open minded prejudice

When I read comments on education in schools etc I realise that lots of folks do not see the reality about what is going on. I am an educationalist in that I work in a variety of schools and write about education. It is not all doom and gloom but there are far more problems than the Guardianista Fascists would let you believe.
In a nutshell far too many inner city schools have become bastions of poverty and low expectation. In many schools in London over 80% of the pupils will not have English as a first language and at home they will inevitably speak their community language and watch films and TV in that language as well. The teaching understandably is aimed at their needs and thus the 20% who do have English as a first language suffer and thus less English speakers will go to these schools and the % of non English speakers increases. To the Guardianistas this is racism. However the non English speakers increasingly want their children to go to these mono centric schools because they feel safer that their child will be within the community and will not take on values they do not want. Indians, Jews and to a large extent Black Africans & Black Caribbean’s integrate in schools mainly because they have the same language and religion is not a driving force. Where there is separation in schools it is geographical and not be deliberate parental action.
Thus from 2 sides you are getting separate pressure for mono centric education. The result is poor levels of achievement in non English speaking schools (especially in any subject requiring verbal fluency) and separate development with suspicion and hatred on both sides (I run psychometric tests in school and inevitably in every London state school verbal is lower than all other scores). You also get concentrations of white working class (a misnomer as most of the parent(s) do not work) who hugely underperform but are ignored by the government because it only targets BME groups. They are drawn to far right politics because they feel alienated and are competing with the new immigrants for the white van man jobs and for social housing.

The answer GOD KNOWS but unless someone can come up with one Enoch Powell will be proved right.

WHAT IS PC?

You can support equality and be anti PC. I have no problems with anyone’s activities or beliefs from Satan to Sufi Islam and even those who like Big Brother on TV, as long as you respect that others can have contrary views. However many minority groups seem to want their rights but demand that other groups do not others e.g. Islamist views on women, gays etc.

Ken Livingstone and the other liberal/PC mob want to decide what is and is not acceptable. The new left/liberals now think anti Semitism is ok and scream free speech when they invite a speaker from Bangladesh or Pakistan who supports suicide bombers in Israel and Iraq (and killing homosexuals) but deny free speech to anyone from the BNP and campaign against Israeli academics (it is ok to come from liberal bastions like Iran, Egypt, Syria, China, Russia etc but not from Israel).
The BNP are thugs and Israel has done many bad things but religious nutters who despise women, gays, infidels etc are just as bad or even worse and we should adopt a level playing field that says what is and is not acceptable or we let everything be acceptable. You cannot say 1 lot of fascist views OK but others are not.

PC means only a liberal agenda is acceptable that sees all state institutions as institutional racist, sexist, islamaphobic etc and that all criminals and anti social thugs are misunderstood and discriminated against. In PC land the role of the middle class tax payer is to feel guilty and pay as much tax as possible to feed their love of state intervention. PC hates the white working class (who they do not understand) and ignore their needs and only see things in terms of bad state V good minorities. Thought crimes are now in order e.g. racist body language and isms that do not have to be proved but you are guilty if you are accused of them. On a race equality course for the NHS a women was told that looking into the eyes of a Muslim man could be seen as offensive and she should look down or away when talking to Muslim men. So it is ok to be sexist but we must not offend the Stone Age views of some men?
Any social science research that does not fit into PC views they say should be banned (e.g. research into intelligence by a professor of psychology at Leeds) and anyone who undertakes it should lose their job. Freedom of speech to those who agree with us, vilification and the sack or those who do not. Only in PC land could liberals, the socialist worker remnants and Islamofascists find common cause. How a Guardianista who supports feminism can laude an Islamist who wants women to be stoned for adultery is beyond me. But that is PC for you; all logic.
Lets accept that in society you can hold whatever views you want but YOU MUST accept some common currency i.e. do not preach hatred or support slaughter abroad or at home. Everyone has a right to beliefs and as long as their actions are within the laws of the land, do what you want. BUT women, Jews, infidels, gays, atheists, Satanists etc all have equal rights to you and if you want the right to preach extreme hatred you then must accept the right of others to do so from an alternate perspective. Your freedom of speech is bought at the cost of allowing others who hold different points of view to also speak.

