Latest news with #grade inflation
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Where you can get in with Cs and earn thousands more than a Cambridge graduate
Almost half of UK adults think today's exams are easier than they were when they were sitting them. The assumption is understandable: last year the proportion of top A-level results hit a record high outside the pandemic's disruption. But this year grade inflation is widely expected to have been curbed. Oxford, Cambridge and the other 22 members of the Russell Group are incredibly selective, with academic requirements usually a slew of straight As. Yet that doesn't imply their graduates are always the most successful. A number of far more accessible degrees have average future earnings that are sometimes thousands of pounds greater, according to the latest data from the Department for Education (DfE). Never mind the exam, the choice of university could be far more important. Here are some of the institutions whose graduates make more money after five years than those who went to more selective universities. Biosciences at Brunel University London The Oxbridge premium – the extra pay gained from studying at Oxford or Cambridge relative to the national average – tends to be around £15,000. Across 12 of 35 broad subject areas – just over a third of the total – Oxbridge offered unbeatable financial prospects. But they can be beaten – even by non-Russell Group universities. Among the biggest instances of this is Brunel's Biomedical Sciences (BSc) course. Those studying biosciences at the university earn a median of £40,000 five years after graduation in the 2022-23 tax year. They took home an average of £1,300 more than their Oxford counterparts. While Brunel currently stipulates minimum A-level grades of BBB to be considered, the barrier to Oxford's equivalent course is A*AA – plus the passing of a 90-minute admissions test. According to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), just 12pc of students who apply to Oxford are typically offered a place. Just 35 miles away in Uxbridge, the acceptance rate shoots up to 93pc. 'This outstanding result reflects the university's commitment to designing courses that address real-world challenges and develop the skills employers value most,' said Dr Gudrun Stenbeck, head of Biosciences at Brunel. 'By combining excellent subject knowledge with hands-on, practical experience, our graduates can step into high-responsibility roles from day one.' Architecture at the University of Reading Typically making £51,100 five years after graduation, those who studied architecture, building and planning from the University of Reading are the best-paid alumni from a general university in the field. Only the specialist University of the Built Environment – formerly housed on the Reading campus – offers higher potential earnings. The equivalent figure for those studying the same course at Cambridge is £37,200, which is almost £14,000 lower. The lowest A-level grades held by accepted students at Reading's Architecture (BSc) course were CCC between 2022 and 2024. In Cambridge the bottom of the pack got AAA. English at the University of Buckingham Far below the top shelf of academia – all the way down at 116th out of 130 in the 2026 league table by Complete University Guide – the University of Buckingham puts its English studies graduates in particularly good stead. Its two-year English Literature degree asks for a BBC minimum A-level standard, but also offers flexible entry and says it is 'happy to consider entrants from all backgrounds with slightly lower qualifications' if alternative aptitude can be demonstrated. Those doing this degree typically earn £35,800 five years later. Only those coming out of Durham and Oxford earned more on average at the same point after graduating, at £38,000 and £37,800 respectively. Those who read English at Cambridge, having got at the very least A*AA grades at A-level, meanwhile, had to content themselves with a £33,200 median. Psychology at the University of Leeds Psychology courses soared in popularity during the pandemic, with demand up 13.2pc on 2019-20 to just over 100,000 enrolments in the 2023-24 academic year, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Outside of Oxbridge, one of the most lucrative places to pursue it is the University of Leeds. With an acceptance rate of 72pc, prospective undergraduates have earned an average £34,300 median earnings within five years of completing their course. Those who studied at Cambridge can expect to earn an average of £33,600 after five years. Around a third of those reading Psychological and Behavioural Sciences achieved at least an A*A*A* at A-level.
Times
30-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Civil service numbers at 20-year high despite pledge to cut costs
The civil service is becoming increasingly top-heavy as thousands of staff are hired despite a pledge to cut costs. There were 549,660 civil servants at the end of March. This is up almost 7,000 on the same time last year, putting the size of Whitehall at a 20-year high. The civil service has now grown by a third since Brexit and pay rose 5 per cent last year. Critics say staff are 'over-promoted' as a way of boosting salaries. The latest figures show 75 per cent of staff are in management roles and above, compared with 60 per cent a decade ago. Civil service middle management, known as grades 6 and 7, grew 5 per cent last year after doubling over the previous decade. Growth in the top ranks of Whitehall also accelerated, up 3.2 per cent last year. 'It is a continuation of the grade inflation story', said Alex Thomas, programme director at the Institute for Government, an independent think tank. 'Every grade except [the lowest] administrative grade grew last year.' While pay at each rank of the service has fallen significantly in real terms, the overall pay bill is now higher than it was in 2010 as staff become more senior. After coalition-era cuts, the civil service fell to a low of 418,340 in 2016 before beginning to rise again as government took on more responsibility as a result of Brexit. The Conservatives made a series of pledges to cut the civil service after the Covid pandemic but it has continued to grow every year. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has promised to cut costs by 15 per cent, although she has not set a target on staff numbers. Thomas said it was too soon to know if that pledge was working, but said a fall in the number of staff moving between departments suggested the civil service was 'gumming up'. 'Less churn is a good thing but it's not clear whether people are staying in their jobs to become more expert — more likely it's a response to recruitment freezes,' he said. The figures do show, however, that the civil service is becoming more diverse. Women now make up 49 per cent of the senior civil service. A record 18 per cent of civil servants are from ethnic minorities, up from 11 per cent a decade ago, while the proportion of disabled staff has doubled to 18 per cent. Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, said the rise in numbers was 'the direct result of Labour's failure to act. We set out plans to reduce the size of the civil service to pre-pandemic levels, plans which would have saved £1 billion a year, but Labour scrapped these after taking office and since then have only worsened the problem with their continual surrender to the unions, and their creation of 41 new quangos.' A government spokesman said: 'These increases are driven by operational frontline roles. We have set out plans to reduce back office costs by 15 per cent over the next five years, delivering savings of over £2 billion a year by 2030 and targeting spending on frontline services. 'We have already announced a new cross-government fund for exit schemes to reduce staffing numbers over the next two years, as well as introducing measures to make it quicker and easier to remove poor performers from post.'
