Judging by the latest figures of unemployment sure this will go in our corner for our develpoment at Newmarket? 1 Million youth unemployed in the country 425 thousand youth unemployed in our region. Its a huge amount. The current climate how can a development like this be refused? Just wondering what TRB and IA felt on this matter if the latest figures help our case even more.

And that’s just the governments unemployed total the real total is much higher

i can't see how 42.5% of youth unemployed are in our region. can't be right.

Absolutely they do. Here we have a site which is funded, pre-let in many cases and passed by panning - all we need is that nod from Eric and we're away!

With the figures that were released yesterday then the jobs that this development will create is now its major selling point. The government pinned there hopes on the private sector picking up the slack from public job losses but this week has seen the evidence that this isn't happening and is unlikely to in medium term future. A development of this ilk is manner from heaven for them and turning investmant away from the area of the country thats just seen the biggest leap in umemployment in the entire country would be a very strange thing to do.

Relying on that fat mess for anything makes my skin crawl

I know mine too, but the fact of the matter is it's all about playing their game.
We have to highlight all the benefits (economical, social & IMO cultural) & match those with the aspirations of the current shambles in Westminster. It's as much about flattery as it is putting together a strong analytical case (IMO of course

) & not unlike most other pieces of writing- done to please the audience/reader.

more than the stats say
my lad finished college and is struggling to find work and is not registered unemployed as we can still have him under the child allowance.

this is a serious time for the youth of today, my heart goes out for them all

It is a bit rubbish, I'm scraping by on temp work - not what I hoped for after getting a degree, but what can you do?

Unfortunately, the currency of a degree has been significantly devalued by allowing too many people to get them, when they could have been learning a trade or doing vocational qualifications. It's a bit like printing money to solve a debt crisis.

Out of interest, what is your degree?

Drama at Exeter - the subject choice might explain everything

You are Mr Starkey's bitch and I claim my five quids

Drama is it? As your post suggests, you've answered your own question.

It's a quandary - instinctively, I feel that education for it's own sake should be ok, so doing a useless degree like Drama or Fine Art or other such enjoyable nonsense is a personal choice that I'm not against; in the harsh economic reality we currently exist in however, I fail to see a) why I should pay for it and b) what possible use it will be in the job market for all but a miniscule percentage of people who are actually talented.

May I suggest you do a PGCE and work towards becoming the next Mr Starkey?

Getting a place on a PGCE is getting very competitive now with the graduate market as it is, will be even tougher as the government are cutting PGCE place numbers across the board.

As for the apprenticeship route - sound advice in the long run if you pick the right one (plumbers & electricians are pretty hard to replace), but as more go for those, they become competitive and it would be even more so if fewer opted for that instead of university. Misguided as the over expansion of university places has been (to a point - it generally creates better citizens, correlates with developed societies and was probably right in principle, just taken too far), I can't help feel part of it has been about keeping people off the jobs market for a few more years.

Overall, I'm not sure any way is a best bet -we are a developed high wage nation with most of the things we consume being cheaper to produce overseas. Now if we'd have been investing in reconstructing and developing high-end production, proper technical education and the likes for the last 60 or so years we might be a bit better off, but even Germany has only managed the trick by getting the rest of Europe to agree to their currency fixing so they'd buy their goodies.

Cheery world, eh?

I was stuck in this situation; I had outstanding GCSE and A level results (not that they were terribly difficult but I did work hard for it), but didn't know where I wanted to go with my life. Not really any sort of clue about what I wanted to do for a career or anything. And I was, like most students, encouraged to go to university. Heck, I wanted to go to university to have three years to spread my wings, move away from home and develop into adulthood (or acquire a drinking habit, either works in the uni environments...).

So I picked a degree subject in a field that I was passionate about at an excellent university and this course blended the theory and practise aspects of said field exactly to my liking. I spent three years learning from some inspirational lecturers, practising some wholly new things, and (vitally) growing into myself as an individual and forming relationships and friendships with a diverse range of people from all kinds of backgrounds. I wouldn't change it for the world.

But the way it is now we emerge from study with our degrees, saddled with debt and limited graduate prospects for work. I realise my flaw was still not knowing what I wanted to do exactly with my degree, but the degree has been undervalued by the amount of people acquiring them in recent years rather than the more traditional "only the brightest". Unis are run as businesses perhaps moreso than they are run as academic environments (not to take away from the learning experience I had) and it's very much about bringing as many students in as possible.

