It is something that we know will come as no surprise: graduate salaries are on the decline.

XpertHRs annual graduate recruitment survey showed that starting salaries offered to graduate recruits are 6% lower than in 2009; indicating that they are not keeping up with pay rises across the economy.

Following the student riots over university tuition fee increases last week; this news – though not good – could act as some justification for the protesters. Part of the rationalisation for the substantial tuition fee increases was because it was alleged that graduate salaries were becoming more generous, something the XpertHRs survey disputes.

Half of the 190 employers surveyed offered graduates starting salaries of between £20,000 and £26,000. Overall however, the starting salaries varied greatly: with the lowest graduate earning £12,000, and the highest receiving £42,500.

As the cost of living continues to rise, it is feared that graduates will face further financial pressure in the future, particularly in the context of increased student fees to initially contend with.

Background information

The UK currently has five million people on out-of-work benefits, with it recorded last year that three million working-age people had been receiving those benefits for two years or more. Government statistics further showed that 1.4million people have been on an out-of-work benefit for nine or more of the past ten years. The numbers mean that the UK has one of the highest rates of workless households in Europe; with 1.9m children living in homes where no-one has a job.

What exactly is being proposed?

To try and reduce these figures the government plan to make it compulsory for those unemployed on a long term basis (although ‘long-term’ has yet to be defined) to do community work, such as gardening, litter-picking or working with a charity.

Though the community work scheme is in the process of being officially outlined, initial submissions suggest that the placements will be more like ‘work experience’ than full-time jobs, lasting from two weeks to one month. The claimant would be expected to work a 30 hour week to allow them to “experience…the habits and routines of working life” again.

Any claimant who refused or failed to turn up to work on time could then have their £65 Jobseekers’ Allowance frozen for at least three months.

The ‘Work Activity scheme’ is said to be designed to help reduce welfare dependency, stop claimants from opting to take benefits rather than work, and flush out those claiming whilst doing undeclared jobs on the side.

Points against the proposal

- Unemployed people will be treated like prisoners – Community service is currently the most frequently used form of punishment for those convicted of a crime, with over 20,000 people given a community sentence last year. By making the unemployed also do community service, they are a) being “punished” in the same way as a convicted criminal, and b) reducing the impact of this prevalent court punishment for those that have caused a criminal offence.

- It will cause already vulnerable people into further despair – The Archbishop of Canterbury is against the proposals, saying he believes it could drive people “into a downward spiral of uncertainty, even despair.” He argued that people who are already genuinely struggling to find work and struggling to find a future do not need their unfortunate circumstances turned against them.

- It could cost lower sector workers their jobs – If the unemployed are made to do lower sector jobs such as litter picking and gardening, then the demand for people currently hired to perform such roles will lessen or even cease to exist. If those people then become unemployed, they could end up finding themselves doing the same role as before, but on a far smaller income provided by the benefit system.

-  It will force the wages of the average worker down – If people are made to work for free, then the whole employment system could end up restructuring.  Unemployed people, feeling that a certain job is more desirable than community work / that any money paid is better than nothing, may feel forced to accept jobs for less pay than other competitors. The result is that those competitors then also have to take less money to get another job, and so on and so on, eventually impacting the average workers wage bracket.

- Forcing people into work will mean they have less time to find better employment – People who are made to work 30-hour weeks will have less time to search and apply for job posts, meaning that they will be even more unlikely to acquire themselves a permanent position.

- It is slave labour – Forcing people to work for free is being deemed as unlawful and has been accused of being the modern day equivalent of ‘slave labour’.

Points for the proposal

- It will help to flush out ‘benefit scroungers’ – By making people do community service, it will teach those who have opted for a life on benefits rather than employment that they can no longer have their lifestyle funded by those that work. It will also put a stop to those claiming benefits whilst unlawfully working, as they will not be able to carry on their undeclared position whilst carrying out the compulsory work scheme.

- It is fairer to the taxpayer – The unemployed should give something back to those paying for their benefits by helping out in the community. There are many people who have never claimed jobseekers, and have always managed to maintain a working life even if they had to take less desirable positions. Why should they then fund people to ‘sit at home’ when these people could be filling many important roles within the community?

- Allows people to experience the workplace again – Danny Alexander, the Lib Dem Secretary to the Treasury, told the BBC’s Politics Show that the scheme was intended to “support and encourage”  people to get back into the habit of getting up and going out to work, rather than remaining isolated at home. He also said it would help people demonstrate their employability to prospective employers, after many employers said they look more favourably to people who had done some work recently than those who had been unemployed for a long time.

