More than 630,000 graduates are on BENEFITS amid fears over the rise of 'Mickey Mouse' degrees

Daily Mail​

28-07-2025

More than 630,000 graduates are claiming benefits amid fears over the rise of 'Mickey Mouse' degrees, official figures have revealed.
According to the first data of its kind released to Parliament, a total of 639,000 people with an honours degree or similar level qualification are claiming Universal Credit.
This means that more than one in nine claimants (11.9 per cent) are graduates, just four per cent lower than the proportion with no qualifications (15.9 per cent), which came to 849,000 people.
The data, from the Labour Force Survey for March to May this year, has been released to Parliament by the UK Statistics Authority, as the full-time employment rate for graduates has fallen from 61 per cent to 59 per cent.
It comes as more graduates face earning the minimum wage, with the salary gap between the country's lowest earners and students leaving university becoming increasingly closer.
The median real-terms salary for graduates aged under 65 was £26,500, the study found. This was an increase of £500 from the previous year.
The survey did find that graduates were more likely to be in work than non-graduates, with 88 per cent of graduates in employment last year, compared with 68 per cent of non-graduates.
However, the figures of the number of graduates on Universal Credit will fuel worry that so-called 'Mickey Mouse' degrees are seeing students leave university without the skills they need to find a job.
Prof Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment research at Buckingham University, told the Telegraph: 'The kinds of things that are offered lead to degrees but don't qualify people for the kinds of employment that are available.
'Therefore, people work hard on degree courses for three years and then discover that they don't have much earning potential in the labour market.'
Neil O'Brien, a Tory MP who obtained the data through parliamentary questions and is leading the party's policy development, said it revealed 'the serious problems with both welfare and low-value university courses'.
'Students are running up huge debts, being promised the moon, but ending up on benefits,' he added.
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, told the Times: 'Today's graduates face the triple jeopardy of low-value degrees, a labour market crippled by Labour's job taxes and competition with AI for entry-level roles.
'The Government needs to grip this challenge. Their failure to reform welfare and economic mismanagement threatens the future of a new generation. Meanwhile, the taxpayer is footing the bill for unpaid student loans and graduates on benefits.'
A government spokesman said: 'We remain committed to our principles to reform the welfare system – those who can work should work and if you need help into work the Government should support you.'
Last year, Daily Mail analysis revealed a wide range of 'novelty' courses were on offer for students who did not make their predicted grades on A-level results day.
It found that the Ucas Clearing website showed 22 institutions offering courses in esports; nine in social media courses, three in digital content creation courses; and one had a 'rap and MC' course.
But critics say that while the courses sound fun, they may lack academic rigour due to low entry requirements, and have only been created to increase funding, with universities facing tough financial challenges following tuition fees being frozen in 2017.
Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education said: 'This is a money-making racket from cash-strapped universities.
'They are placing their own interests above the best interests of these young people and [it is] the taxpayer who has to finance student loans that, in these cases, are unlikely to be paid off.
'Universities have a duty of care towards young people. Instead, they are exploiting them... Mickey Mouse degrees are those invented to seduce young people into handing over large amounts of money to keep universities in business.'
Tuition fees had previously remained frozen at £9,250 per year in England since 2017.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the House of Commons last November said the tuition fees cap was being increased by £285 per year due to the 'severe financial challenges' facing universities.
She said there had been a 'significant real-terms decline in their income' due to rampant inflation in recent years.