Students read this

lolly-i-pop

Midas wrote:

Post-1992 universities[/URL], the ex-polytechnics set up in the reforms of 1992 have the poorest reputation, with many of the members regularly appearing in the bottom half of most league tables. Most of this newer group belong to the Coalition of Modern Universities."[/COLOR]

Checked out this list of the uni's with the "poorest reputation", and these seem to be the ones which are churning out the majority of the UK's allied health proffessionals.

This whole thread is annoying me so much, it is unbelievable.
I am at Sheffield Hallam, studying Occupational Therapy. Loads of people think that Sheffield uni is the better one, and i'm sure alot of students would base their uni choice on this. If its true, why have Hallam just taken over all of sheffields nursing courses??

If your looking at what uni to go to, and you are bothered about the quality of your degree, dont look at where your uni is on the league tables, look at the quality of the course. ask people in the proffession that you are planning to go into, see which uni's they think have the best reputation, and lastly, dont EVER be sucked into this b*ll*cks about red brick unis

I'm going to shut up now before my head explodes

Mrs_pbradley936

lolly-i-pop wrote:

If your looking at what uni to go to, and you are bothered about the quality of your degree, dont look at where your uni is on the league tables, look at the quality of the course. ask people in the proffession that you are planning to go into, see which uni's they think have the best reputation, and lastly, dont EVER be sucked into this b*ll*cks about red brick unis

I'm going to shut up now before my head explodes

I hope you read my earlier post about the purpose of this thread (post number 9)

Mrs_pbradley936

Somebody reading this thread must know or have access to the history of university education. (yes I could find out, but the info is not at my finger tips). We know that not many people used to go, but do we know what the percentages were and in which decades? Do we know what courses were on offer? I am very sensitive to the fact that we have upset a lot of students when that is not our intention.

Another point, how long have you needed a degree to be a nurse? You most definitely never used to need one – but then all they had to do was empty bed pans, make beds and give the odd injection (my neighbour said so but she is older than me, and remember I am old enough to be your mother). The nurses at my GP surgery do loads of things which previously only a doctor was allowed to do.

DrFluffy

pbradley936 wrote:

The nurses at my GP surgery do loads of things which previously only a doctor was allowed to do.

Ahh! The so-called Nurse Quacktitioners... There are a fair few pearls of wisdom in this fab blog: http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/

Mrs_pbradley936

DrFluffy, that was great but it makes me afraid to be ill.

Thankfully I have not had to see my G.P. for more than ten years. All down to Cod Liver Oil every day I say. Seriously, I was brought up on it, still take it and gave it to my own children. Who still get it when they come to visit. Even gave it to the dog when we had one.

kittiwoz

pbradley936 wrote:

Another point, how long have you needed a degree to be a nurse?

You don't. You need a two year HND but if you have a degree you can progress faster. You can be a health worker with an NVQ. I guess they do more of the changing bed pans and bed sheets stuff nowadays but I don't know, it's not my area.

kittiwoz

I found this on the National Statistics website. It is from "Students in further and higher education: by type of course and gender, 1970/71-1997/98: Social Trends 30"

During the twentieth century, there has been a substantial increase in the number of students in higher education in Great Britain. The number of students in full-time higher education has risen from 25 thousand at the beginning of the century, to more than twice as many between the wars, and then to 216 thousand in 1962/63. Between 1963/64 and 1972/73, the numbers of full-time home domiciled students doubled again to 453 thousand. Since then the numbers in higher education in the United Kingdom have continued to increase and by 1997/98 there were 1.2 million students enrolled on full-time higher education courses.

The number of enrolments by men on undergraduate courses in higher education institutions increased by around 83 per cent between 1970/71 and 1997/98. For women the increase has been even more dramatic, with more than four times as many enrolments as in the early 1970s. Whereas the number of students participating in all the categories of higher education has expanded, the number studying for postgraduate courses has grown the fastest. In 1997/98, there were nearly six times as many students enrolled on postgraduate courses as in 1970/71.

If you follow the link you can download some statistical information in spread-sheet form which is quite interesting if you display it graphically. I can't find any statistics going back further than 1970 and the only breakdown by class i can find only covers the '91-'01. I haven't looked anywhere but the national statistics website though.

Mrs_pbradley936

Thanks to Kittiwoz we can see to what extent higher education has expanded. We have many more students and many more universities as a result. The older universities enjoy status and reputation as well as famous alumni. The newer universities may not have earned a place in the public psyche as yet – that does not mean that they are insignificant or worthless. I think there may be an issue of a degree now being relatively common rather than somewhat rare, hence it does not open as many doors as it once did. People including employers are not as impressed as they once would have been. Instead of graduates being on a pedestal they are now on a platform. Perhaps it is good for the country and the economy at the expense of the individual.

Gemmzie

Very interesting and very complicated.

I'm nearly 19 so many of my friends are going to university this year and quite a few from college are applying this year (I'm going into my A2 year) and we get told nothing about this.
Maybe it's because of the part of the country but Oxbridge is for the all A students and most people here go to Welsh universities Not sure why. Trends or feedback from others perhaps.

But I do resent the devaluing of degrees and also resent the fact that you now have to go to university to be a worthwhile member of society.
People are hidiously shocked when they hear that I am not going to university this year and I, stupidly, feel I have to defend myself and explain my plan which very few people understand because all they hear is that I'm not going now.

It's going to leave the country in quite a mess when the students of today become the workforce.

r-ingram

kittiwoz wrote:

You don't. You need a two year HND but if you have a degree you can progress faster. You can be a health worker with an NVQ. I guess they do more of the changing bed pans and bed sheets stuff nowadays but I don't know, it's not my area.

Sorry, must correct you, though I understand it isn't your area. To be a registered nurse the minimum is a 3 year DipHE. Nursing degrees are likely to become the minimum at some stage in the medium term, and more and more nurses now qualify through this route. The course must include a minimum number of hours of clinical practice as set down by the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC). It is an offence to use the title of Nurse unless on the NMC register.

Nursing is becoming increasingly complex, though there are many aspects of nursing that may not appear to be technical in nature, but which still highly demanding and require good education and human skills to do well (patient advocacy, nursing the dying, holistic care, empathy, theraputic relationships, ethics etc etc). Bedpans just intersperse all this!

As more "doctoring" tasks are devolved to nurses (who are more than capable of undertaking them) there is a risk that nursing becomes predominantly a technical rather than a caring profession, which may be to the detriment of holistic care...whoops...better stop before the soap box comes out!