- It gives people more of a push to find something better employment wise – If people are forced to do jobs such as litter picking and gardening, then it may a) motivate them to up the job search to look for something better, or b) make them consider taking jobs which they may have previously felt were beneath them.

- Breaks the cycle of welfare dependency – With the current benefits system meaning that some claimants are no better off – and sometimes poorer – if they come off the dole to take jobs paying up to £15,000 a year, many have admitted they purposely didn’t take work offered to them. With the new system, those who refused to take work, take jobs that were offered to them or do voluntary work would have their handouts stopped, and so the cycle of welfare dependency at the taxpayer’s cost would come to an end.

- It will save money – 14% of Britain’s national income is currently spent on welfare. As the country struggles to pay back its £156 billion budget deficit, the benefits system is being seen as a significant area where costs can be reduced. Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary said, “The benefits system is a deeply ineffective and costly way of subsidising people’s lives. We obviously have a limited amount of money and our purpose is to improve the quality of life for the worst-off in society so they can play a part and hopefully pay tax one day themselves.’

What do you think? Let us know below!

After weeks of economic cut doom and gloom (you can see our report on how the Chancellor’s cuts will affect graduates here) the most current graduate forecast isn’t (surprise, surprise) looking any brighter.  The Telegraph today reported that the number of graduates going from degree to dole has hit 8.9%, equalling a total of 21,020 unemployed graduates.

The report, based on official figures obtained by the Higher Education Careers Service (Hecsu), found graduate unemployment has now reached a 17-year high, up from 7.9% in 2008, and 5.5 % the year before.

It further revealed that IT and media degree holders were the worst hit in terms of finding work, with those entering construction and engineering also struggling, particularly within architecture and building.

And in what seems a final twist of the ‘recession knife’, the public sector was shown to be one of the few areas still recruiting through the economic crisis – a small ray of light expected to be considerably darkened when the recent spending reviews prediction of  490,000 public sector job cuts starts to kick in.

But even as the extent of the challenges today’s graduates face when it comes to employment is further heightened, it’s important to retain a strong head. The job market is tough for everyone right now, and rejection shouldn’t be taken personally. Instead, time needs to be used productively, and graduates need to ensure that rather than giving up, they put that extra energy into snapping up that ideal job as soon as it becomes available (things are expected to improve for graduate prospects in the new year).

Check out Friends Provident’s ten great tips listed below to help graduates secure and keep a job (you can read the full article here) and keep checking our blog this week for more Inspiring Intern advice to help our graduates stop being an unemployment statistic and instead get started on their careers.

Friends Provident’s top ten tips to help graduates secure and keep that all important job are:

1. Career map – Map out all the possible ways that you could break into your chosen industry. There is always more than one way. For example if you can’t secure the role you want perhaps consider applying for an assistant / co-ordinator/ or PA role. Lots of companies promote internally and if you prove your ability you could eventually climb the career ladder and secure the role you want.
2. Be proactive – send CVs out to companies, get on their database – don’t wait for roles to be advertised. If you are on their database there’s every chance they will consider you before advertising a role publicly.
3. Networking – Use the people you know and the ones they know too. It’s amazing what you will find out / learn from people in all aspects of your life. Make good use of them- if you don’t ask, you don’t get! Remember digital delivers – Social media is not just for friends. Use your social network to look for work, and to share your experiences with other graduates.
4. Internships (foot in door) – Not only do they help you clarify your chosen career path, they also give you an invaluable opportunity to continue networking, the chance to build your communication and teamwork skills and help build confidence in the workplace.
5. Experience pays – Take every opportunity available to you, big or small. You learn from every experience, good or bad and never know what it could lead to. If you are struggling to get paid work consider working for free in the meantime in an area you want to get into. It is beneficial and will look good on your CV.
6. Business seminars – Go to business seminars and events – this helps you keep up to date with what is going on in your field and also helps with building your network.
7. Research – find out as much information about the business as possible before going for an interview so you have a better understanding of what the business is about and what it is looking to achieve. This will give you a better chance of responding well to questions.
8. Positive Mental Attitude – always work with integrity and respect for your colleagues, people are more likely to give you chances if they trust that you will do the right thing even if it is as simple as admitting if you have made a mistake.
9. An energetic approach – An energetic and enthused approach will help show how much you want a job. Say yes and be excited about the prospects of the job, even if it is not your dream role. Remember to have fun – you spend so much time at work, try to enjoy it – you will find if you are happy it rubs off on those around you and makes the office a more pleasant place for everyone.
10. Speak up – Your fresh ideas will be extremely valued by prospective employers so don’t be afraid to suggest new ways of working – even if you are just on work experience.

