Saddled with debt, thousands of students will have graduated from university this summer with either no clear idea of what they want to do or without the right qualifications to achieve their goals.
This time last year, Elena Avetissian was in that situation. She had completed a master's degree in crime science at University College London, a Russell Group University, the same institution where she took her first degree in psychology. Yet her qualifications were not sufficient to set her on the path she wanted to take. Her ambition was to become a crime-scene examiner, for which she needed the practical experience her academic degrees had failed to provide.
She embarked on a two-year foundation degree in crime-scene and forensic investigation at City and Islington college in north London. The course is run in collaboration with the Metropolitan Police, who advise on course content and structure. The college has a warehouse containing mock crime scenes in which students get to practice collecting DNA evidence and testing and analysing it in the laboratory.
When she completes the foundation degree next year, she finally hopes to be job-ready at the age of 25, seven years after passing her A-levels in chemistry, biology, and English literature.
"In a way, I feel that some of the time I spent at university was time wasted," says Avetissian. "If I had known about this course earlier I may have chosen a different path. The master's degree I took in crime science involved a lot of crime analysis and theories of crime, but I felt at the end of it I wasn't quite ready for the job I wanted to do. This course is one of a kind and really prepares you for doing this work."
BT is one of a growing number of companies developing higher apprenticeship programmes to nurture its own graduates. A third intake of more than 100 higher apprentices will start with the telecommunications giant this September.
Higher apprenticeships enable people aged 18 and over who have A-levels, or other level 3 qualifications, to combine a foundation degree with on-the-job training. BT believes that careerminded young people can get a headstart on their peers who follow a traditional degree course.
The added attraction is that higher apprentices do not incur student debt or fees. They get paid to study and work at the same time while gaining a qualification and establishing a career.
Jerry Comber, apprentice lead for BT Operate, says: "We find the innovative combination of on-the-job learning, work experience and the foundation degree is a great alternative to fulltime university study.
"It gives us the ability to nurture our own talent and develop new recruits into managers of the future. It is impossible to replicate the skills and understanding that come from working in the business within a purely academic course."
Around 11,000 foundation degrees were awarded last year, 24% more than the previous year and representing close to four-fold growth since 2004. There are currently 72,000 students studying them per year, with a target of 100,000 set for 2010. They are not available in Scotland.
Foundation degrees are flexible qualifications that can be undertaken full-time prior to finding a job, or part-time as part of a training programme with an employer. They are the equivalent of two years of an honours degree, which most students go on to complete.
Despite the introduction of foundation degrees in 2001, the alternative qualifications — higher national certificates and diplomas (HNCs and HNDs) — remain popular, particularly in computing, engineering, business, and reative arts and design. These qualifications also combine work with learning and are important for people who learn by doing.
The HNC is a one-year programme and more than 90% are done on a part-time basis. The HND is a two-year programme and most are done fulltime. They are clearly linked to practical occupations, and those who study them need to be clear in their own minds about the career they want to follow.
Karen Price, chief executive of e-skills UK, the employer-led sector skills council for the IT and telecoms industries, says the sector is the latest to see the advantages of recruiting A-level students and growing their own graduates.
"Companies can tailor the degree around the needs of the business. They get highly skilled people delivering value at an earlier age, they see the sort of loyalty it generates in their retention rates, and it is not costing them any ore than training graduates," she explains.
