According to a survey of 268,000 recent graduates carried out by Chinese research firm MyCOS, graduates of information security courses expressed the highest satisfaction in their careers, followed by architecture, primary education, urban planning and journalism. Among students that had graduated from higher vocational institutions, the subjects with the highest career satisfaction were power system automation, pre-school education, medical imaging, and petrochemical production, with port logistics equipment and automation and clinical medicine in joint 5th place. Research participants were surveyed six months after graduating from university in 2014.

Meanwhile, 39 of China’s universities will add a total of 76 new undergraduate subjects from the 2015-16 academic year, mainly in the fields of technology, languages and finance. 10 universities added new language-related subjects, of which half are focused on interpretation and translation, while 12 of the newly added subjects were related to economics or finance, including three subjects specialised in financial mathematics. Pharmacy, art and design, the internet and new (social) media have become new popular subjects.

Sources: http://www.fawan.com.cn/html/2015-05/03/content_549961.htm , http://xmwb.xinmin.cn/html/2015-05/02/content_4_5.htm

Analysis by Liu Xiao xiao, Education Services Manager and Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst

Current “hot” subjects, whether measured by employability or universities’ newly added courses, can give insights into both students’ and market demands, providing a clearer picture of subject development priorities at different universities. This could help to influence UK institutions’ marketing activities.

For example, the newly added courses in translation and interpretation reflects high demand for expert interpreters in the IT, economic and foreign affairs sectors. According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in 2013, only 30,000 people nationwide held CATTI (China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters) certification.

Some of the newly added subjects, such as new energy science and engineering, internet of things engineering and nanomaterials technology, are related to China’s national development strategy, which could be a specific focus for UK institutions to promote TNE programmes with desired subjects in China.