TIGA, the trade association representing the UK video games industry, has welcomed the Government’s efforts to bring business and graduates together and noted that TIGA Accredited universities have a good track record in getting graduates into high skilled roles within the games industry. TIGA made the comments following the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics which indicate that 31 per cent of graduates had more education than was required for the job they were doing in 2017. Following this publication, Paul Farrally MP has asked the Government what steps it is taking to make more effective use of graduates’ skills and education.
Responding to Mr Farrally’s Written Question, Government Minister Chris Skidmore MP has set out what the Government is doing to increase the number of graduates in high skilled jobs. These includes:
- Backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power by investing in skills, industries and infrastructure, as part of the UK’s Industrial Strategy;
- £120 million provided to fund collaboration between businesses and universities to stimulate local innovation through the Strength in Places Fund;
- continued support from the Office for Students to ensure that higher education delivers positive outcomes for students;
- supporting initiatives such as Challenge Competition, which aims to boost local employment outcomes, and the Institute of Coding, which aims to boost UK digital skills and graduate outcomes; and
- improving the information available to students to help them make informed choices when making decisions on higher education providers and subject choice.
In response to these figures, Dr Richard Wilson OBE, TIGA CEO, said:
“The UK video games sector competes to a crucial extent on the basis of a highly skilled, graduate workforce. A typical games development studio will have 80 per cent of staff qualified to degree level or above. Unlocking the potential of our graduates will contribute to enhancing the UK’s productivity and attract foreign investment in our economy.
“TIGA welcomes the Government’s efforts to bring businesses and graduates together. We also welcome improved access to information that will help students make informed choices about their further education.
“TIGA strongly supports measures that bring businesses and universities together. TIGA University Accreditation was introduced to help prospective students make informed decisions about which courses are most likely to prepare them for working in the games industry, by accrediting only the very best university courses. Encouragingly, our research shows that up to 67 per cent of graduates on some TIGA Accredited undergraduate courses are securing jobs in the video games industry.”
The full Parliamentary Written Question and Answer can be found below:
Graduates: Employment
Department for Education
14 May 2019
Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to data in the Office for National Statistics’s quarterly Economic Review published on 2 May 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that 31 per cent of graduates had more education than was required for the job they were doing in 2017; and what steps the Government is taking to make more effective use of graduates’ skills and education.
Chris Skidmore: Employment outcomes for graduates are strong. The recently published Graduate Labour Market Statistics 2018 shows that the employment rate of working-age graduates was 87.7% in 2018, which is 0.3% higher than 2017. This employment rate is 16.1% higher than the rate for non-graduates (71.6%). 65.4% of working-age graduates were employed in highly skilled roles, compared with 22.9% of nongraduates.
The government’s Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people throughout the UK by investing in skills, industries and infrastructure. Through this plan, £120 million was provided to fund collaboration between businesses and universities to stimulate local innovation through the Strength in Places Fund.
The primary aim of the Office for Students’ (OfS), the higher education regulator, is to ensure that higher education delivers positive outcomes for students and that it has a regulatory focus to ensure that students are able to progress into employment or further study. The OfS supports graduate employment outcomes in a number of ways. This includes a Challenge Competition, which aims to boost local employment outcomes, and the Institute of Coding, which aims to boost UK digital skills and graduate outcomes.
The government has been improving the information available to students to help them make informed choices when making decisions on higher education providers and subject choice. For example, Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Frameworks, Longitudinal Education Outcomes data and the Higher Education Open Data Competition all provide information to prospective students.[1]