A MINISTER is urging Mid Cheshire youngsters not to rule out university.
John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, is urging young people who have no family experience of university – or are not considering higher education – to think again.
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills’ (DIUS) First to Go campaign is encouraging more than a third of England’s 16 and 17-year-olds, who may be the first in their family to enter higher education, to think about the benefits of a degree course.
With the UCAS deadline for autumn 2008 university applications approaching on Tuesday, the campaign has the backing of Universities UK, Prospects, moneysaving expert Martin Lewis and regional development agencies and employers across the UK.
Many family members have university ambitions for their children after regretting missing out on the experience themselves.
More than a third of parents and grandparents who responded decided not to go to university and went straight out to work instead.
But the vast majority (91%) of parents and grandparents now want their offspring to go to university.
Mr Denham said: “We’re calling on young people to be the first in their family to go to university. The Government is committed to unlocking the talents and potential of all our young people, ensuring that a university education is an option for everyone. But universities cannot offer places to students, however talented, who do not apply.”
Seven out of 10 (73 per cent) of those polled across the generations believe the biggest long-term benefit of going to university is the ability to get a better job, while 63 per cent agree that university education gives you a chance to earn more money.
