Graduates on benefits claiming too sick to work

My granddaughter is doing an engineering degree apprenticeship. Best of all worlds, with a guaranteed job at the end. The country needs more of these.

Even a degree leading to a profession does not guarantee work ....no nursing jobs going for graduates these days

How can so many go straight from uni into being "sick" without having done a day's work?

There will always be jobs which require a degree, but I do think that these days, students do seem to be urged to go to university whether they have any clear career pathway in mind or not.
And, while I would never discourage anyone from learning, I do think that there are now a lot of degrees which don't really equip students for life out there in the real world. Some also seem to go for one degree after another, almost in an attempt to avoid having to get a job at the end of it. One girl who went to school with my daughter has three degrees and now works in McDonalds - I'm not knocking anyone who works there, but all that time and effort in getting those degrees does seem a bit of a waste.
And yes, there will always be a need for technical skills - we will always need skilled tradesmen. Not everyone is necessarily cut out for academic life and we should value those trade and technical skills a lot more, I feel.

My husband has a nephew with two degrees, two masters a PHD and a PGCE.
He just loves a qualification!
He calls himself doctor but now needs a job!

I'm sorry to hear about your grandchildren not having found the right employment, David. I agree that not everyone is suited to university and academia .
However, I would like to counter your experience. My grandchildren are all very young, but all four of my adult offspring, and all three of my SIL, and my DIL are graduates, two have masters, and one is just finishing her PhD.
All work, have always worked, including sometimes in less demanding roles when they were looking for appropriate jobs ( after relocating, taking time out to travel, etc) . To my knowledge, none have ever claimed benefits.
Some degrees might fit your criteria of "technical skills" - two of this group have engineering degrees.
It's not as simple as graduates / no job, non graduates/ job.
Also, is it only the teacher who is responsible for the student's choices, or are parent's views part of the decision making process?

No nursing jobs ? Seriously ? They are crying out for them here. Tell them to emigrate!

There's a Graduate Guarantee Scheme for graduating nurses in the UK that supposedly means nurses are guaranteed a job on a certain pay scale. I don't know how well it works.

In my nursing days we had post grad nurses and they got fast-tracked through their training. Sometimes they were completely clueless.
I once asked a nurse what she had done in her first degree and she said zoology!

keepingquiet

In my nursing days we had post grad nurses and they got fast-tracked through their training. Sometimes they were completely clueless.
I once asked a nurse what she had done in her first degree and she said zoology!

This was before the days of nursing degrees? The current Graduate Nursing Scheme is for those with nursing degrees.

ViceVersa a degree is only a wate if the person who took it thinks so.

Degrees are designed to learn about some specific area.
They shouldn't be only a "route to work" in my opinion. How sad would that be!

Obviously some degrees are exactly that but I think you should take a degree out of love and excitement about the subject.

*"waste" not "wate" - apologies

NotSpaghetti

ViceVersa a degree is only a wate if the person who took it thinks so.

Degrees are designed to learn about some specific area.
They shouldn't be only a "route to work" in my opinion. How sad would that be!

Obviously some degrees are exactly that but I think you should take a degree out of love and excitement about the subject.

That's not what I was saying - as I said, I would never discourage anyone from learning for the sake of it. However, I do know some people - I cited just one example - who take one course after another not out of any love or excitement about the subject but almost as a way of having to avoid the 'real world'. And these days you can get a degree in stand-up comedy - I mean, come on?

Both of my children have degrees they also have drive and ambition which sometimes appear to be lacking.
My son worked and was sponsored through his degree has changed jobs a few times gaining experience he now runs his own company which is very successful. My daughter was made redundant a couple of years ago from a very well paid job and it took her time and ambition to get back to that place. to the point of continuing to work after a serious accident where some might have gone on the sick.

Two of our five children went to Uni, age ranges 23-41 years.

Ironically the one with the least formal qualifications has the best job earning the most income. It’s 41 year old, failed A CV levels, entered as entry level into Banking, having taken a test at interview, started as a cashier, now in private banking doing extremely well, did both to take all possible banking exams across the years.

The others who chose not to go to Uni, one has all the requisite A levels and chose to go straight into work as a Civil Servant and our youngest is a musician.

Your grandchildren are not a representative sample, @David49 and the Telegraph always has an agenda. I imagine there is a spectrum of experiences and these are all assessed with hindsight.

My point was really that lots of courses don't and shouldn't be a "pathway" to anything.

The mistake is assuming it is (or should be).

rosie1959

Both of my children have degrees they also have drive and ambition which sometimes appear to be lacking.
My son worked and was sponsored through his degree has changed jobs a few times gaining experience he now runs his own company which is very successful. My daughter was made redundant a couple of years ago from a very well paid job and it took her time and ambition to get back to that place. to the point of continuing to work after a serious accident where some might have gone on the sick.

Like anything in life, drive, ambition, passion and hard work, with a small amount of luck, is often the key to success.

We brought up our children to be resilient and to “get back on that horse” and try again when things don’t work out.

When working in DWP I used to do some work in schools, my mantra was: “have a plan, then a plan B AND a plan C, be realistic but have goals, don’t ever give up.”

I just think many people, across a good few generations, give up far too easily and often have unrealistic expectations.

Yes, be ambitious and aspirational but be realistic too.

I couldn't access the article I'm afraid.

NotSpaghetti

My point was really that lots of courses don't and shouldn't be a "pathway" to anything.

The mistake is assuming it is (or should be).

I completely agree, education is great, learning is a lifelong experience and University offers far more than just a degree.

OldFrill

keepingquiet

In my nursing days we had post grad nurses and they got fast-tracked through their training. Sometimes they were completely clueless.
I once asked a nurse what she had done in her first degree and she said zoology!

This was before the days of nursing degrees? The current Graduate Nursing Scheme is for those with nursing degrees.

My DN took a nursing degree with Project 2000 in the early 1990s and that was both university and hospital based.

Cossy

NotSpaghetti

My point was really that lots of courses don't and shouldn't be a "pathway" to anything.

The mistake is assuming it is (or should be).

I completely agree, education is great, learning is a lifelong experience and University offers far more than just a degree.

Agreed. A degree is education, not training.

Grandma70s

Cossy

NotSpaghetti

My point was really that lots of courses don't and shouldn't be a "pathway" to anything.

The mistake is assuming it is (or should be).

I completely agree, education is great, learning is a lifelong experience and University offers far more than just a degree.

Agreed. A degree is education, not training.

But a degree ine engineering, medicine, law, geology, teaching, nursing etc does lead graduates in a certain direction.

Not all follow a career path based on their degree(s) but many do, or one linked to it.
Many change careers more than once in their working lives, one of my DC has having found her first career was not fulfilling

As an erstwhile teacher I would recommend more vocational courses that are not viewed as ‘second best’ to academic courses, and bring back the tech colleges and polytechnics. Youngsters who don’t want to study Shakespeare from year 10 should be able to opt out of academic studies to study vocational subjects, is frustrating for pupils to have to study subjects they are not good at and feel frustrated with. Plumbers, electricians, mechanical engineers, roofers, hairdressers, and construction engineering etc., are well paid jobs that youngsters need and this country needs.