What is your opinion on graduate employment prospects? Got any extra tips you want to add? Let us know now!

• London is replete with markets: from Borough to the ‘Bello, these markets are a great place to reduce your food budget while avoiding the fluorescently lit homogeneity of the supermarkets.

• Share… Take a leaf out of the hippie’s book and share food bills, share clothes, bills, rooms, beds… The possibilities are endless.

• Going out? Avoid Zone 1. Vauxhall, Brixton, Camden and Shoreditch are a lot cheaper (and a lot more fun) than Oxford Street and Leicester Square.

• Metrobank’s magic money machine can unlock surprising sums from the voids of your sofa and the bottoms of your drawers: dirty old coppers go in; shiny new ‘proper’ money comes out, and the service is completely free: genius.

• Don’t be squeamish- “eat road-kill. Delicacies … include badger meat balls, roasted duck and wild squirrel stew. Jamie [Oliver] is a passionate advocate of the benefits of road-kill, he wants to change Britain’s eating habits and stop people consuming what he believes is bland rubbish.”

If it’s good enough for Jamie Oliver, it’s good enough for us. And it could save you a fortune.

• Return to the dark ages: electric lights are a luxury when perfectly good candles can be bought for pennies from Ikea. Your savings are doubled if you also hitchhike there.

• “If you’re poor, grow a beard” says Peep Show’s Mark Corrigan. It’ll keep your face warm and save precious money on razors.

So there you have it. If you don’t mind being labelled an eccentric, the scope for frugality is endless; limited only by your imagination (and your dignity!)

If you’ve been living in a distant galactic bubble for the last couple of years then you still might not have heard the news – we are currently suffering from a severe global economic downturn.

Yet it seems that as well as all the obvious effects occurring; national cuts, increased unemployment rate, higher numbers of university applicants etc, there have also been a few less expected outcomes, like the increase of older people seeking internships.

A survey conducted last month by CareerBuilder.com discovered that the struggling job market has sparked a surge of older people in the US applying for internships as a way to re-enter the employment sector.

The website, which surveyed more than 2,500 hiring managers across America, found that 23 percent of employers are receiving applications from people who either have more than 10 years of experience, or are aged 50 years and older.

“This economic downturn has really redefined what an internship is” said Mike Erwin, senior career advisor for CareerBuilder. “(People) need to make sure that they’re filling in the gaps while being unemployed, so they’re going ahead and taking these internships whether they’re paid or unpaid so they can get more experience, and hopefully land a full-time job.”

Traditionally, internships have been seen as a way for young people to get work experience on their CV. However, as the recession continues to kick in, and more and more graduates struggle to get the jobs that so many other more qualified individuals are also applying for, internships have taken on a much more important role. They are becoming that vital stepping stone between university and permanent employment.

However, the new statistics could mean that such graduates have an even greater fight on their hands as they find themselves competing against experienced people not only for pre-entry jobs – but also for internships.

Furthermore, the websites findings showed that many companies were just as keen to hire the older applicants as the more common younger ones;

“They know they’ve lost a lot of intellectual capital when they’ve had to lay people off,” Erwin explained. “So you’re going to find they’re going to bring back mature and experienced workers for internships as well as entry-level and college students who are going to bring a whole new feel to the job.”

Although this internship redefinition has only been reported in the States as yet, it leads to wonder how long it will take until economic desperation leads to a similar fad this side of the water.

And what would happen then? Will graduates need to do work experience to be able to get an internship to be able to get a job? Where will it end? Let us know your thoughts now!

It’s no secret that things in the employment sector are pretty tough right now. People are being forced to take large pay cuts, those made redundant are applying for positions far below their skill and experience level, and reports showed last week that graduates are struggling to get above a call centre position.
Yet, as new MSN article ‘10 jobs no man would ever want’ showed, it could still  be worse;  far, far worse in fact. We did our own investigating here at Inspiring Towers and put together our list of ten of the worst jobs in the world (and no, we certainly won’t be arranging internships within them!)

Portable Toilet Cleaner

Anyone who’s ever been to a festival knows the worst part is the unavoidable visit to the porta-loo – so how would you fancy the job of cleaning it?  After a long, hot weekend with hundreds of thousands of ravers binging on fast food and discoloured alcohol you can only imagine the end results – brings new meaning to, ‘same crap, different day’ doesn’t it?

