Category Archives: Education

Education, Education News, Immigration

Graduate Coach welcomes decision to retain Graduate Route, but says greater career support needed for International Students

Graduate Coach, the leading graduate coaching company, assisting international graduates in securing employment in the UK, welcomes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to maintain the Graduate Route in its current form. However, the government also has announced the system is under ‘review’ and is planning to announce a string of measures to crack down on ‘abuse’ of the route by international students.

 

Chris Davies

Chris Davies, CEO of Graduate Coach highlights that maintaining the route is good news as it provides consistency and certainty for students as well as financial stability for some universities that would have been under threat financially if it had been axed. However, he questions why more isn’t being done to support international students when they graduate in their job searches.

 

He said, “While it’s encouraging that the Graduate visa route has been retained, it’s disheartening that the support for international graduates in finding employment is so woeful. In my 14 years of experience supporting graduates into the job market, I have seen very little effort from universities to assist graduates in securing jobs. This leaves many talented individuals struggling to navigate the UK job market.”

“Unfortunately, around 85% of graduates who seek our help report receiving no assistance from their universities in job hunting,” Davies continued. “The reality is that about 80% of UK companies are reluctant to hire international graduates, often due to misconceptions about the complex visa process or a lack of awareness about the available visas.”

 

Davies highlighted several challenges international graduates face in the job market. “Many small and medium-sized enterprises are unaware that the visa process is straightforward, leading to automatic rejections. Larger companies, who are ‘approved’ for taking on international graduates are overwhelmed with applications, can afford to be highly selective as often there can be 3,000 or more candidates for each opening, making it even harder for international graduates to stand out.”

 

Graduate Coach has a proven track record of success in placing international graduates in paid employment.

However, Davies stresses, “We only work with candidates we believe can secure employment, those with good degrees and significant work experience either in the UK or their home countries. We ensure all CVs are ATS compliant and prepare our candidates thoroughly for the job market.”

 

He concludes, “While it’s a positive development that the Graduate Route will remain, it is bittersweet knowing that these students are often left to fend for themselves when seeking employment. They pay a major premium to study here and contribute significantly to the UK economy and academic community, yet the support for their transition into the workforce is minimal”

Graduate Coach calls on the government and universities to enhance their support systems for international graduates.

“There needs to be a concerted effort to educate employers about the benefits and simplicity of hiring international graduates. Additionally, universities should take a more proactive role in career support services tailored to the needs of these students. We must ensure that these talented individuals are given the support they need to thrive in the UK job market, benefiting both the graduates and the broader economy,” Davies concluded.

 

—

About Graduate Coach

Graduate Coach is a UK-based graduate career coaching firm founded by Chris Davies. Since opening in  2010, Graduate Coach has helped over 5,000 UK and international graduates secure positions at leading UK companies such as Amazon, Google, J.P. Morgan, and more. With a focus on practical guidance and skill development, its services include one-to-one career coaching, immersive workshops, and personalised online resources. Additionally, Graduate Coach provides tailored internship opportunities and support services to further enhance graduates’ career prospects.

For more information, please visit https://graduatecoach.co.uk/

or their link tree https://linktr.ee/graduatecoachuk

Education, News, Research

Women spend 50% less time in full-time employment because of family events

Women spend half as much time in full-time employment than men as a result of family events, finds new research by the University of Cologne.

The study, conducted by WiSo doctoral student Wiebke Schmitz, and Professors Laura Naegele, Frerich Frerichs and Lea Ellwardt, investigated the employment patterns of both men and women and how their family events affected this.

They found that family events had a greater impact on the employment status of women more so than men late into their working lives.

The study revealed that on average, women between the ages of 50 to 65 spent four years in full-time employment, whereas men spent eight years.

It also revealed that women spent an average of three years in domestic employment, and one year in part-time employment.

Early family events such as children and civil partnerships were associated with unpaid housework or part-time work for women, and negatively affected the likelihood of full-time employment later in life.

“The course of late working life differs drastically depending on gender. Men’s later working lives are mainly characterised by continuous full-time work and the same family events had no effect on their full-time employment,” says Professor Lea Ellwardt.

