How to give the best possible advice to students and graduates?

Use DLHE to inform career pathways.

With clearing imminent, if you’re a parent, teacher or guardian helping children make decisions about which degree to choose, concerns about their prospects after graduation are understandable. What university would best benefit my child’s career aspirations? What are the employment rates and salary expectations in their chosen field? When will they able to pay back student debt? Will they have a good experience?

The Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey is a useful reference point in helping make what are critical decisions.

What is DLHE?

DLHE is a national survey that provides information on what leavers from higher education (HE) programmes are doing six months after receiving their qualification. The DLHE survey is sent out annually to all graduates who study in the UK. The results give students and parents an indication of how likely a graduate might be to get a job after graduation or be successful in moving on to further study if that’s what they choose.

Let’s have a look at the latest results.

The 2016/2017 DLHE survey results showed that over 93% of full-time first-degree medicine, dentistry and veterinary graduates were in full-time work six months after graduation.

Among UK full-time first degree leavers in Mathematical Sciences, such as accountancy or investment analysts, 82.8% of students went on to employment or further personal or career development.

However, financial services sector graduates are among the most successful. In fact, this years DLHE results reported that 100% of our full-time banking graduates are in employment or further study within six months of graduation.

Employability is embedded in our programmes so if your child is career driven or wants to develop ‘on the job’ skills as well as developing their academic skills; our vocational degrees might be a good option for them.

Why are the results important?

The results are important because they help career advisers keep informed of trends in the graduate labour market so they can give the best possible advice to students and graduates. Also, the survey also provides information on what graduates from their programmes have gone on to do.

The survey results can be a significant aid to parents, teachers and guardians as they help children make informed decisions about their career path and where and what to study.

The DLHE metrics are also used in formulating education and economic policy, institutional strategies and various league tables.

What else can help?

Another useful survey to look at is the National Students Survey (NSS). The NSS is a nationwide survey of student satisfaction. More than 320,000 UK students took part in the survey this year.

The NSS survey is designed to assess student opinion on the quality of their courses, allowing an institution to improve students’ experience. It can also help inform the choices of prospective students in the future.

Hema Tank, Associate Dean at The London Institute of Banking & Finance

Copyright © 2018 FE News

About The London Institute of Banking & Finance: Founded in 1879 as the Institute of Bankers, The London Institute of Banking and Finance (LIBF) is a registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter, and a regulated awarding body and university college, providing under-graduate and post-graduate degree courses for students aiming to pursue a career in banking and finance at our university campus in central London. Our Faculty is drawn from industry practitioners with an academic background and the university has very close links with the sector. We are rated as joint fifth overall in the UK for student satisfaction with 92% of its students reporting that they were satisfied with the quality of their course (2017 National Student Survey).

LIBF also provides an accredited professional qualifications framework for the finance sector, providing firms and individuals with the skills and capability needed in today’s industry. We provide qualifications covering a wide range of subjects, including banking, regulation, conduct, ethics, investment, mortgage advice and financial advice.

We are also the only specialist awarding body for dedicated personal finance qualifications for children and young people under the national curriculum, regulated by Ofqual. We work with over 750 schools and over 50,000 young people every year.