A third of university courses provide no economic return, says Conservative peer
Conservative peer Amanda Spielman has said that “something like a third” of university courses provide no economic return for young people.
At a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference, the former Ofsted chief inspector expressed concern over degree courses that are “short-changing” students.
[Spielman] warned that certain degrees, particularly humanities, leave students with “far too much time to get bored and lonely”
Spielman criticised degree courses that are “eating up” three years of students’ lives for “no real benefits”. Citing figures from a 2020 Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report, she urged the government to “look hard” where students are not getting sufficient financial value from university.
The Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions warned that certain degrees, particularly humanities, leave students with “far too much time to get bored and lonely”. She suggested that many students are “underoccupied” with only “a few hours of lectures” and “one essay every few weeks”.
Spielman also expressed concern about the labour market for students, as there are “so many fewer part-time jobs”.
Spielman also spoke of student debt as an “enormous, threatening sword” and called on policymakers to “think quite fundamentally about the design of mass higher education”.
The vast majority […] of young people who are going to university do not regret it
David Willetts, Conservative Party member
After taking part in a debate about the future of tertiary education, the ex-Ofqual inspector added that most students do benefit from the “implied contract”. However, she pointed out that there is a minority that are not getting the “decent jobs and career progression” in return.
In response to Spielman, fellow party member David Willetts asserted that “the vast majority […] of young people who are going to university do not regret it”. Willetts acknowledged the need for continued scrutiny of higher education but emphasised that the “raw figures” demonstrate the value of studying a degree.
In June, the Department for Education released figures revealing that, on average, graduates out-earn those who gained similar GCSE results but did not go on to study a degree.
Alison Wolf, an economist and peer in the House of Lords, proposed that any “massive restructuring” of the tertiary education system is not a priority. Rather, she called for “serious apprenticeship reform” and criticised Andy Burnham’s government for their “obsession with qualifications”.
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