New deal for young people to end ‘degree by default’ culture and boost youth apprenticeships
Ministers will unveil plans to crack down on poor‑quality university courses and shift investment further towards youth apprenticeships, as part of a ‘new deal for young people’.
The deal delivers a renewed social contract with better opportunities to give young people real choices and real chances to get on, whether through university or high‑quality apprenticeships that lead to decent pay and long‑term careers.
It comes as too many young people feel university is the only route to success and are working hard for degrees that don’t deliver the future they were promised, as they miss out on better opportunities while amassing thousands in debt.
While university was once a clear route to social mobility, particularly for working class people, the reality for today’s generation of young people has significantly changed.
Many students hugely benefit from a degree, and the UK’s university sector is rightly world leading. But the outdated belief that university is the only path to success has led to a ‘degree by default’ mindset – resulting in too many young people working tirelessly for degrees that don’t unlock the best opportunities to make the most of their talent and hard work.
Meanwhile poor-quality courses have been profiting from students’ earnest aspirations to achieve a degree and unlock life-changing opportunities.
Ministers will argue that the needs of this generation of young people have been ignored by successive governments, while the world of work evolved around them and left them behind without the skills they need to succeed.
As Alan Milburn’s report outlined, around 1 in 7 young people who are currently not in employment, education or training have a university degree – underlining the need to reform the higher education system so it delivers better outcomes for young people.
This Government is delivering a decisive break from that past and stepping in to fix a system that has held too many young people back. At the heart of the Government’s new deal for working people is further action to tackle poor-quality degrees, helping young people find and access the prestigious alternatives to build strong foundations for their working lives.
A major shift in skills funding towards apprenticeships for young people will help ensure students don’t drift into university courses that aren’t right for them. This will help reverse the long‑term decline in starts and refocusing the system on giving young people their first step on the career ladder.
It is part of a wider drive to tackle youth unemployment and will drive forward the Government’s ambition for two-thirds of young people to participate in higher-level learning – whether academic, technical or through apprenticeships.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“Young people making choices about their future deserve to know that the investment they are making will lead to real opportunities and stable careers. For some that will mean going to university, and we are making this more accessible regardless of background, but for others it will mean technical or vocational routes.
“By raising standards and cracking down on abuse of student loans we’ll ensure our world-leading universities deliver real value for students and the taxpayer.”
For these who choose to pursue a degree, the Government is clear that courses must offer strong outcomes and real value for students, and university should remain a route to opportunity but only where it delivers.
