18/09/2026

What families are really asking about university – and how IFG responds

A recent article on ICEF Monitor, written by Dr Priya Ranganathan of MSM Unify, describes how the conversation between families and education advisers has changed.

Five years ago, a student would arrive with a list of three or four universities, and the parents would ask about fees, the city and the ranking.

Today the first question usually comes from the parent, and it is rarely about a university at all. Will this degree lead to a good job? Will it still be relevant when my child graduates? Will artificial intelligence make it out of date?

These are serious questions, and the research behind the article shows why.

Career development is now the number one reason students choose to study abroad. Families want to know what happens to the people who finish a degree, not just where the university sits in a league table.

As the article puts it, families have stopped asking for prestige and started asking for proof.

What this means for students

The article makes a point that we think is important.

Employers say they hire recent graduates mainly for skills that last – communication, judgement, the ability to work with people from other cultures – rather than for a particular technical tool. Tools change. These skills stay useful.

That is good news for international students. Studying in another country, in a mixed classroom, alongside people from many backgrounds, is exactly where those skills are built.

How IFG already works this way

At IFG, career thinking is built into the foundation programme from the start, not added at the end.

During the first term, every foundation student has one-to-one advice sessions with our academic staff. Students at our partner teaching centres have these sessions virtually with the London team.

The sessions do not just cover which university to apply to. They look at what to study, what kind of university suits the student – a city university in London, Birmingham or Coventry, a campus university like Essex or UEA, or a university in Australia or the United Arab Emirates – and how the choice fits the student’s plans for work.

We then support each student through the UCAS application and give feedback on their personal statement, and we stay with them until they have a confirmed university place.

Choosing a university is one of the biggest decisions a young person will make. Parents are right to ask hard questions about where it leads. Our job is to help students answer them.

Read the full ICEF Monitor article here: https://monitor.icef.com/2026/08/the-questions-families-are-actually-asking-inside-the-student-advising-conversation-in-2026/

If you would like to talk to us about foundation & pre-masters programmes and university progression, Please Contact IFG

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