Maths graduates are good news for teaching

ëBut donít knock clerical, admin and secretarial posts as a route to top jobs,í says Graduate Prospects chief

The proportion of Maths graduates embarking on a teaching career has doubled in a year, according to What Do Graduates Do? 2005 released tomorrow (21 January 2005).

One in six Maths graduates (15.5 per cent of the 2003 graduating cohort) are now heading for the classroom, either becoming teaching professionals or undertaking a postgraduate teaching qualification. This compares with fewer than one in twelve of 2002ís Maths graduates (7.9 per cent).

The appeal of teaching is broadening across other degree subjects too. Geography shows the second highest increase, delivering 12.7 per cent of 2003ís graduates up from 7.6 per cent in 2002. English is another boom subject for the education sector, with seven per cent of all new teaching professionals in 2003 possessing an English degree (up from one per cent in 2002). One in six English graduates (15.8 per cent) entered teaching, up from 9.6 per cent the previous year.

What Do Graduates Do? 2005 tracks the career destinations of the 2003 first degree and HND graduating cohort, and examines the employment market by type of work and subject of study. The report is published by Graduate Prospects; the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS); and UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, and using data sourced from the HESA First Destination survey. The aim of the report is to provide a guide for Year 11 and 12 students, parents and careers advisors, on the potential outcomes of different degree subjects.

This yearís report also highlights that the numbers of graduates entering clerical and secretarial positions has declined, down three per cent from 14.3 per cent in 2002 to 11.3 per cent in 2003, yet still accounts for a significant proportion, over one in ten, of early job destinations for graduates. Despite these figures being presented by some to show that a degree is not a passport to a graduate job, they actually show something quite different when considered alongside longer term research as Mike Hill, chief executive of Graduate Prospects, explains:

ìRecent research, ëSeven Years On: Graduate Careers in a Changing Labour Marketí, confirms that nine out of ten graduates secure graduate jobs within seven years of graduation. The ëWhat Do Graduates Doí report simply highlights that graduates from some degrees take longer than others to decide on their long term futures often taking more administrative positions while they consider their options; others use such positions as footholds into companies for which they would like to work. The idea that all graduates should sail from university into high paid graduate jobs within weeks of graduation is a myth and always has been.î

The trend for students to leave job hunting until after graduation, focusing instead on academic achievement, is demonstrated by a survey of final year students undertaken by Graduate Prospects at careers fairs in summer 2004. Well over half, (58 per cent), of graduates were still ëjust getting a feelí for the job market as their degrees came to an end.

Directly vocational degrees continue to offer excellent immediate career prospects: Civil Engineering emerges ahead of all other surveyed degree subjects in the employment stakes with 72.3 per cent of Civil Engineering graduates employed in the UK or abroad. Two thirds of recent graduates employed in the health profession (66 per cent) have medicine and dentistry degrees; with a similar proportion of IT graduates (63 per cent) in the IT profession. Of graduates working in the media, literary, design, PR and sports profession, nearly three in ten (28 per cent) have Design Studies degrees.

A large proportion of graduate level positions are likely to be open to graduates of any discipline: of all graduates, well over one in ten (11.2 per cent) take up roles as commercial, industrial and public sector managers. A similar number (nine per cent) enter professional, associate professional and technical occupations.

Mike Hill, chief executive of Graduate Prospects, commented on the report findings:

ìAs a snapshot, this is a healthy indication that 2003ís graduating cohort is off to a flying career start. The teaching industry looks set to benefit with reinforcement in core subject areas, particularly Maths, English and the sciences.î

Tony Butler, president of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, said:

ìYear 12 and 13 students, and their parents, should be reassured that undertaking a degree is one of the best things you can do for your career, backed up with some well articulated work experience. As ever we are seeing graduates entering a wide range of professions, unafraid of trying them out to see if they are suitable, and making the most of the skills they have learnt. Employers are benefiting from the softer skills, such as communication, time management and prioritising, developed through the discipline of university study, in addition to technical, analytical and knowledge-based skills resulting from specific degree subjects.î