I dropped into a temporary HR projects job by sheer chance and have been involved in some complex business change; I learned what I needed to about the sector pretty quickly! And I've actually thoroughly enjoyed it having gone into it without an interview or any background knowledge. Sheer dumb luck. I coped because I learn quickly, I've developed a lot of confidence over the years, and I'm more than capable with the software they use because I've been playing with computers since I was 5 years old. Sadly the contract comes to an end soon (in part because of business changes I've helped to initiate...!!!!) and in theory I wake up on New Years Day with a right to collect job seeker's.

But before I landed the HR gig, I was applying for jobs - mostly in marketing as I've done a lot of voluntary and freelance publicity and marketing projects for theatre companies and South West Rugby League and I run my own mildly successful website, but a) there aren't many jobs and b) the jobs that are there are looking for a few years of professional experience. A guy fresh out of university who never really knew what it was he wanted to do doesn't have the right experience.

Maybe I should have gone into an apprenticeship for a trade? But nothing like that took my fancy. And I'd always been pushed towards university.

Fortunately I've got some great experience in a short amount of time but most people who graduated from my year are struggling to get into the kind of jobs they want to be in, if they can get jobs at all (a law student with a First is working in a call-centre).

I can't take back the route I've taken. I want to get into marketing so I'm still taking on voluntary projects to build up my CV and portfolio and I'm applying for any related job that comes up. All I need to do is get my foot in the door. But that's easier said than done in this climate.



I totally understand people's perception of some degrees (mine included) as being worthless. I also totally appreciate the taxpayer's stance on such degrees and subsidising university fees. I'm of a generation where we were pushed towards university. Perhaps this generation will think about it a little more cautiously and many may well choose to go into apprenticeships and schemes to give them the right kind of work experience. I also see university standards declining significantly, but that's another story.

I'll always say that my degree was enriching and gave me transferable skills as well as character traits that might not else have developed. Maybe I could have done that with any other degree, but Drama at Exeter was quite literally the only degree I wanted to do. And now I am in work (for now at least), I live with a beautiful woman I met here, and even though it's a gloomy climate for graduates ... and everybody else ...! I'm happy.

I suppose my question at the end of this TL;DR whine is; what should I have done differently?

EDIT: I thought about a PGCE. I really don't fancy it at the minute. Maybe later. Can I afford to be so picky? Maybe.

Given how & what you have articulated there, I think you should stay optimistic. Lacking clear direction at the right time is an issue, but you display intellect, spirit and adaptability that many good academic graduates lack. In the position you are in, with varied experience, interests and not currently destitute, you may be best building on the freelance/own initiative angle, seeing what you can pick up and looking for avenues you want to go down, be they in more permanent work for others or setting up on your own. If you are still interested in the graduate job market, I'd be as busy as you can, as the preference is for young and fresh. You may be surprised, you have a degree from a good university and have demonstrated in just one post that you have useful experience, skills and an ability to sell these up. Fair enough, drama doesn't top the list for employability, but a decent university and good A levels count for something. Whilst your partly right over the expansion of universities, it is worth remembering the greatest expansion and so dilution occured in less respected institutions.

You're probably right to reject the PGCE option if you aren't attracted to it. In my experience, few of those whose hearts aren't in it make it through.

I was about to say the same thing - with the right attitude and outlook, you'll almost certainly come good and for my money, the best opportunities right now are in working for yourself.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck with it.

I remember meeting up with at the Hull away game where you sat in front of me just before you traveled (darn sarf) must of been three four yr ago.
you seemed a bright lad with loads of confidence and you have done well to settle down gain a degree away from the family home.

now I have no idea what a degree in drama could take you whether acting or behind the scenes writing but I would advise you to continue on that path as I wish I hadn't been distracted and joined the rat race in my life time

Over 800 applicants for 20 places on the PGCE course I need to do.

That's the key part with any non-vocational degree. You may be surprised where your degree could land you. In the area I work in, someone with your background could find a job doing voice-overs for e-learning products, or appear in virtual training videos, for example. It's not the lead role in Hamlet, but it'll earn you a living.

Good luck.

your a big enough lad Rich just push your way in

I wouldn't bet on it. This project keeps getting hit into the long grass even though your observation is palpably correct. I suspect the outcome of all this enquiring will not be what we want or what makes any sense. Maybe I'm jaundiced by 41 years of false dawns, but I smell big political rats all around this saga. Hope I'm wrong.

Come on Wakey