5 career stories you need to hear this week | Erasmus+, skipping lectures and future earnings

In this week's career news roundup, we're breaking down five stories that could affect students, graduates and early-career professionals across the UK.  

In this episode: 

• The UK is set to rejoin Erasmus+ 

• How your degree subject could affect your future earnings 

• The barriers international students are facing 

• Why university rankings don't tell the whole story 

• Why more students are skipping lectures, and what it means for you 

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back to Future You.

(00:01):
The podcast brought to youby graduate careers experts prospects.
Every Friday, we're going to bring youfive stories that are shaping
the future of careers, educationand work in the UK.
Hot off the press and just what
students, graduates and job seekersneed to be paying attention to.
Story one Erasmus is making a comeback.
Let's start with some good news for anyonewho's ever dreamed of studying abroad.

(00:25):
The UK is planning to rejoin Europe.
Plus the 2027 academic year,replacing the current Turing scheme.
Now, if you're wondering why that matters,Erasmus was one of Europe's
biggest student exchange programsbefore Brexit.
It gave studentsthe chance to study, work and live abroad.
If you're not planning to go overseasanytime soon, this won't affect

(00:48):
you immediately.
But if university is stilla couple of years away or you're thinking
about a placement year, it could open upmore opportunities in Europe.
The key thing is to keep an eyeon how the funding and eligibility rules
develop over the next couple of years.
Story two your degree choice could affectyour earnings, but it's not that simple.

(01:08):
and new study suggests your degree subjectcould have a pretty big impact
on how much you earn over your lifetime.
subjects like medicine and economicstend to lead to higher salaries,
while others don't always providethe same financial return.
Now, before you panic and switch courses,this doesn't
mean you should only study somethingbecause it pays well.
Salary is important,but so is actually enjoying what you do,

(01:32):
being good at it, and finding a careerthat suits you.
I'd see this researchas another piece of information to help
you make an informed decision.
Not the only thing you baseyour future Story three.
International studentsare facing more barriers.
New research has found that Englishlanguage tests
are becoming a bigger barrierthan many people realize.

(01:53):
Some students are travelinghundreds of miles just to sit in exam,
while others are paying high fees
before they've even submitted a universityapplication.
It's a good reminderthat applying to university isn't
always straightforward, especiallyif you're doing it from another country.
If you're considering studying abroadyourself, it's worth researching exactly
what tests or qualifications you'll needwell in advance.

(02:16):
It could save you a lot of time,stress, and money.
Story four don't obsess overuniversity rankings.
Every year, university rankings come outand every year people start panicking.
This week, the latest global rankingsshowed that while UK universities
still perform really well overall, there'sa lot of movement up and down the table.

(02:37):
Here's the thing thougha university ranking tells you something.
It doesn't tell you everything.
It won't tell youwhether you'll enjoy the course,
whether you'll get good supportfrom your lecturers, whether there are
placement opportunities or whetheryou'll actually like living there.
So if you're choosing a university,
use rankings as a starting point,but not the final decision story.

(03:00):
Five. Why are students skipping lectures?
Finally, apparently more studentsthan ever are skipping in-person lectures.
now it's easy to assume that'sbecause people can't be bothered.
But actually, it's a bit more complicated.
Some students are juggling parttime jobs alongside university.
Others find large lecture theatersoverwhelming, especially when they're

(03:22):
just starting universityand don't know anyone yet.
And of course, lots of lectures
are now available online,making it tempting to stay at home.
The advice from universitiesis pretty simple if you can try
to attend in person,
not just because you'reprobably learn more,
but because that's oftenwhere you meet people, ask
questions, and start feelingpart of the university community.

(03:45):
Thank you so much for listening.
If you found this episode useful,make sure you're following the podcast
and I'll be back next week withfive more career stories you need to know.