Is university still the best choice?

All of last year’s Upper Sixth have now confirmed their plans for the coming year. The vast majority of our Sixth Form remain interested in studying at university and all who applied for entry this September now have had their places confirmed. Others will be applying for entry next year, the advantage being that they have their A level results and can target their applications accordingly.

What is new this year is the increase in the number of students shunning the university route altogether and going into the world of work, either directly or via an apprenticeship scheme. These students, with A2 profiles which would guarantee entry into respected universities, have clearly decided that university is not for them. There are a number of reasons for this: the prospect of an average debt of £25,000 on graduation; the fear that there will not be a suitable job available at the end of it all; the lure of earning an immediate salary along with receiving high quality training.

This new trend at Colston’s is reflected across the country as those apprenticeships which are most sought after- with BT, M & S etc- are more oversubscribed than many university places. Clearly the decision as to what to do after A levels is not as straightforward as it was only a few years ago.

Where Colston's last year's U6 pupils are going


Record number of Colston's students studying Psychology at University