FOR those who’ve successfully made it through the process of university admissions, a whole new world awaits.
This year’s A-Level results generated an entirely predictable chorus of complaints about whether standards have been lowered.
It’s not just A-Level students who may feel their efforts are being undermined. GCSEs, if we are to believe some widely held views, are getting easier every year too. And, say the critics of our education system, so many teenagers now get good GCSEs, more are encouraged to stay on and have a go at the allegedly easier A-Levels.
This leads more and more students to consider the tertiary education system.
For a city like Liverpool, this is good news.
One of the major areas of growth for the region’s wealth in the coming years has been identified as the knowledge economy.
In its widest sense, this includes our universities and colleges and our creative industries sector.
It may be hard to imagine how the hordes of freshers currently descending on Liverpool will make any immediate economic impact, other than by spending money in off-licences, clubs and bars, but they will make an important contribution in the long term.
And the numbers are sizeable.
The University of Liverpool has around 19,400 students, Liverpool John Moores almost 25,000 and Liverpool Hope over 7,000.
Not far away, other establishments also make a contribution to the region’s student economy. Edge Hill University has 20,100 students, and the University of Chester has 13,500. There are another 800-plus at LIPA.
This brings us to the vexed question of graduate retention rates.If the knowledge sector is to make a bigger contribution to this region’s economic wealth, it is critical to keep some of the best talent in the region after graduation.
According to the latest available figures from the 2006 Merseyside Economic Review, some 30% of those from outside the area stayed here after graduating. And so did 59% of those originally from Merseyside.
The critical point here, of course, is that there must be sufficiently attractive jobs to keep them here. A brain drain must be avoided at all costs.
That’s a challenge local businesses must meet.
