Your Weekly Antidote: What’s next for students after exams?
Exam results season. A time that never fails to make me nostalgic for times gone by but also feel really old when the realisation hits that it’s been 19 long years since I collected my GCSE results. No wonder my back hurts…
It’s a week that never fails to dominate the news agenda. From A Level results through to GCSEs a week later, journalists are number crunching and looking to spot the trends that will get people across the country talking.
With students now looking at what lies ahead, whether it’s college, university, an apprenticeship or straight into full-time employment, the figures paint a very interesting picture of what’s been achieved and what’s next.
What does the data say?
- A Level entries awarded the top grades (A* or A) have risen for the first time since 2021, from 27.2% to 27.8%. This has resulted in more than 80% of students getting into their first choice university, according to LBC.
- The proportion of GCSEs marked at a passing grade and above across England, Wales and Northern Ireland has fallen to 67.6%, from 68.2% last year. This is largely due to exam regulators aiming to bring results back in line with pre-pandemic levels.
- The north / south divide widens, with a 10.7% gap between the number being awarded 7/A or higher GCSEs: 28.5% in London and 17.8% in the North East. MPs have warned it may take a decade to level the playing field.
- Computer Weekly has reported an 8% increase in women choosing computer science degrees this year, potentially highlighting that the tech industry’s gender divide could be slowly closing.
While there have been plenty of incredible achievements to celebrate over the past week - this story about twins securing identical grades jumped out in particular - what does the jobs market hold for the young people that have spent the majority of their lives preparing for this moment?
For those with entrepreneurial spirit and an idea they believe can take them to new heights, the UK remains a hub for business creation. In fact, we’re currently on track for a record high number of new companies launching in 2024.
That option isn’t for everybody though, with many young people looking to secure full-time employment to kick-start their careers. It’s here that the skills gap regularly mentioned in the media becomes important.
For many, there may be an assumption the tech skills gap will naturally close given the sheer volume of ‘digital natives’ entering the workplace. Prince’s Trust data shows that isn’t the case though. 37% of young people in the UK don’t study tech-related subjects after KS3 (the first three years of secondary education), while 42% don’t feel digital skills will be essential to their career. Given the rise of AI in the workplace and the role technology plays in driving innovation, this has to be seen as a concern.
There may be an assumption that the Apprenticeship Levy will be plugging this gap, but data for the 22/23 academic year shows that the Department for Education handed back £96m of apprenticeship funding to the Treasury. No wonder the likes of the British Retail Consortium, UKHospitality, Recruitment & Employment Confederation and techUK have long been calling for the restrictive requirements of the levy to be reformed to enable business to access these essential funds.
It’s clear that change is needed to provide the environment required to allow the next generation to thrive post-education, while ensuring the UK has the skills it needs now to build a healthy economy and tackle job vacancy numbers. There was a suggestion last week that an “EU reset” may be coming, which would allow young people from EU member states to live and work in the UK for the first time since Brexit, with a reciprocal agreement for UK citizens.
Time will tell if that comes to fruition, but if it does, the change should be seen as a positive. After all, as Sir Tim Berners-Lee famously said, “we need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges.”
This is why we’re always open to hearing from people with a passion for comms and data here at Antidote, as well as those keen to take the next step in their tech PR careers. We pride ourselves on recruiting the best person for the team regardless of background and level of education. If that’s you, we hope you’ll be in touch to find out more about this growing comms tech agency.
That’s the end of the second edition of ‘Your Weekly Antidote’. Come back next week for another dose of data-driven news analysis on one of the biggest stories of the week.