openmindendprejudice@mail.com

It’s a very cold & wet bank holiday in the UK. Obviously Global Warming is having a rest day as it’s chilly. My wife is away with the youngest and I am trying to get my oldest to revise. I also have loads of DIY t0o do but am trying to use my imagination to find alternate things to do, like anything. It’s not that I hate DIY I am just no good at it and get frustrated. I also have tenant problems at a property we own and have to sort that out (foreign students who think they can live for free). Contrary to popular opinion the biggest problem in renting are students, who may or may not have a high IQ but have the common sense of a May fly and always try it on. The worse was a crowd of Law students from a Redbrick I had once, complete dipshits.
But what do you do? the law is totally on the side of tenants and the house is next to a university. I rented property when I was a student in the 70s but maybe it was different times then, less rights and more obligations perhaps. Sure as hell I did not wreck anything and paid the rent on time. Anyhow that is avenue not to go down as history always makes everything rosy. I will take my son for a pizza later as a treat and break from his studies.
I have also got to prepare work for a load of Morrisby feedbacks I have to do. I do not mind that though as it is just simple analysis and it help the interviews go better and it is a nice small sized Private School in Surrey with supportive parents. A real comprehensive in the proper use of the word with some very bright kids and some not so gifted. I also work in a number of state schools in London and you get some bright kids there as well but unfortunately they get bullied by the 10% who should never have been inflicted on society and generally under perform according to their abilities. Sad but true despite what the Guardianistas tell us.
Kids with the same aptitude inevitably get higher GCSEs & A level results in private schools than they do in Inner City London Schools. I know I test thousands of them and analyse all the scores for the schools. It is depressing because despite my reactionary ways I want everyone to achieve their potential but lying about results and creating micky mouse qualifications to pretend equality does not solve anything.
GNVQ ICT anyone? Takes 4 hours a week, impossible to fail and by government standards is the same a 4GCSEs A-C. Most improved school in London is the John Cass School in Tower Hamlets and how did they do it? They got everyone to do a GNVQ in ICT and made Bengali (90+% of the pupils speak Bengali as a first language) a compulsory subject. Low and behold the school leapt up the league tables and became a media darling or course very few of them had passed Maths, English or Science but hey they met the 5 GCSE band didn’t they. Want to improve you’re a level results discourage students from taking maths, economics or science and get them to take media studies, business studies, communication studies, health studies, law, sports studies etc etc etc . Your results go up and you are a successful sixth form. Only downside is non of the kids get a place at the top universities who think their qualifications are a load of crap. Yes Mr Oxbridge Tutor I really feel that my work on soap operas in the UK is good preparation for a Law degree in terms of the analytical skills gained. I am also an expert at using only 1 source and depending on tutor notes and have never ever read anything that was not on my course list in getting my A in the subject. Every year A level results improve roughly in tandam with the rise in remedial classes at university in numeracy, science and literacy. Many universities now also teach students how to use multiple sources and how to structure an essay. Better A level grades have led to less able undergraduates? How is this done- answer by lowering A level standards. There are now less students from state schools at Oxbridge than 25 years ago despite huge rises in education spending and results. We are a less socially mobile country than even 10 years ago and far less than under the dragon Thatcher ?Why.

2007 UCAS APPLICATIONS
THE BROAD PICTURE

UCAS application figures for 07 make very interesting reading. Everybody expected a rise after last years 3.4% drop (which was mainly a reaction to the large increase in 05 due to the introduction of top up fees) however the rise has far outstripped expectations. As with all figures however they need analysis in order to make best use of them.

Overall there is a 6.4% increase in UCAS applications but for English institutions it was 7.2%, Northern Ireland and Wales were static whilst Scotland only increased by 1.9%. Applications from students aged 21-24 increased by 11.4%, students aged under 21 increased by 5.7% and overseas students by 6.6%. This indicates that the rise in costs in English universities in comparison to Wales & Scotland have had no effect in putting students off applying (or perversely seem to have encouraged it) and for all practical purposes ends the debate about ‘Top up fees’. The rise in older students is also very interesting, as it suggests they are making a rational decision on the return of a higher education qualification after exposure to the job market.

A breakdown of winners (and occasional losers) is very revealing. I have only highlighted courses that had a 9% or more increase, an increase of 2% or less or an actual decrease (see separate spreadsheet). Given an overall increase of over 6%, courses with less than a 2% rise are doing poorly in terms of attraction. In analysing figures you always have to take into account reclassification of subjects by UCAS. In addition big increases have occurred in combination areas, thus whilst the number of students applying to single honours business studies has increased only slightly, the number applying to business combinations or allied areas such as economics, finance, management studies etc has increased hugely. Thus the popularity of business related degrees is still growing at a high rate but more are choosing to access it in a different (and in many ways more numerate) way.

