How to avoid becoming a drop-out statistic
OK, so I really don’t like the term ‘drop-out’, but I wanted to get your attention, and ‘non-completion rates’ or ‘students leaving their degrees’ just didn’t cut it as a headline. I promise I won’t use it again.
But here’s the thing… recent data released by the Student Loans Company has revealed that the number of students who are not completing their degrees is on the rise, up around 28% over the last five years. (See this BBC article).
This is not good.
In human terms, that’s nearly 42,000 young people who left their degrees last year uncompleted, carrying with them their student debts, and doubtless a whole load of other unwanted baggage.
While there isn’t always a single, identifiable reason for leaving university, a separate study by King’s College London, found mental health as the leading reason (25%), along with financial distress (8%). And both of these factors are only going to get worse.
Now, clearly no-one starts at university with the intention of quitting half-way through, but the reality is that it happens for a large number of students. So, as you prepare for your own university journey, how can you prevent yourself from becoming one more statistic; one of the 40,000?
I have a few ideas that I’d like to share.
Study something you enjoy and are good at
It may seem obvious, but all too often I speak to students and parents who are clear that they want to be studying something useful. Clearly there are certain professions where the degree you do is critical (see below), but for most jobs, the subject you take is secondary to the skills you gain while studying it.
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the skills employers will be looking for over the coming five years, and guess what? You can build these skills through the study of almost any subject. So why not study something you are genuinely interested in, and will enjoy?
To spend three or four years studying something you don’t like, and aren’t interested in, under the delusion that it will be useful is just plain madness. And it will lead to trouble. If the stress and misery doesn’t make you quit the course, then the mindset that the habit creates will doubtless catch up with you later in life!
Studying to enter a profession? Check out the profession AND the course
Some of you will be planning to study a course specifically to enter a particular profession, like nursing, teaching, pharmacy or architecture. In this case, it’s pretty obvious that you should be doing everything you can right now to make sure that this is the right profession for you.
Again, it would be madness to study for three, four or even five years only to discover that you hate the job. So speak to people doing the job, shadow them, volunteer to help them. Explore the career fully, and make sure it's the right decision.
But don’t leave it at that. Look closely at the course itself. You still have to study it for three, four or five years. If you don’t enjoy it, will your commitment to the profession really be enough to see you through? Is it really worth it?
Choose a university to suit you, not others
If you read my article last week, you’ll know my views on The Russell Group. I studied at a Russell Group university, and worked in a senior role at another, but I hate the idea that anyone would be pressured into studying at a particular university, just because others think it’s prestigious, or a ‘top’ university, where the ‘best’ students should go.
So please, go your own way. Choose a university because it matches up to your priorities, your interests, your aspirations, and your values. Not because of what others expect of you.
By all means listen to ideas and advice from those who are there to help you, but living your life according to what others expect is yet another kind of madness. It will simply make you miserable, because you will never be able to live up to that kind of expectation.
Look after your mental health
I’ll be honest, my biggest fear for you, and all young people across the world is the looming mental health crisis. Almost all of you reading this will have had your education disrupted by Covid lock-downs at an age when you were least equipped to deal with it. There will be repercussions. Not for all of you; most of you will be just fine. But many of you will find the next stage of your lives deeply challenging.
My question is this: How much pressure is too much pressure?
You’ve had pressure on you over your last round of exams. You will have pressure on you for your next round of exams, to secure your place at university. You’ll then have pressure to do well at every stage at university. Some of this might be pressure from parents and teachers, but some will be from yourselves.
So, once again: How much pressure is too much pressure?
Most of us need some kind of pressure to perform at our best, but there is a fine line between healthy pressure and unhealthy pressure.
So I’ll just put it out there: perhaps the most ambitious choice isn’t always the best choice. Perhaps the choice that means you have to be at your 100% best for every exam you ever take, might not be the best for you. Perhaps it’s OK to be at 90% sometimes, or even 50% from time to time? And if you are at 50%, can you still pass?
Consider carefully your pressure limits, and choose your course accordingly.
Consider your finances carefully
We all know that the rapidly increasing cost of living is a major problem for students right now. And this is compounded by the impact that the cost of living crisis is having on parents’ finances.
So for you it’s super-important to have a full and honest discussion with your parents about money, and to fully understand the student financial arrangements. Before you commit to university, you need to know:
Exactly how much you will be entitled to from your student finance authority. In the UK this will depend on your parents income and the country you live/study in. For international students you may have sponsorship or some other source of finance.
Exactly how much your parents will commit to financially supporting you. You’ll want actual figures, not just a rough estimate.
Then you can do your research, check on living costs at the universities you are considering, work out a budget, and most importantly work out what the shortfall is. You can then put in place measures to make up that shortfall, such as vacation or term-time work.
Don’t let financial stresses ruin your university experience.
“If you cannot decide, the answer is no”
This is a quote from Raval Navicant, entrepreneur, investor and very clever (and very wealthy!) bloke. And it’s directly applicable to your decisions about going to university.
He points out that there are literally thousands of options available to you in terms of your future study and careers. But we humans are not really equipped to make decisions with such a huge range of options. Just a handful of generations ago most people’s career options could be counted on one hand. So as you consider your different options, at some point you might find yourself putting together a spreadsheet of pro’s and con’s of each, trying to work out which option is ‘best’, or at least ‘better’.
And it’s at this point that the quote comes in. If the course you are planning to do isn’t a clear ‘yes’ for you, then stop, take some time out, and think again. You need to be certain.
Consider a gap year. Ever met anyone who regretted taking a gap year? No, me neither.
Perhaps look at degree apprenticeships and other options. Not Going to University is a site full of everything that betterunichoices is not!
But whatever you do, don’t go to university if you are not sure. It’s too big a commitment for that.
I really hope that you can take some of these ideas and apply them to your decision making. Then maybe you can make sure you are not one of the 40,000, and instead that you thrive and succeed on your chosen course.
