter. Law, for example, isn’t the same at all unis. Engineering certainly isn’t either. So it’s not as simple as “red brick means nothing”. Or RG plus means nothing. Sometimes it really does. It’s simply a better launchpad into competitive jobs but dc have to grab opportunities.

And yet mine who went to ‘lesser’ universities, have outstripped any peers who went to redbricks.

One was chased by Oxford and Cambridge to be a lecturer there despite going to shit town uni. And one was headhunted by national media, despite going to shit town university.

The kind of places that want degrees from red bricks are perpetuating the class divide and miss significant amount of talent. Even with their ‘diversity’ schemes.

And most places don’t ask for institution to be put on application form. To prevent this coterie of ‘red brickness’

After 25 years as a secondary school teacher, academic achievement is about development. Some hit it later than others. It doesn’t mean they are any less able.

Elite institutions need to not be part of our society. I can’t think of anything worse than being in a blue chip company that only recruits from redbricks.

Anecdotally this obviously is possible. According to IFS research, the RG unis still produce grads who earn more. RG isn’t quite the same as ted brick. They are different groups. Red brick is contained within RG. However if a grad trades up to RG, they are a RG grad. I think I’ll stick with the IFS data. It’s inevitably accurate as fewer non RG students (ignore Bath, st Andrews and Loughborough) will do masters.

Interesting points above. I like the question about what do people do in the 3 years after their first degree as that can be a key time in people's lives. Some of my children's friends did a masters in something relevant to their job like cybercrime or tech. One went straight into a big accountancy firm after a more general first degree (BSc) and then there are 3 years of exams whilst working. 4 of my children did a law conversion course and then a year of post grad law exams so 2 years of full time study after the 2 year degree.

Asking graduates what they were doing 1 year, after their degree as my twins found Bristol kept calling them at home to find out whilst useful for the university should really also be a process of asking after 3, 5 and 10 years in my view as it can take people a bit of time to settle down. My twins are 25 and both in their first newly qualified solicitor jobs as of this year so I would say that was probably their stable job now for a good few years, whereas one year after university people tend still be studying or not sure what to do so in a non graduate job or having a year to travel.

I agree that some employers try to recruit institution blind although when one civil service scheme tried that it got MORE not fewer Oxbridge people (they were simply objectively better which is not surprising). I didn't try for Oxbridge so have no skin in that game.

The more information students have about jobs and careers and the money you can earn and working hours - not everyone wants 9am to 9pm with no over time pay for example - the better so they can make informed choices.

For example for potential solicitors last week a report came out into the 2022/23 sittings of the new SQE post grad exam which looks at who did best (not surprisingly those with a first do best, then 2/1, then 2/2) and from w hat background etc which makes quite interesting reading although the new exam is only just getting going in terms of having large cohorts of people under this new system. https://sqe.sra.org.uk/docs/default-source/pdfs/reports/sqe-annual-report-2022-23.pdf

@Xenia Does the summary include uni attended though? There should be info on this because I know the bar has a small percentage who are not RG and of course they could be from other high ranking unis or the law specialist institutions.

DD is a barrister and lots of them won’t necessarily be earning 3 years after graduating. DD did 4 year degree, conversion, BPTC and pupilage. She got pupilage at her first attempt. Many don’t. I’m not sure a first from the uni of X the bottom of the league tables will be as good as a 2:1 from a top tier uni. Also there are lots of variables in all jobs. Plus people falling out of love with their choice of career.

I don't think it includes names of the institution attended.

There are lots of reasons people do better at better universities, not least because they tend to be the people with the higher grades but also all kinds of other things - peer group is probably all going into good jobs and much else.

@Xenia I agree and research from the ifs bears this out.