The results of this study are prominent in areas that are conservative, and believe in traditional gender roles, or areas that are characterised by a lack of public social infrastructure.

“Greater integration of women into the labour market is necessary to mitigate the shortage of skilled workers in the wake of demographic change. Policymakers need to introduce life-course and gender-orientated strategies to mitigate women’s disadvantage in late-life,” says Professor Lea Ellwardt.

The researchers add that implementation of new policy measures should aim to prevent social inequalities in the earlier stages of life, as employment decisions influenced by earlier family events and associated career decisions accumulate over the course of life, especially for mothers.

The study was published in the European Journal of Ageing and was awarded the Best Paper Award of Section III for Social and Behavioural Gerontology of the “Deutschen Gesellschaft für Gerontologie und Geriatrie” (DGGG).

Education, News

Universities Under Siege: VinciWorks Offers Free Emergency Response Tools in Wake of Global Protests

In the wake of escalating student protests on campuses across the UK, echoing similar movements worldwide, VinciWorks, a leading eLearning and software solutions provider for higher education, is urging universities to prioritise emergency preparedness.

Recent weeks have seen a surge in student activism, with demonstrations erupting at institutions across the country in response to the ongoing international instability given recent global unrest. These protests highlight the growing potential for disruptions on university grounds, underlining the critical need for emergency response plans, especially in light of recent reports on rising antisemitism on campuses as well.

“Campuses are facing mounting pressure from students, government and the media. It only takes a single incident to escalate into a crisis that could be a significant risk. Preparing for emergencies and making sure staff and students know what to do and how to adapt is critical,” says Nick Henderson-Mayo, Director of Learning and Content at VinciWorks. “No university or college wants to find themselves at the centre of a media storm. Incidents will happen. The key is being prepared and knowing how to handle them.”

To support the higher and further education sector, VinciWorks is offering free access to its Emergency Response package to any client of its Higher and Further Education package. This comprehensive toolkit equips institutions with the resources through a range of real-world scenario-based training and real-world videos covering issues such as Evacuation Safety, Civil Unrest, Bomb Threats, Active Shooter Situations, and First Aid Essentials.

Equipping Universities for a Volatile Landscape

VinciWorks acknowledges that universities are already under immense pressure to address a multitude of compliance issues. Data breaches, cyberattacks, plagiarism fuelled by advancements in AI, and sexual harassment are just some of the ongoing concerns facing administrators.

VinciWorks goes beyond emergency response with a comprehensive library of eLearning courses designed specifically for the higher and further education sector. This extensive library covers a wide range of topics critical to a safe and secure learning environment, including Creating a Speak-Up Culture, Recognising Phishing Scams, Plagiarism in the Age of AI, Preventing Extremism, Sexual Misconduct at Universities, How to be an Ally, and many more.

In addition to supporting emergency preparedness, VinciWorks is hosting a free webinar specifically tailored for the Higher and Further Education sector titled “Protecting Your Campus in Troubling Times”. This session is scheduled for Wednesday, 29 May at 12 pm BST. 

“Universities are the intellectual hubs of our society,” concludes Henderson-Mayo. “By prioritising emergency preparedness and addressing a wider range of compliance concerns, institutions can safeguard their students, staff, and reputation. A proactive approach ensures a safe and secure learning environment, where education and intellectual discourse can thrive, even in turbulent times.”

Education, Education News, News

Advance HE and Explorance agree partnership for open comments analysis for PTES and PRES to optimise understanding of the student experience

Advance HE has commissioned Explorance MLY to undertake open comment analysis of the 2024 Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) and Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES).

PTES is the only international higher education sector-wide survey to gain insight from taught postgraduate students about their learning and teaching experience. PRES, meanwhile, provides robust, benchmark data from large numbers of institutions across the UK and globally to drive enhancement of the postgraduate research experience. Both surveys explore the experiences of tens of thousands of students.

