Today’s blog looks at the value of a university degree as well as an article in the Times on Star Academies.
University Degrees
Today, Tuesday 11 February, the Telegraph has written an article on the value of university degrees.
The piece focuses on calls from Professor Julia Buckingham, President of Universities UK, for the government to measure the value of degrees beyond graduate earnings.
The government has never said that earnings are the only reflection of a degree’s value. In a speech at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the Universities Minister Chris Skidmore said that ‘successful outcomes for students and graduates are about much more than salary’. He stressed said that we must not overlook the vital contribution of degrees of social value, such as nursing or social care, or the arts and humanities.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
This Government has never said that a university degree should be valued on earnings alone – and to say so is inaccurate. We completely recognise the wide range of benefits a degree can bring, including those with a high social value.
We publish a wide range of data to empower students to make the best choice when deciding what to study. This includes future earnings among the wider benefits of going to university for students and society as a whole.
Star Academies
Today, the Times reported that Hamid Patel, the Chief Executive of Star Academies, has said that he wants to help white working-class children by taking on struggling schools in deprived coastal areas.
Tables published last week show that the best three schools for progress were part of Star Academies.
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