The biggest winner is travel & tourism with a 30.3% rise however this still only accounts for 12,371 applications (psychology had 77,000). Another big winner was business/admin combinations (25%) but not single subject business studies (only 1.4%). Veterinary science had a massive 22% increase but medicine decreased by 3.8%. Creative arts combinations increased by 17.1%, cinematics & photography by 11.6% and dance by 10.8%. Languages in combination with social sciences/law or business increased by 10% but combinations of European languages only by 1.1%.

The biggest winner as a sector was science/engineering with chemical engineering showing a 17% increase, science/engineering combined with arts/humanities an increase of 15.2%, combinations of maths/computer science an increase of 15.8%, civil engineering 13%, physics 12%, zoology 11.6%, chemistry 11.3%, maths 10% and pharmacology/toxicology & pharmacy an increase of 9.4%. However computer science as a single subject only increased by .6% and electronic/electrical engineering by .2%. Information systems dropped by a huge 9.7%.

IMPLICATIONS
I will analyse individual university data in my next newsletter but to take a more global view of applications to English universities.

• Students applying to most science & engineering courses will find that there will be less flexibility on grades than in previous years and there are likely to be far fewer places in clearing, especially at the pre 92 universities.
• Students applying for business combinations, management studies, finance or economics will find that grade offers will be high, with little flexibility and indeed many students who in the past might have got in, will face rejections this year. However students applying for single honours business courses should be in a quite good position.
• Students applying for veterinary science will find it very hard to get places and their usual substitute Zoology will also be harder to get onto.
• Medicine students will find it easier than previous years but not those applying for subjects allied to medicine. Forensic science has lost its popularity (not before time most teachers and science employers would probably say) and students applying to this area should find it much easier to get places than in previous years. The huge drop in anatomy physiology & pathology will make entry to this area very easy for students but it has major long term implications in terms of research and post doc studies and will exacerbate the trend towards overseas post graduate students dominating many medical science areas.
• Students applying for single honours computer science or IT courses will find it relatively easy to get offers but less so if they have applied for computing/IT combined with another subject.
• Visual creative subjects have increased in popularity and it will be much harder to get offers than in previous years.

It also seems to signal an end to the closer and downsizing of science departments and a lot of Vice Chancellors will be very red faced and under political pressure, after department closures in this area. Language departments also have some cause for optimism, although it seems that the trend is to study languages in combination with other areas.

CONCLUSION
To paraphrase a famous Chinese saying, we are living in interesting times, with students seemingly wanting a more direct return from their degree in terms of earning potential and employability, a good example of this is the 16.1% increase in the very vocational degree ‘Building’. Surveys show that engineering & science degrees give far greater returns over a working lifetime than arts subjects and this message has got through in a major way. The university showing the largest increase in applications is Surrey (over 40%) and they specialise in science/technology and vocational degrees with a strong work placement element.

Whilst science departments will be very happy I guess some arts and humanities tutors will be looking a little anxiously to the future. Computing seems to have lost its way as a single honours subject both in IT systems and computer science. The incredible rise of psychology has also been pegged to a mere 3.9% increase (still 77,000 applications).

Gordon Collins

UK GRADUATE SURVEY 2006
I feel that careers preparation should look at the long term and believe that schools should give students (and their parents) the maximum amount of information to help in the decision process. This includes informing them on the implication of degree choice and the particular strengths (and weaknesses) of various universities. There is a huge amount of information on this area (perhaps too much) but a useful report that can be missed is the ‘UK Graduate Careers Survey’ which has been produced since 1995. The latest report dealing with the 2006 graduates has just come out and gives some fascinating insights into the last crop of graduates. It only deals with selected pre 92 universities and thus it IS NOT an overview of the sector as a whole. However independent schools will primarily be sending students to the universities used and thus it is relevant to you.

The universities used are Aston, Bath, Belfast (Queens), Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Dublin (Trinity), Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Imperial College, Kings College, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, LSE, Loughborough, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, St Andrews, Strathclyde, UCL, Warwick and York and in total 16,452 final year students were surveyed out of a total population of 83,250 (20%). Notable absentees include Essex, Leicester, UEA, Royal Holloway, Surrey, Queen Mary College, Dundee, Swansea, Goldsmiths, Kent and Sussex.

PLANS FOR AFTER UNIVERSITY
The figures show that 40% of graduates were planning to join the graduate job market after their degree which is the largest figure since 2001. The other 60% are divided between further study, travel, temporary work and not sure, with further study at 25% being the highest.

