Education Quandary

Hilary's advice

The assumption behind your query is that the boy will only get a second-class degree if he continues straight through his studies, but with added experience and a more mature work ethic he will have a good chance of a First. Since his subject is robotic engineering, a work placement would seem a great idea. As with any vocational qualification, hands-on experience can only help. And since he is likely to be looking for a career in this very specific field, the combination of work experience and a First would seem an obvious winner – provided, of course, that neither the financial burden of extending his degree, nor the psychological one of aiming for the top, is going to be too great on him and his family.

But going all-out for a First is not always a sensible option. In arts subjects it will almost certainly mean cutting out other things to do all the copious reading necessary, and even then it can be an enormous gamble – recent research has shown that even the size of the font that essays are typed in can tip students' marks.

Obviously, if you are aiming for an academic career, or the very highest rungs of banking or the law, you will calculate that it makes sense to put in this amount of effort. But if not, you might remember that most employers are looking for evidence of a bright, well-rounded individual who can get on with others and who knows how the world works. And these sorts of skills, they tend to reckon, are not honed by hours in the library.

Readers' advice

I recently interviewed employees who were young graduates of another engineering discipline. Interviewees who had taken a gap year – with an employer – considered that they had gained skills that they could not have acquired on the course. The gap year also increased employers' keenness to hire them. Your grandson, however, does need to consider whether or not he thinks he may go off the boil academically, especially given his interest in gaining a top grade.

Cole Davis, London NW2

Your grandson would definitely benefit from professional work experience. There is considerable evidence that a well structured work placement, at the right level, helps students obtain a job on graduation, links theory to practice, increases their self-confidence, enables them to gain essential work skills, and helps in making career choices. It can also improve students' academic performance on their return to college. But he must ensure that he is thoroughly prepared and that the work is well structured and supervised. Also, it is not easy to find suitable placements and he must start applying now – many companies will have filled their quota by early in 2008.

Dr Barbara Page, Chair, PlaceNet, The Network for University Placement Officers

Personally, I think he would find it difficult to return to study after a year in the workplace. It is very easy to slip out of study mode and getting back into it would not be easy. There is also the fact that going back to being a "poor student" would not be very appealing.

Kirsteen Black, Ross-shire

Next Week's Quandary

Dear Hilary,

When we were talking at supper about the recent financial crisis, I realised that neither of our two teenage sons knew what a mortgage was, and only one knew about interest rates. I raised this with a form teacher and he said that pupils studied the subject of interest in maths lessons but mortgages weren't on the curriculum. Shouldn't they be taught these things?

Send your letters or quandaries to Hilary Wilce, to arrive no later than Monday 12 November to 'The Independent', Education Desk, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS; or fax: 020-7005 2143; or e-mail: h.wilce@btinternet.com. Please include your postal address. Readers whose letters are printed will receive a Collins Paperback English Dictionary 5th Edition