‘Compare the course’ app to warn pupils off Mickey Mouse subjects
MOBILE phone apps which make it easier for students to compare university degrees will help them avoid ‘Mickey Mouse’ courses, the Government has announced.
The apps will show job prospects and typical earnings for graduates of each course.
It is hoped the technology will force poor courses to up their game if they are continue to attract applicants.
Announcing the £ 275,000 scheme yesterday, universities minister Sam Gyimah said he wanted to ‘ shine a light’ on courses and stop students choosing blindly.
He likened it to price comparison sites, saying: ‘What we want is Go Compare for students.’
Universities have been able to claim their courses have good employment prospects without providing any evidence.
But with the data on the apps, which is taken from tax records, prospective students will be able to see exactly what happens to graduates before they apply.
Mr Gyimah said: ‘There is no point having students go on courses that are not right for them and do not deliver value when they are making a considerable investment in their education. What you study and where you study really matters, and these new digital tools will highlight which universities and courses will help people to reach the top of their field, and shine a light on ones lagging behind.
‘I want this to be a wake-up call for every university. Students are going to have more information – better information – to make decisions about their courses.
‘By having this information revolution, what it will do is stop the situation where universities can market courses to students that would not deliver value for them.’
The data was made available last year on a government website, but ministers want it to be more accessible on easy-to-use apps.
The Government is funding the development of several apps, which will then be run independently.
Students will be able to type in their criteria for a course, search for options and then compare different institutions’ courses like-for-like.
Mr Gyimah said the aim was to help identify courses in the same
‘Better information to make decisions’
subject which might offer much poorer employment prospects at one university than another.
He said the app would help disadvantaged students who might have less access to advice from parents and teachers.
Mr Gyimah acknowledged many ‘very valuable’ careers, such as nursing or the arts, are not as well-paid.
But he said it was important for every student to have all the information at their disposal before they make a decision.
He added: ‘There are some courses that will deliver low financial returns – we know that. There are good jobs in the public sector that don’t pay investment banking salaries and it’s valuable that people do that.
‘Where you have threadbare, lowquality courses – compared with the same course at other universities that are delivering better value – you will find students not choosing those courses and I think that is the right thing to happen.
‘If you are offering a good quality course, then students will choose it because the information will be available to them.’