Yesterday’s Western Mail reveals the shocking truth about the way that Wales is failing to utilise the potential of its graduates. They report that nearly a quarter of graduates are unable to find full-time work three-and-a-half years after leaving university.
They add that data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) yesterday show a further fifth of graduates in work were not in a graduate-level profession, and more than one in 10 who completed their studies in 2004/05 said they had faced unemployment at least once in their career. Just over 23% of those asked said they had been unable to secure full-time, paid work since completing their degree.
But yesterday, academics in Wales warned the situation could be even worse here because even in big cities like Cardiff few entry-level opportunities were available to graduates.
Phil Dixon, director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), based in Cardiff, said that he had “no reason” to dispute the data’s ability to represent students in Wales. But he added: “If anything, I would say graduate unemployment in Wales could be worse because we have less graduate opportunities.
“I think the posts that are available tend to be in London, as that is where companies tend to hold their headquarters. I don’t think the figures represent a lack of motivation among students, I think they have a lot more to do with the graduate jobs market.”
These figures cast further doubt on the existence and the value of the so-called graduate premium on which the whole rationale of tuition and top-up fees were based.
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