By Michelle Boyde

A-day is fast approaching. On Thursday,  anxious 18 year-olds across the country will collect their A-Level results, discovering if their place at university is secure or not. For many it will not, and students will have to move quickly to find a place through clearing, although this is no longer a guaranteed route to gaining a spot with many universities reporting no places available through clearing.

So what will become of our budding students? A colleague of mine, recently out of university herself, told me she has a friend who achieved three A’s at A-Level and missed a place at university two years in a row – he is trying for a third time this year. If it is not a case of third time lucky, I doubt he will pass through the UCAS system a fourth time. He is an example of potential top talent who may become ‘lost’.

For those students not entering the UK university system, what are the options? Some may forego a tertiary education all together, or others may venture abroad. The US is becoming an increasingly appealing option, especially as the gap in fees between the UK and US narrows. In addition, Australian and the Dutch universities will be undergoing recruitment drives in the UK this week.

UK top talent will inevitably become more dispersed with young people abroad or missing from the education system all together. The question is how will graduate recruitment evolve to prosper from these increasing considerations?

Gen Y has seen university as their right, many going through the motions of UCAS without considering what they wish to achieve and what they want from a career. Increased tuition fees and insufficient places may provoke our youngsters to consider their career path more closely.