Explorance MLY, which is used by a growing number of universities in the UK and globally, is an AI-powered qualitative analysis tool that distils data-driven actionable feedback from huge amounts of unstructured comments – with machine learning models purpose-built for higher education. MLY has specialised models that identify recommendations and alerts from student comments, allowing institutions to close the feedback loop. Through this partnership with Advance HE, over 100 participating universities will have the opportunity to experience MLY via its sharing dashboards.

Specifically, Explorance MLY will be used to analyse open comments from thousands of individual survey responses to two questions in each survey: PTES (‘What has been the one most positive aspect of your course so far?’, and ‘What one thing would most improve your experience of your course?’); and PRES (‘What has been the one most positive aspect of your research degree programme so far?’; and ‘What one thing would most improve your experience of your research degree programme?’).

Institutions who opt-in to this service will receive an interactive tailored dashboard with their responses quantified, coded against the benchmark, and filterable by key demographics.

Jonathan Neves, Head of Business Intelligence and Surveys at Advance HE, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Explorance on this project. Their expert analysis of open comments in this year’s PTES and PRES will be a crucial element to support the work of our members and the HE sector. The purpose is to provide participating institutions with better insights from these surveys that will help them improve the student experience and using MLY will help them do this more quickly than ever before.

“It is fantastic to be able to partner with an organisation which is already embedded in the sector, and is supporting individual universities with similar work around qualitative analysis of student feedback. MLY is a highly impressive tool, and we are looking forward to the implementation of a successful collaboration.”

John Atherton, VP Sales EMEA at Explorance, added:

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to work with Advance HE to support two integral surveys in the international higher education sector, and give individual universities the opportunity to experience MLY through the partnership. Thematically analysing free-text comments from student surveys is a huge challenge for universities, in terms of time and resources, and with our AI solution we can quickly develop themes and uncover patterns in responses to inform action. In turn, this leads to better insights to support and enhance student experience.”

Education

How to celebrate Learning at Work Week by embracing growth in the workplace

Learning At Work Week has been heralded as the perfect opportunity to “foster a culture of continuous improvement.”

Expert Jack Hayes, the director of the Motivational Speakers Agency, specialises in providing experts to businesses who can drive innovation and productivity.

And he says Learning At Work Week, celebrated between May 13 and May 19, can benefit both employers and employees.

Jack said: “Learning At Work Week is now firmly established as a key date in the calendar for business leaders. 87% of employees are less likely to leave their jobs if they are in workplaces which foster a culture of learning, and which organise engaging activities, as well as recognising achievements. Learning at Work Week is also an opportunity to foster a culture of continuous improvement and growth within an organisation. It is a time to also celebrate the value of learning and development in the workplace.

“Employers who recognise and act on learning at work week can reap numerous benefits. These include increased employee engagement and morale; enhanced skills and knowledge within the workforce; improved productivity and performance;

greater innovation and adaptability and enhanced employer brand and reputation as a learning organization.

 

Here are five top tips on how to celebrate Learning at Work Week and the benefits employers can gain by recognizing and acting on this event.

 

  1. Foster a Learning Culture:

Encourage a culture where learning is embraced at all levels. Provide staff with resources, support them, and roll out incentives for employees to engage in learning activities. This could include offering training programs, workshops, mentorship opportunities, or access to online learning platforms. By prioritising learning, you can demonstrate your commitment to employee development and empowerment.

 

  1. Organize Engaging Activities:

Plan a variety of interactive and engaging learning activities throughout the week. This could involve workshops, seminars, webinars, lunch-and-learns, team-building exercises, or knowledge-sharing sessions. Also aim to get creative and organise a learning expert to deliver a keynote speech to your audience. The Champions’ Speaker agency recently compiled its list of 10 best learning at work keynote speakers.

They included Inga Beale, the first female CEO of Lloyd’s of London; Olympian Derek Redmond; Carey Lohrenz, the first female F-14 Tomcat pilot, and Bonita Norris became the youngest British woman to summit Mount Everest

The best keynote speakers for Learning at Work Week are those who can inspire, educate, and motivate employees to embrace learning and personal development.

