Manchester University to offer work placements to all undergraduates

A leading UK university is promising work placements to all undergraduates regardless of their degree, to better equip them for the challenges of the job market. In what appears to be a first for a large Russell Group institution, the University of Manchester is planning to offer “meaningful real-world experience” to all students, in subjects from classics to chemical engineering. Manchester’s vice-chancellor, Duncan Ivison, said no student should graduate having done three years of just academic study. Instead, “every single student [should] have a chance to put their learning into context – an internship, a placement, a joint project or an exchange”, he told the Times . “It doesn’t matter if you’re a history student or a chemical engineer.” Graduates are increasingly struggling to find work after leaving university, some with debts of more than £50,000. Those who do get work are often in low-paid roles in hospitality or retail rather than traditional graduate jobs. Nick Hillman, the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, welcomed the initiative but raised feasibility concerns, with 32,000 undergraduates enrolled at Manchester. “This is a brilliant initiative in the sense that it seeks to tackle the widespread fear that older universities provide an overly academic education,” he said. “It also recognises the fact that the main reason people attend higher education is to find a fulfilling career afterwards. …