S Jobbins, Careers and Employability Advisor; April 2019

On the 6^th June I attended a conference for teachers and careers advisors hosted jointly by the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham. I wanted to share some updates and findings:

Admissions:

Nottingham University will be offering Veterinary Science courses in Clearing. These courses have April and September intakes. Also, the Extended Project Qualification is highly regarded by admissions at both universities and if relevant to the subject chosen, may be considered in the case where grades for that course haven’t been met.

Degree Apprenticeships

Birmingham University gave examples of a handful of degree apprenticeships on offer. Students working with Carphone Warehouse would take a sandwich year and work through the summer of what would otherwise be an ordinary degree programme. They would benefit from having most of the university experience and social life, as well as the same accommodation, course content and friends. This is along with employment experience and pay that this apprenticeship offers.  Students are able to apply for this degree apprenticeship in addition to a degree course at the university. If the employer doesn’t accept them for the apprenticeship, they can still do the UCAS degree course equivalent.

Amazing Apprenticeships talked about having representatives go out into schools; we already have one working with us. Our rep will be delivering a talk on Degree Apprenticeships at our Post 18 days and will run further events with students.

It was pointed out that many students applied for apprenticeships after they had applied to universities, thus missing out on some good opportunities that could be applied for before the January UCAS deadline. The website has a ‘Vacancy Snapshot’ that details some of the larger degree apprenticeships employers such as Coca Cola and a document that is issued twice a year showing when they are likely to advertise vacancies.

Engineering Courses:

The chemical engineer presenting explained there were too few of him in one of the highest paid professions. He spoke of some chemical engineers being paid £30,000 or more six months after graduating, and £73,000 after completing a masters. He described chemical engineers as always trying to make something not only better, but also cheaper. An interest in Maths, Chemistry and Physics was needed with AAA or A* AA required for Birmingham’s Chemical Engineering courses with a B in Maths required for other engineering, and degree apprenticeship courses.  

Some of the Architectural and Environmental Engineering courses were suited to students with an interest in the Environment or Building Services and not Architecture as the title might suggest. These engineering students would work with architects, and all of the engineering courses were multi-disciplinary in their first year, allowing for a student to change direction. Personal statements for engineering courses might have included an interest in any of the following: artificial intelligence, gaming, robotics, software, autonomous cars, circuits, Lego and mechatronics, design projects, creativity, and technologies. Some of the courses were subject to an Alumni Bursary.

Cancer Science Degrees

In effect they were a Biomedical Sciences degree programme, with a focus on cancer research from year one. Students work includes following real life case studies and a patient journey for those discussed.