 

  1. Recognise and Reward Learning Achievements:

Acknowledge and celebrate the learning achievements of employees. Recognise individuals or teams who have demonstrated commitment to learning, acquired new skills, or made significant contributions to knowledge sharing. Consider offering rewards such as certificates, badges, prizes, or public recognition to incentivise participation and showcase the importance of continuous learning.

 

  1. Encourage Collaboration and Peer Learning:

Facilitate opportunities for employees to collaborate and learn from each other. Encourage peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, mentoring, and cross-departmental collaboration. Create forums or online platforms where employees can share insights, best practices, and any lessons learned. By fostering a culture of collaboration, you promote continuous learning and collective growth within the organisation.

 

 

  1. Reflect and Set Goals for the Future:

Use Learning at Work Week as a time for reflection and goal setting. Encourage employees to reflect on their learning journey so far, identify areas for improvement, and set personal or professional development goals for the future. Provide support and guidance in creating actionable plans to achieve these goals, whether through additional training, mentorship, or on-the-job experiences.

Career Development, Careers, Education, News

Graduate Coach to help thousands of UK graduates secure their dream jobs through cut price online course

To help thousands of graduates searching for jobs this summer, Graduate Coach, a UK leading graduate coaching company, has significantly dropped the price of its ‘Turn Your Degree into a Career’ course from £249 to £24.95.

The three-week online course will provide graduates with the skills, knowledge and insights to secure their first graduate job in an increasingly tough and competitive job market.

Graduate Coach highlights that approximately 2 million graduates are seeking jobs, while there are only around 17,500 new graduate roles are available each month. This is a sharp decline from the 25,000 jobs per month five years ago. Additionally, many graduates are ‘underemployed,’ working in unskilled jobs that are completely unrelated to their degrees.

 

Chris Davies, founder and CEO of Graduate Coach says, “The reality of the job market for graduates is stark. There is currently a job famine. The market is not only saturated with new grads, but they are competing with graduates from last year who are working their way out of underemployment into graduate jobs. Unfortunately, this means around 193 graduates are fighting for each graduate role advertised.

He adds, “We are seeing talented graduates face endless rejections and often silence from employers. We want to change this and have significantly reduced the price of our online course to help many more graduates and equip them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to secure their first graduate role.”

 

The course will help graduates understand which career path best suits them, their own skill set and how to prepare for interviews. They will also learn how to prepare a first class CV, write a cover letter that will stand out to employers, and to optimise their job hunt to find the best jobs, then master the interview and land a job.

Graduate Coach has helped thousands of students to secure their dream graduate job:

‘Graduate Coach was excellent in helping me streamline my CV and making sure that I was representing myself correctly and allowed me to discover talents and value that I would not have discovered on my own.’ – Alex, UK graduate.

Sign up to Graduate Coach’s Turn Your Degree into a Career course now, to gain key employability skills and stand out against your competitors in the graduate job market.

Contact: Chris Davies, gethelp@graduatecoach.co.uk, +44 (0)2070149547

—

Editor’s Note

Graduate Coach is a UK-based graduate career coaching firm founded by Chris Davies. Since it was set up in 2010, Graduate Coach has helped over 5,000 UK and international graduates secure positions at leading UK companies including Amazon, Google, J.P. Morgan, amongst others. With a focus on practical guidance and skill development, its services include one-to-one career coaching, immersive workshops, and personalised online resources. Additionally, Graduate Coach provides tailored internship opportunities and support services to further enhance graduates’ career prospects.

For more information, please visit https://graduatecoach.co.uk/

or their link tree https://linktr.ee/graduatecoachuk

 

Driving, Education, Education News

Hawkstone Scholarship Programme Winner Announced at University of South Wales

During September 2023, Hawkstone Commercials launched the Hawkstone Scholarship Programme which gave business study students at the University of South Wales the opportunity to compete for a £500 bursary payment.

Hawkstone Commercials is an independent vehicle leasing broker operating out of Bridgend in South Wales who were recently named in the Top 100 SME Businesses 2024.

The task set to the students was to write a detailed paper on how to overcome one of the key issues that faces the motor industry, and to outline opportunities in the market to further grow the business.