Roadkill Remover

Not only do roadkill collectors get to scrape off and pick up the decaying remains of dead creatures from the road, they also get to do it whilst braving oncoming traffic. Lovely.

Saddam Hussein’s Body Double

So we appreciate that this job is a little bit redundant now, but for years the Iraqi dictator and his offspring hired decoy lookalikes as a defensive measure (there were even rumours within minutes of Hussein’s televised hanging that they had put the wrong man to death!) With few still alive to tell their stories, it certainly often came under the ‘job for life’ category…

Brazilian Mosquito Researcher

Scientists fighting malaria must study the biting habits of the mosquito that spreads it. However, the Anopheles darling mosquito found in Brazil is too smart for conventional traps – so the scientists have to offer themselves as bait to catch the crafty little suckers instead. Considering that mosquitoes are credited with killing half of all humans who have ever lived, these scientists are certainly “buzzing” (Gettit?) for their cause.

Alaskan Crab Fisher

You’re freezing cold, you’re soaking wet, you could get crushed under the two ton crab cage during a storm, or have a king crab chop off one of your fingers. Filing in the office doesn’t sound nearly so awful any more eh?

Personal Assistant to Naomi Campbell

She throws phones, attacks airline staff and has been in and out of court for years over assault charges put forward by former employees. You might need a thick skull to stick out this job…

Guard at Buckingham Palace

Regarded as one of the worst jobs in the British army (quite extreme when you consider another takes place on the frontlines…) the Guards have to stand completely still, for hours, looking their best. Oh, and of course, they also have to keep straight faced and ignore the consistent antics of the British public and tourist alike as they try and break the monotonous stance (as if you’ve never tried…)

A Colonic Irrigation Administrator

So you hardly need a Sat Nav to figure out where the end of that tube goes, and will hardly be surprised by what comes out. Hailed as a miraculous alternative medicinal therapy, the procedure helps to remove faeces and toxins lodged in your colon and intestinal tract from times past (or even a marble as one guy found that he’d swallowed 25 years previously…!) Interesting stuff, but the fact is it involves a lot of poo, which is why none of us fancy the job…

Flatus Odour Judge

In the research labs of mouthwash companies someone has to test product efficiency, and unfortunately that means enlisting the help of some halitosis sufferers to blow in said ‘someone’s’ face. Nice. But if you think that’s bad, Minneapolis gastroenterologist Michael Levitt paid two plucky people to indulge repeatedly in the odour of other people’s farts and rate how noxious the smell was. We can only imagine how that reads on their CVs…

Sick Collector at Thorpe Park (or any theme park for that matter…)

After 619 ‘sick shutdowns’ last year at Thorpe Park, and an estimated 150 litres of sick kindly left by customers the year before, Thorpe Park were forced to employ 22-year-old Rhys Owens solely as the park’s vomit collector. It certainly wouldn’t be our first choice of employment, though Owens, apparently, is quite happy with his lot in life. Talking to the BBC, he said, “I’m a massive fan of rollercoasters, so I’ve pretty much been on it every single day. If all I have to do is clean up maybe one or two bits of sick throughout the day I’m not really fussed. It’s a dream for me.” Yes, it really is quite the dream…

What do you think? Got some more rubbish job you’d like to add to the list? Did an even worse job yourself?! Let us know in the comments below so we can all sympathise / laugh!

York University, a member of the 1994 Group

Volunteer
- noun
1. a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking               .
2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

A significant feature of volunteering is the element of choice: to volunteer or not to volunteer –that is up to you.

Whether you are volunteering at an orphanage in Uganda, in the county’s animal shelter, or with your local MP, the assumption would be that you are volunteering because you choose to, you want to, and you appreciate the greater value of the unpaid experience.

Online Guardian article; The 1994 Group of universities advertises for graduate volunteers, however, questions whether it is a good idea for the 1994 Group of universities to “seek unpaid ‘volunteer’ graduates for admin jobs”.

Ben Lyons, co-director of Intern Aware, accuses the 1994 Group of failing graduates overall as “working for free is impossible for the majority of graduates”, whilst Heather Collier, director of the National Council for Work Experience, questions whether the successful graduates can really be called ‘volunteers’, arguing that “if an intern is required to attend work on particular days, and perform particular tasks, then they are a worker and not a volunteer, which means they should be paid.”

Lyons and Collier both make valid points. But then couldn’t their responses be applied for all volunteer opportunities?

