A UK survey recently published provides an insight into the concerns, lifestyle and skills of 17 to 19-year-olds who’ve applied to university and are eagerly awaiting their A-Level results on 13 August. Around a third of young people (31%) from the West Midlands are concerned about not fitting in and feeling lost in the crowd when they go to university. And finding paid employment will be a priority for 93% of new university students who will need to work alongside their studies to meet the financial demands of university.
Commissioned by Buckinghamshire New University, the YouthSight survey shows that young people in the West Midlands are:
- most concerned about not fitting in at university and beset with money worries: 93% will need paid work and 44% are unable to afford university without the maintenance grants which will be abolished from 2016;
- independent of their parents’ influences when choosing what and where to study – ‘helicopter parent’ (over-controlling or cosseting) phenomena on the wane;
- more focused on job prospects and the academic rather than social side of university life;
- most likely to miss families over home comforts and friends;
- 43% of respondents from West Midlands can cook more than 5 meals ‘from scratch’;
- most likely to use Facebook over other social media and be reliant on their phones.
Almost a fifth of those polled (19%) face working in both term time and during their holidays. More than two-fifths (44%) of respondents said that they would rely on maintenance grants – which will be scrapped from 2016 – and could not afford to study at university without them.
Not a single respondent in the West Midlands cited having fun as the main reason for going to university whilst the main drivers are furthering their education and knowledge (46%) and needing a degree for their chosen career (22%). Most have a clear motivation for applying to university with just 7% stating it’s something they ‘think they should be doing.’
With 64% of young people in the West Midlands citing themselves as the most significant influence on their choice of course and university, it seems the phenomena of the ‘helicopter parent’ is on the wane with only 15% regarding their parents as their most significant influence about what and where to study. Teachers were a significant influence for 11% of respondents in the West Midlands. The majority (63%) agreed that university league tables are quite important but do not ‘paint the whole picture’ and 19% of respondents did not rely on them at all.
Although most young people in the West Midlands will miss their families (44%) over home comforts (20%) and friends (18%), some 10% will be pining for their pets. The security of guaranteed university accommodation in their first year was rated as important by 84% of respondents.
Ian Plover, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University, said: “I was interested to see that young people are taking the initiative when choosing their preferred courses and where they want to study. Universities have a responsibility to meet the demands of students and their future employers; at Bucks New University we work closely with industry partners to create our courses. We’re also proud to offer all our first-year students guaranteed university accommodation and the survey would suggest that kitchens in our halls of residence will be very well-used!”
With social media, the respondents from the West Midlands are most likely to use Facebook (40%) followed by Twitter (23%) and Instagram (24%). And it is phones (61%) rather than laptops or tablets (31%) that most couldn’t face leaving behind and chose as their ‘desert island’ survival item.
More than two-fifths of respondents in the West Midlands (43%) can cook at least five meals ‘from scratch’ with only 3% heading off to university unable to cook a single dish.
Most young people in the West Midlands are keen to start university as soon as possible with only 9% planning to defer their studies to take a gap year. Some 12% of respondents anticipate a gap year after they graduate.
Whilst 63% of respondents from the West Midlands would enter the Clearing process if their A-level grades fall short of what they’re expecting on 13 August, just over a fifth (23%) would not.
Robyn Lipscombe, a second-year Product Design student at Bucks New University, said: “'I joined Bucks New University through Clearing in 2013 and had so much support that I wanted to give something back. I'm proud to be part of the University's Clearing team this year and will be one of the students taking phone calls to our hotline. I know from my experience that it really helps to speak to a current student to ask practical questions about university life. My advice to anyone who doesn't get the results they're hoping for is to be clear on your available options, stay calm on the phone and try to speak to an academic who teaches on the course in which you're interested.
“I'm surprised that 20% of the people surveyed wouldn't even consider Clearing as an option. It proved to be the best decision I made - within a day I had secured a place on a course that I love and I'm hoping to continue my postgraduate studies at Bucks."
The survey sample of 1009 people is representative of the UK and included respondents from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
