Pupils from state schools are better prepared for ‘new economy’, claims Ucas
Figures show that just 13 per cent of privately educated university entrants studied ‘new economy subjects’ such as biotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence, cinematics and creative art and design. This is significantly lower than the 26 per cent of state schooled students who chose to study new economy degrees.
The chief executive said that private schools have been “a little bit slow on the uptake” in encouraging pupils to follow these paths. She said: “Not only are your students going to the same universities their parents went to, but they’re studying the same subjects that their parents did.
“If I were to believe a recent report from one independent school head, your students and their parents often seem to think the only jobs worth shooting for are medicine, law, financial services and the media."
The preference for traditional employment areas means that such ‘magic circle professions’ are ending up with a workforce drawn from such a narrow pool it seems to be ‘impending their ability to be effective’.
Ms Curnock Cook said: “I worry about a sub-section of society which is sleepwalking through an identikit educational experience into an off-the-peg life which mirrors what generations of the affluent classes have aspired to.”
According to Cook, the most popular degree choices for privately educated pupils include medicine, history, economics, English, law and geography.
“Perhaps…these predictable course choices to the same old universities are not always the right choices for all of your pupils,” she said. “Maybe some of them should give serious thought to choosing to study something different somewhere else.”
Ms Curnock Cook further voiced that a focus on universities on increasing their intakes of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds ‘probably did not’ threaten the prospects of privately-educated pupils, because falling pupil numbers meant students with ‘good A-levels will be in more demand than ever”.
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