It doesn’t matter if you are working in a charity shop, helping to conserve reefs in the Philippines, in the offices of an international NGO, or at your regional radio station; you will have had to organise your time and funds appropriately to partake in your chosen volunteer opportunity – even if that does require taking on a second job or saving up beforehand (and not just dipping into ‘The Bank of Mum and Dad’ as is so readily accused and yet so often not the case.)

It will also rarely work as a “drop in when you want – do whatever you want” – free for all. Usually there will be an organised structure to your working day with set shifts (like bedtime in the Uganda orphanage), and of course it will require helping out and working – why else would the organisation require volunteers?

A spokeswoman for the 1994 Group defended their volunteer scheme: “The 1994 Group believes in providing worthwhile opportunities for graduates, which enhances their learning of work place practices. The group does so in the form of internships, which are undertaken by the individual on a volunteer basis… and is fully compliant with Volunteering England’s code of practice.

“Our volunteers lend their time for a few days a week over a short period of time with all out-of-pocket expenses paid. The 1994 Group universities have a proud public record of supporting student volunteering and continues to support this.”

Interestingly (and notably an important element that has been evidently missed by Janet Murray, the author of the article), are the comments (volunteered…) from previous interns at the 1994 Group universities. Hayley01 believes she wouldn’t have achieved her current employment without the internship, and acknowledged the scheme as career building, “The 1994 Group offered internships focused on policy and communications – both competitive sectors where an internship is the recognised route to full employment,” she explained. “In this sense you could see the 1994 Group and its universities as supporting graduates at the beginning of their careers.”

And whilst MarioCreatura found his internship at the 1994 Group challenging, he maintains that the experiences and skills gained were valuable ‘real life’ lessons, and significantly, that it was “far from” slave labour; “As a graduate, much maligned by the state and society as a whole, it was refreshing and downright encouraging to be finally working in an organisation that truly valued your work,” he commented. “We weren’t there to make tea and coffee; we were there to learn and work as if we were professionals within the sector.”

JustinBJacobs further defended the scheme, “My time at the 1994 Group was an extremely productive and educational one and I was fortunate to work with great colleagues who were all dedicated to advancing the aims and profile of higher education in the UK. As my time and involvement in the Group’s projects gradually increased it felt good knowing that I was playing my own part in helping them communicate their members’ messages and achievements to a wider audience.”

Of course, the challenges of living on a considerably reduced income were broached within the intern’s candid comments, with often a second job or strict personal budgets having to be upheld.

Despite financial setbacks however, the overall indication was still that no-one regretted their internship decision. Instead, they appreciated the scheme as a unique graduate opportunity, and were enjoying the longer-term benefits it had created for them individually, like in JDuggie’s case: “As a direct result of the 3-month internship I was able to bypass entry-level positions and start on a higher salary,” he wrote.

JDuggie continued, “For those organisations, such as the 1994 Group, offering internships out of a genuine desire to create opportunities for young graduates where otherwise no role would exist at all, the alternative is to narrow opportunity by offering nothing and in turn increase competition for other internships.”

The notion behind the ‘volunteering scheme’ is that it is justified because it is usually seen as meaningful work, and again, importantly, has that element of choice. It should always be a mutually equitable arrangement with clear objectives to benefit both parties, that are clearly set out before commencement of the internship.

The central point is that ultimately how the experience is organised, and what you make of it is up to you. As Peetm nicely reiterated, “it’s up to the individual to assess whether or not they feel there’s a benefit to working as an intern. End of story.”

Internships: they’re becoming the trendy next-step for graduates, and are a proven success in getting young people onto the career ladder.  But as Julia Margo pointed out in her Sunday Times article, there’s one sure-fire way to ruin them, and it all comes down to money.

In terms of internships, it’s impossible to escape the wage debate – it is dominating all media interest on internships, diverting all attention away from the benefits of these invaluable work experiences.  People are forgetting why internships are there in the first place, what the actual concept means.  It is not a graduate job, nor is it a minimum-wage, bottom-of-the-company-tea-maker position.  It is an experience, a taster of what working-life is really like, an insight into a company.  Internships are not designed for graduates to make a quick buck and then move on to something else.  Their value lies within the experience they provide, which is what many school-leavers and graduates need before they plunge themselves head-first into a job about which they know very little.

