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The Conservative Party has proposed scrapping so-called “Micky Mouse” university degrees which don’t propel graduates into well-paid jobs in favour of increasing spending on apprenticeships.

Rishi Sunak claimed that some universities were “ripping young people off“, by offering courses which do not increase their long-term earning potential.

Alongside the plan, The Tories have pledged to fund 100,000 new apprenticeships a year by the end of the next parliament. The £900m cost of the funding would be funded by shutting down around one in eight undergraduate degrees deemed to be “poor quality”.

However, the Conservatives have not revealed which courses would be under threat as part of their plans, leading to speculation over which subjects would be included.
i analysed the degree subjects with some of the lowest average earnings for graduates after five years, and the salaries of workers who had taken alternative apprenticeships, based on figures from the Department for Education, to see which courses could be under threat.

Graduate salaries v apprentice salaries
Art and Design

Graduate salary (median average) – £22,300

Apprentice salary – £22,260

According to the latest Department for Education figures, more than 14,000 students completed degrees in Art and Design in 2016/17 and were earning an average salary of £22,300 after five years.

Meanwhile, those who studied for an Advanced Apprenticeship in Crafts, Creative Arts & Design – a Level 3 qualification deemed equivalent to having two or three A-levels – achieved an almost identical average salary of £22,260 after five years, according to government figures.

Agriculture, food and related studies

Graduate salary – £23,700

Apprentice salary – £25,330

Around 1,600 people graduated with degrees in ‘Agriculture, food and related studies’ and were earning an average salary of £23,700 after five years, according to the Government figures.