DEBATE


…it is imperative that employers have a choice of quality year-out candidates, in order to make this provision time and cost-effective.


2.6% from 2009-10), and similarly, wages have also increased, with 32.3% now offering between £301 and £350 a week (up 12.1% from 2009-10). Yet despite this rise in the availability of sandwich


courses, research published in the 2012 Wilson Review showed that the number of students actually opting to participate in placement years has dropped considerably over the past decade.


In the period 2002-3, 9.5% of the


full-time student body took part in a sandwich course, compared to just 7.2% in 2009-10. So, why, in a time when employers receive an average of


73 applications for every vacancy, are students passing over the opportunity to gain highly prized employability skills and experience? The problem, according to the Wilson Review, is threefold – students, universities and employers alike face time and monetary constraints which mean that sandwich course delivery has become rather stale in recent years. As it currently stands, the majority of placement courses are provided by only a small number of universities – particularly those with a tradition of offering placement years, such as Loughborough University, University of Surrey and Aston. Employers are therefore faced with the question of how


FOOD FOR THOUGHT…


Earlier this year, Minister for Universities David Willetts announced ambitious plans to make England “the best place in the world for business-university collaboration.” One of the ways to achieve this goal, he said, is to improve the provision of sandwich courses at UK universities. But with the number of annual year-in- industry students in slow decline, is the sandwich course past its best? AGR’s Emma Godden takes a look…


>> 22 GRADUATE RECRUITER I


n an age where, according to the latest AGR surveys, UK students are starved of the skills required to fill


graduate vacancies, it’s little surprise that the government has set its sights on the sandwich course as the plat du jour for the graduate recruitment industry. Designed to introduce students to the world of work


and equip them with crucial professional experience, sandwich courses have long been recognised as a marker of employability by AGR members. Throughout the recession, placement year provision has not only remained steady, but in some quarters has actually increased. The number of AGR members now offering over 50 industrial placements has risen to 14.7% (up


to boost sandwich course attraction. As an important feeder (pardon the pun) into permanent graduate positions, it is imperative that employers have a choice of quality year-out candidates, in order to make this provision time and cost-effective. By the same token, it is ever-important that Universities invest in measures that will boost their employability rating. As a solution, David Willetts has proposed that the


cost of sandwich courses be slashed. Under current regulations, students can be charged up to £4,500 fees to participate in a placement year, a discouragingly large amount for prospective participants. The Universities Minister has recommended instead a 15% cap on tuition fees, a figure which more reasonably reflects the costs of a year in industry, whilst still providing sufficient income to HEIs to meet their costs and to continue to invest in and expand sandwich course provision. Alongside this, the Graduate Talent Pool service will


be extended for a further three years, in order to help increase the number of students taking part in quality- assured internships. But with no obligations upon employers to increase


placement year wages, and with the decision about how to invest in sandwich courses being left in the hands of each individual institution, it will be interesting to see what impact Willetts’ recommendations actually have. Should the government take more of a lead on this issue,


or is it up to HEIs and employers to improve business- university collaboration amongst themselves? Tell us your views on this subject by posting on the AGR’s LinkedIn group, or tweet us @agrtweets. www.agr.org.uk


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