For years, young people were sold a neat formula for success: go to university, get a degree, land a good job. It was presented less as an option and more as a rite of passage, the ‘golden ticket’ dangled in front of anyone chasing stability. The mantra was simple: work hard enough and success will follow. But for today’s graduates, that three-step plan has collapsed into something closer to a rigged game.
A polished LinkedIn at 16, internships before you’ve even finished A-levels or Highers, glowing recommendations, and of course, a first-class degree. You’d think that checklist would open doors, but in 2025, it often leads nowhere. Entry-level jobs, supposedly designed for people with no experience, now demand exactly that: experience. That’s not a learning curve, it’s a barrier. And the numbers back it up. At the University of Edinburgh, in particular, 94.3 per cent of graduates in 2016-17 entered employment or further study, but only 75.9 per cent reached “highly skilled” roles, the lowest of the Russell Group. If even elite graduates can’t climb into well-paid, stable careers, what chance does anyone else have?
National data tells the same story. Between February and April 2025, 625,000 young people were unemployed, 42,000 more than last year. Youth employment now sits at 14.3 per cent. According to The Independent, graduate employment has hit its highest in over a decade, with the gap between graduates and the national average the widest in 30 years. In other words, there aren’t enough graduate jobs. Universities aren’t launching talent into work; they’re churning out debt-ridden students and leaving them stranded at the start line.
Artificial Intelligence is making the situation worse. Roles once considered safe – junior analysts, coders, administrative assistants – are being swallowed by automation. These jobs aren’t glamorous, but they are essential stepping stones. Without them, there’s no path forward. And when those stepping stones vanish, the entire economy suffers: education wasted, tax contributions lost, industries starved of adaptable human skills. Pretending this is just ‘market forces’ is lazy. The government can’t shrug and walk away. It must step in to invest in human-centred sectors to regulate AI properly, and make sure innovation doesn’t simply mean unemployment.
Meanwhile, apprenticeships, often dismissed as “second best”, are starting to look like the smarter choice. They pay. They train. They connect directly to the industry. Expanding them could not only give young people stability, but also fill desperate skills shortages in healthcare, tech, and beyond. Right now, underemployed graduates aren’t just frustrated individuals; they are dragging down productivity, spending power, and growth.
I don’t say this as a detached observer. I say this as a student staring down the same broken system. Graduates can adapt, yes, but we can’t fix a labour market that refuses to let us in. That’s on our government. Create real entry-level opportunities, expand apprenticeships, and confront the AI squeeze head-on. Because if the myth of the three-step formula isn’t replaced with something better, universities won’t just lose credibility, but the UK will lose its competitive edge altogether.
“Edinburgh Graduates Leaving Graduation Hall” by thisisedinburgh is licensed under CC BY 2.0.