The LSE had the highest proportion (68%) planning to go into graduate employment followed by Aston, Strathclyde, Imperial, Bath & Belfast (Queens), all over 50%. The lowest was Dublin (28%) followed by St Andrews, Leeds, Cambridge, Birmingham & Exeter, all under 35%.

JOB APPLICATIONS
The group of 2006 were in general more optimistic than previous years with 20% thinking that there were ‘Plenty of jobs for finalists leaving university this year’ up from 17% in 2005. However 61% thought that ‘There are some graduate jobs, but not enough for everyone leaving university this summer’ and 19% thought ‘There are only limited graduate jobs available for those leaving university this summer’. The reality is that the number of graduates has grown by 65% during the past decade whilst graduate level vacancies have grown by a little over 10%. However this is looking at the whole university and graduate market and our attention is just on the more elite end of the market in terms of institutions. There is no doubt though, that competition for jobs in popular areas such as the City is intense and only the very best (and best prepared) will succeed, whilst in certain areas such as the NHS there has been a huge drop in current vacancies due to well publicised financial constraints.

There were significant changes from the previous years figures with Accountancy, Actuarial Work and the Armed Forces showing major increases whilst the police (down 42%), Civil Service, Law and Sales showed major decreases. The chart for graduates intended career destinations is:
CAREER % of Finalists
Media 12.4
Teaching 11.9
Investment Banking 11.1
Marketing 11
Accountancy 10.8
Consulting 10.3
Science, R & D 9.8
Charity or Voluntary Work 8.6
Civil Service 8.5
Engineering 7.5
Law 6.6
Human Resources 6.2
General Management 5.3
IT 5.2
Finance 5
Sales 4.9
Retailing 3.9
Armed Forces 3.1
Buying or Purchasing 2.6
Property 2.4
Police 2.1
Actuarial Work 1.9
Transport or Logistics 1.7

In choosing employers, the starting salary, work content, quality of training & development programmes, location and the ability to use the degree subject studied were by far the most important stated reasons.
In terms of salaries there were huge variations on what graduates expected to earn. The top 10 were:

UNIVERSITY Expected
LSE £26,700
Oxford £25,000
Imperial £24,500
Warwick £22,600
UCL £22,400
Bath £21,400
Bristol £21,400
Durham £21,100
Nottingham £21,000
St Andrews £20,800

The bottom ten in terms of expectations were:
UNIVERSITY Expected
Cardiff £17,700
Strathclyde £17,800
Liverpool £18,200
Lancaster £18,200
Glasgow £18,200
Sheffield £18,600
Newcastle £18,700
Belfast (Queens) £18,700
Southampton £19,100
Leeds £19,100

In terms of location 40% said they intended to work in London.

STUDENT LIFE
The level of satisfaction was huge with 91% agreeing with the statement ‘I’ve enjoyed being at university and would recommend it to others’ and over 80% believed that going to their university would help them secure a good job. However just 10% felt that ‘Being at university has prepared me well for the working world’.

In terms of student debt there was little change on the previous four years with an average debt of £10,400 (£10,100 in 2003) but the level of debt varied hugely with Imperial College being the highest at £13,800 followed by LSE, Bath, UCL and Liverpool. The lowest debt was at Dublin at £5,000, followed by Strathclyde, Glasgow, Belfast and St Andrews. Perhaps surprisingly 20% said they would leave with no debts with nearly 50% of students at Imperial College saying this and one third at UCL and LSE.

Please note that these students did not have the increased tuition fees to pay and thus you should add around £9,000 to a typical three year English degree for current school students. When asked if the increased fees would have put them off going to university 38% said it would with 41% from state schools. However this has not been seen in the 2007 UCAS applications which show a major increase to English Universities and a minimal increase to Scottish and Welsh. Also note that Scottish students have a different fees regime, whilst there are no fees in Ireland and far more Scottish, Irish and Welsh students live at home than their English counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS
This is a survey and thus is not what happens in reality or the prospects for the graduates 5-10 years after graduation. However I feel it does contain some very interesting information that can help schools in giving advice to pupils and parents, particularly in the sixth form.

My main conclusions are that students at the elite end of the university spectrum enjoy university and feel it has been a good investment. Students at universities that major in science and business areas seem the most optimistic in terms of jobs and salaries (a separate survey showed that arts graduates have the least optimism in terms of jobs/salaries after graduation). However students feel they are not being well prepared for the working world by their university with only 10% being satisfied with this area.