The winner was selected after a vigorous judging process, and it has been announced that the Hawkstone Scholarship bursary will go to Lekshmi Nair after delivering an exceptional final paper on the subject matter.

Director of Hawkstone Commercials, Oliver Lewis said “As a business we feel very strongly about giving back to organisations and charities as often as we can. There is a lot of talent within the University of South Wales, and it is important to give them as many real-world opportunities as possible to ensure they can develop into the next generation of entrepreneurs”.

“After meeting with Lekshmi, it was clear that the Scholarship Programme has added a lot of value to the University and the students within. We have made the decision to start another programme this year, which we believe will be a bigger success than the last” Oliver added.

Lekshmi Nair said “It was fantastic to challenge myself in a subject and topic that I am not particularly familiar with. I undertook a lot of research to fully understand how the industry operates to ensure that I provided a strong and robust paper. I would like to thank Hawkstone Commercials for the opportunity”.

Hawkstone Commercials has set its sights on expanding the Scholarship Programme across other universities in Wales, and to local colleges in the near future.

 

Education, Education News, News, Pensions

Teachers’ Pension Scheme employer contribution rate rises – what can independent schools do about it?

The employer contribution rate for the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), a defined benefit scheme, has increased by 5% this month.

The rate increase from 23.68% to 28.68% is based on the outcome of the 2020 valuation of the scheme. The Department for Education is providing additional funding to directly funded scheme employers, such as state schools, to cover the increase in the employer contribution rate, but higher education providers and independent schools are not eligible for this and are facing additional costs.

Stuart Price, Partner and Actuary at Quantum Advisory, says: “With no funding assistance from the government, independent schools face an exponential rise in employment costs. Coupled with Labour’s plans to add VAT to independent school fees if they win the upcoming general election, independent schools are having to make difficult financial decisions to ensure that their future is sustainable.

“This latest employer TPS contribution rate rise could be the turning point for even more independent schools to review their pension provision for teaching staff. A freedom of information request by the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association has revealed that 460 independent schools have left or announced plans to leave the TPS in some form as of September 2023.

“There are numerous alternative pension options for schools such as phased withdrawal that allows independent schools to opt out of the TPS for new teaching staff, while existing teaching staff remain members of the TPS. This option has limited impact on immediate cost savings and mitigating financial risk for independent schools. More common options include a total exit from the TPS for all teaching staff in respect of future service or a ‘shared cost/risk’ basis where teaching staff pick up some or all of the additional costs to remain in the TPS for future service. Combinations of the alternatives are also available too.

“Whatever a school does needs to be carefully planned for; that includes putting in place a robust business case for any changes. But by far the biggest challenge is the HR issues changes can bring. These can be mitigated by providing generous flexible alternatives in place of the TPS, carrying out a well-planned communication exercise with teaching staff that includes being receptive to their views and providing lots of support so teaching staff can see how the changes would impact them at a personal level. This allows teaching staff to fully understand the changes so they can make a well informed decision in relation to their future benefit provision.

“Making changes to the TPS is not a straightforward exercise but once done it provides independent schools with more long-term funding stability, which is so important given the current financial climate.”

Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Education

Cardiff Capital Region joins forces with local universities and colleges for future collaboration

Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) has signed a groundbreaking Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Higher and Further Education (HE & FE) institutions from South East Wales, forming a framework for future collaboration based on key objectives for economic wellbeing in the Region.

The agreement is a first of its kind in Wales, with Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, and the University of South Wales (USW) being joined by the Region’s Further Education colleges, including Merthyr Tydfil, Coleg Gwent, Cardiff and Vale College, Coleg Y Cymoedd and Bridgend College.

Given the concentration of academic and research excellence in South East Wales, this will ensure the wider region realises the benefits of cooperative working. Each of the institutions has a significant role to play in embracing the regional growth agenda and ensuring civic commitments to inclusivity and sustainability are at the heart of new and emerging initiatives.

Since 2017 CCR has worked successfully with regional HE & FE on transformative projects, leveraging significant research and innovation funding for the Region. This includes being the only UK Region to land two UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) Strength In Places Fund initiatives (CSConnected & Media Cymru) with a combined value of almost £100m.

