The report from an online survey between December 2013 and January 2014, of over 4,500 parents in 15 countries, found that parents expect a university education to prepare their child for a successful career.
In the UK, almost two in five parents (39%) say the ability to compete in the workplace and income earning potential (39%) are key expectations of a good university education. More than a third (37%) believe it should offer access to opportunities in life, but only 11% think it needs to deliver access to extra-curricular activities. This suggests the requirement of a university education to deliver strong job prospects, is of significant importance.
Only 10% of UK parents believe that a good university education should contribute to foreign language skills in adult life, although this seems to be an English speaking phenomenon, with a similar proportion believing the same in the US (9%) and just 6% in Australia. Parents in Taiwan (36%) and France (31%) have the highest hopes for their children in this area.
Parents around the world are united in having high aspirations for their children when it comes to education. Nearly nine in ten (89%) parents globally want their children to go to university, with over seven in ten (71%) parents in the UK expecting their children to study at this level.
Education is considered a top priority for parents all around the world. When deciding how they would allocate money to support their children financially in life, parents in the UK put education first. They expect to set aside 24% of their funds for their childâs education, though this is the lowest in our survey. Parents in Canada would allocate the most money (54%), closely followed by Singapore (53%).
While UK parents have high expectations of what education should provide, many feel anxious when planning their childâs education â more than a third (38%) say they find making decisions about it daunting and over one in four (27%) wish they had started to plan and save earlier.
