New graduate figures make grim reading for higher education, says UCU

Analysis of today's 2007-08 Performance Indicators in Higher Education – Employment of graduates from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) also reveals a drop in the proportion of young full-time undergraduates in UK higher education from a disadvantaged socio-economic background.
 
The figures show that:

• in 2007-08 the number of full first-time degree qualifiers assumed to be unemployed shot to an all time high of 8.2%. Up from 5.7% the previous year.
• in 2006-07 (most recent figures available) the percentage of young full-time first degree entrants not continuing in higher education after their first year rose to 7.4%, compared to 7.1% in 2005-06
• in 2006-07 (most recent figures available) the percentage of mature full-time first degree entrants not continuing in higher education after their first year rose to 14.8%, compared to 14.3% in 2005-06
• in 2007-08 the number of young entrants to full-time first degree courses from socio-economic groups 4, 5, 6 or 7 was 29.5%, compared to 29.8% in 2006-07.

The full results and tables can be found on the HESA website.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Today's figures make grim reading for the higher education sector. Unemployment is an increasingly worrying theme for the sector at the moment, with news of jobs cuts at universities reaching us on a daily basis. The Prime Minister said he would not let education be a victim of the recession but these figures, coupled with the constant news of redundancies, does little to reassure us.  The fact that graduates are entering such a tough job market with record levels of debt must be a real cause for concern for all of us.
 
'We are particularly concerned that there is a drop in the percentage of students entering university from the poorest backgrounds and that there has been an increase in students not completing their first year. Over the past decade, in England alone, nearly £3billion has been spent on measures to widen social class participation in higher education and we welcome the priority that has been given to this area. However, there has been little progress, despite a lot of hard work by universities to attract and retain a wider range of students.'