This further commitment will ensure alignment on regional ambitions and create further opportunities for business engagement, collaborative learning, teaching and R&D, allowing CCR to gather the expertise that these institutions can deliver together.

Speaking at the launch, Cllr Mary Ann Brocklesby, Leader of Monmouthshire County Council, said:

“I am delighted that Higher and Further Education partners are uniting in their support of our regional ambitions. This builds on CCR’s endeavours to form a coalition of the willing, bringing together the people and organisations who can contribute to our mission for a bigger, greener and fairer region.”

Kellie Beirne, CEO, Cardiff Capital Region, said:

“This partnership demonstrates a significant coming together of educational and research institutions and a newly established regional public body, allowing us to align our efforts to advance our civic missions together. Innovation stands as the cornerstone of our future, and our joint commitment to collaborate and forge a new path provides the best chance of building sustainability and resilience in the face of ongoing change and challenge. By formalising our relationships, we lay the groundwork for regional impact and future sustainable growth and a recognition that together, we can achieve more.”

Beauty, Business, Cardiff, Cardiff News, Education, Employee Motivation, Hair and Beauty, Job Opportunities, Jobs

Cardiff teen lands her dream job through Jobs Growth Wales+

A 17-year-old apprentice from Cardiff is flying to Budapest after support from the Welsh Government’s Jobs Growth Wales+ programme to land her dream role as a Hairdresser.

Darla Wathen recently completed her Level 1 NVQ qualification in Hairdressing and is currently working at Henderson & Co. as a Junior Stylist.

When discussing her route to employment, Darla said: “I wasn’t very academic at school, but I’ve always been a creative person. I decided to meet with Working Wales to scope out my options and Jobs Growth Wales+ appealed to me because of the work placements and hands-on training that were incorporated into your learning.

“Back then I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my future, so I attended a few taster days to explore different career pathways. The courses on offer varied from childcare to beauty to construction and animal care, but it was hairdressing that I discovered I had a passion for.”

Having found her feet, Darla excelled on the programme and quickly proved to her tutors that she was a talented and dedicated learner.

Darla said: “My tutor, Charlotte, played a huge role in how comfortable and at ease I felt on Jobs Growth Wales+. I was nervous when I first started the programme, but she spent a lot of time helping me build on my essential skills before looking for employment.

“As well as working with me to improve my CV, Charlotte would act out interview scenarios with me to get me used to a real-life environment. This massively helped with my confidence and was a huge turning point for me.

“My Jobs Growth Wales+ tutors saw my potential. Everyone treated me like an adult, and I could tell the programme wanted me to succeed.”

With the support she received, Darla soon secured her job at Henderson & Co. in Cardiff and is currently thriving as a Junior Stylist.

Darla continued: “Working at Henderson & Co. has been amazing. I really appreciate the advice the other stylists give me, and I’ve already learnt so much in such a short space of time. When I’m not with clients, I’m either on reception, tidying or doing stock take – I love going to work because no day is the same!”

“I’m really keen to specialise in colour and I’ve been lucky enough to practice different techniques – from block colour, balayage, foils and highlights. I even dyed a customer’s hair red the other day.”

This year, Darla will be flying to Budapest with Henderson & Co. to attend a fashion show workshop.

“I feel incredibly lucky to be going with the team to a Kevin Murphy fashion show. It’s another new adventure and an opportunity for me to be taught by the very best influencers and experts in the industry.”

Darla has also got her sights set on gaining more work experience in Australia before returning to Wales to set up her own salon.

Darla said: “I’m hoping to progress with Henderson & Co, and maybe in a few years even live and work in Australia to learn new techniques again. At the moment I’m taking every day as it comes but it would be amazing to set up my own salon eventually.

“My one piece of advice for people who don’t know what they want to do when they’re at school is to talk to others about your options. I felt incredibly listened to and was lucky enough to find a career because of the training and funding provided through Jobs Growth Wales+.”

To learn more about Jobs Growth Wales+ visit workingwales.gov.wales/jobs-growth-wales-plus or call Working Wales on 0800 028 4844.