Marsha Dowie writes for Lancaster University’s Scan on whether a Masters is worth paying for:

In 2011 The Guardian revealed that 1.5 million graduates were filling the UK job market. With a figure like this, it appears that achieving a Bachelors degree is now the norm. Therefore, to get a job in the current climate, it’s highly probable that you’ll need to achieve something pretty extraordinary which makes you stand out from the other 1,499,999 graduates.

‘Employability’ is the buzz word at Lancaster University, and with a recent SCAN survey revealing that 52% of you feel under pressure to gain work experience, it is clearly an important part of student life. However, I highly doubt that this is unique to Lancaster. As the government are increasingly keen to get young people into employment, it seems only realistic to suggest that the remaining 115 UK universities are also encouraging their many thousands of students to increase their employability. Subsequently, it’s likely that more students will not only graduate with similar degree classifications, but probably similar CVs, coated with internships and work experience. So once again we fall into the trap of everyone looking identical on paper…

Full story here.