Higher education tuition fees reforms in the UK

Following the successful vote in the House of Commons on changes to graduate contributions for 2012/13, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable said:


"Today's (9th December) vote has been an important step in turning the Coalitions commitment to deliver a high-quality university sector that is more responsive to the needs of students into a reality.


"Under our proposals no student will have to pay upfront for tuition and both parties in the Coalition have worked hard to develop a much fairer and progressive graduate contribution scheme. Graduates will only begin to repay the cost of their tuition and living support once they are in high earning jobs, with significant discounting for those on low and modest incomes."

UK performing poorly in the numbers doing Maths after 16

Writing in Tuesday's Education Guardian (14/12/2010), Warwick Mansell reports that results from an international testing study in early December triggered a fresh round of soul searching after they revealed that the UK is falling down the global rankings for reading, science and particularly maths!

New research shows England, Wales and N. Ireland finishing bottom of another kind of league table, which compares countries according to the number of young people persisting with any kind of maths education post -16.

What is it that makes geography graduates so employable?

I am indebted to Richard Garner for writing so lucidly and informatively about geography in last Thursday's edition of the 'Independent' ( 2nd December).  This writer poses the question that in a tough job climate what is it about those with geography degrees that makes them so employable?

Addressing the gender divide - making the case for Physics

If one accepts what futurologists tells us that retention of STEM subjects provides one with the best opportunity to be employed in the high end skilled sector of work in the years ahead, then it is indeed encouraging to read this piece from the Joint Council for Qualifications published at the beginning of September.
  

Physics: number of A-level entrants soars beyond 30K

Check out these interesting resources and downloads

Two diagnostic online career tools GRO and CareerUnlocker are being launched by the Careers Advisory Service (CAS) at the university of Reading. These take a holistic view of career development learning (CDL) and Personal Development Planning (PDL) and are available FREE of charge.

Apprenticeships - Opening doors to a better future!

As careers teachers we are all currently concerned with the competition for places irrespective of whichever option our young people are considering post-16.  In an earlier piece written on apprenticeship, I encouraged careers teachers to provide a noticeboard, prominently placed in the school, specifically detailing opportunities for national apprenticeship applications.

Career opportunities highlighted within the Sector Skills Councils (SSC)

In Career Guidance Today Volume 18.3 July 2010 Helen Barrett, Careers Executive, GoSkills, makes a strong case for considering passenger transport as a potential career area to research and reflect upon especially as there may be exciting opportunities for young people in such varied field as
designing transport systems, engineering high speed trains, or directing aircraft.