The suggestion that all companies pay their interns the National Minimum Wage would entirely undermine the concept of what they stand for – work experience.  Clearly in some cases it is appropriate that the intern receives some level of remuneration.  However, if all internships paid the same amount as entry-level jobs, then why would a company hire an inexperienced intern over an experienced worker?  The intern may be talented and contribute to the company, but then again he or she may be totally unsuited to the role.  Why take the risk when there are plenty of capable potential employees waiting to be given the thumbs up for an entry level job?  Moreover, if internships cost more, then companies and businesses, who already invest a lot of staff time into running these placement programmes, simply won’t be willing to shell out huge amounts of money to run them.  Internships will be harder to come by, and young people will be in an even tougher position when they are looking to enter the job market.

The perception of internships needs to revert back to what it used to be – people should focus on the reasons for why internships occurred in the first place: for the experience, not the pay packet.

If the term ‘internship’ makes you think of tea-making and picking up the boss’s dry cleaning then think again – internships are now being hailed by the BBC as almost a ‘guaranteed rite of passage’ in the ever-competitive job market.

2009 saw record numbers of university leavers and new figures show more than 660,000 people have applied for a university place for the next academic year.  This staggering amount is up by 12 per cent from last year, once again breaking the record for the number of university applicants.  With these figures on the rise, the coalition government have made an extra 10,000 university places to support the hefty amount of applications, meaning more students than ever will be graduating with degrees in the coming years.  It is becoming even harder for employers to recruit graduates when they simply cannot distinguish who is more qualified for the job – how does one chose between the graduate with the 2:1 History degree from Durham or the 2:1 English Literature graduate from Bristol?

The answer, I hear you cry, is internships.  These are becoming the latest box that graduates need to tick in order for them to increase their employability and stand out from the other hundreds of applicants after the same job.  According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, 21.7% of graduates in full employment within six months of graduating were taken on by employees who had previously provided them with some form of work experience.  It would appear that employers are less willing to gamble on a new recruit who may look fantastic on paper, instead choosing to take on someone who has already experienced working at the company and who therefore has a “basic grasp of workplace dynamics”, according to a BBC article.  In other words, the internship has become an ‘extended interview’ whereby the intern has a chance to showcase their abilities and see if they fit into the company lifestyle.

One could even go as far as saying personalities are coming back into fashion as far as job placements go – seemingly, it’s no longer just about the prestigious university and impressive degree result; employers are interested in who they are recruiting rather than trusting the CV alone.

So where does this leave graduates? With competition for entry-level jobs as tough as it has ever been there is no room to rest on your laurels. A good degree is not enough to take you onto the career ladder: experience, contacts and demonstrable skills are your key to a first job. An internship will give you all three. So the message is clear: don’t get left behind – call us, email us, tweet us, facebook us, send us a pigeon or do anything to get in touch so that you can do an internship and realise your potential.

As a graduate or current student, the words ‘tuition fees’ and ‘student debt’ may make you shudder at the mere thought of them.  You might want to add ‘graduate tax’ to this list, as the Government has revealed plans to totally scrap the tuition fee system.

Vince Cable, the new Business Secretary under the Coalition Government, gave his first speech on Thursday outlining the proposal to introduce a graduate tax to replace tuition fees.  According to Cable it would be a fairer system, whereby graduates are taxed according to their earnings, higher earners taxed considerable more than those with lower salaries.  “The problem”, he said, with the current tuition-fee system, is that “it is a fixed sum – a poll tax – regardless of the income of the graduate. It surely can’t be right that a teacher or care worker or research scientist is expected to pay the same graduate contribution as a top commercial lawyer or surgeon or City analyst whose graduate premium is so much bigger.”

The proposal comes as part of an independent review, led by Lord Browne, which is assessing how universities are to be funded in the future, with the report being published in the Autumn.  There are a number of keys issues that are going to be reviewed alongside the new proposal, including the impact it will have on student debt and how to encourage more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to get into higher education.

NUS (National Union of Students) President, Aaron Porter, commented after Cable’s proposal, stating his opinion that “the fair solution is to abolish tuition fees and ensure that graduate contributions are based on actual earnings in the real world, rather than sticker prices in prospectuses, which are based on guesswork”.

So does this mean that tuition fees, as well as a hefty student debt, will soon be a distant memory?  Cable recognised this as a major problem with our current university system – that students now expect to come out of university with huge amounts of money owed to the Government.  “Most of us”, he said, “don’t think of our future tax obligations as ‘debt’”.  However, the new tax could mean the top 20 per cent of earners will be paying the equivalent of £16,000-a-year tuition fees, according to The Russel Group which represents twenty elite universities.  Perhaps a graduate tax is the way forward – what do you think?  Is it a fairer system or an excuse to wring out more money from graduates?  Tell us your thoughts.