editor, R.A.E. (2018). Colleges exaggerating arts students’ career prospects, says Ofsted chief. The Guardian. [online] 21 Nov. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/21/colleges-exaggerating-arts-students-career-prospects-says-ofsted-chief [Accessed 3 Apr. 2021].
‘Arts and media does stand out as the area where there is greatest mismatch between the numbers of students taking the courses and their future employment in the industry.’
‘Yet even with the poor prospects, course adverts often listed potential jobs in the arts which are, in reality, unlikely to be available to the vast majority of learners but underplay the value of other skills these courses develop.’
‘However increasing numbers of students are taking up media, performing arts, music and design courses.
Mrs Spielman made her comments in a speech to the conference of the Association of Colleges in Birmingham. This coincided with a report from Ofsted that outlined concerns about the number of courses on offer that do not lead to good local jobs. The watchdog found that many colleges collected little data about the destinations of their students.
Where data was available it was found that arts and media courses scored low in terms of employment prospects. Yet at least three colleges surveyed by Ofsted reported these courses as having the most applicants.’