Interviewee Profiles

Name: Colin Seabrook

Gender: Male

Age: 50

Job Title: Head of Auto &

Electro Technology
Apprenticeship Department

Colin Seabrook’s opinion on our subject matter, ‘Is University the only
pathway?’:

As someone who has experienced both, apprenticeship and university, he had

strong opinion on the topic. He completed an apprenticeship in electrical
engineering but then decided to change his profession and proceeded for a
university degree. He believes that the idea of university being the only way to a
successful life is not valid as apprenticeship offers skills that are just as useful.

He was our choice because:

We chose Colin Seabrook as one of our interviewees as he could offer us a
balanced view on the topic. Using his personal experience he was able to tell us
the strengths of both university and apprenticeship and answer the so important
question of which is the best way to go.
 Name: Andrew Rosindell
Gender: Male

Age: 53

Job Title: Member of Parliament for

Romford

Andrew Rosindell’s opinion on our subject matter ‘Is University the only
pathway’:

In his view, university has been so far, and still is, the dominating pathway to a
qualification but he emphasised that today our economy is in need of a new,
more practically rather than academically skilled, workforce. In the past few years
an increasing number of students have been orientated and encouraged to aim
for ‘behind the desk’ professions that require a university degree but, he believes,
we need to take a step back and re-establish the status of the more traditional
labours and the only way we can do that is via apprenticeship, and other
appropriate vocational studies. As a politician and a conservative, he disagrees
with our old government’s ideal that at least 50% of students should attend
university.

He was our choice because:

As an M.P. he could give us a valuable inside into the new conservative
government’s approach to education. Thus his opinion could bring a balanced
argument in our documentary.
 Name: Starbuck Coleman
Gender: Male

Age: 30

Job Title: Parliamentary Liaison

Officer

Starbuck Coleman’s opinion on our subject matter ‘Is University the only
pathway’:

In his view, university offers a more prestigious qualification than apprenticeship

but not necessarily a better one as it all depends on the chosen profession. He
believes that university should not be the norm in today’s society and students
should not feel pressured to take that route. Moreover, as a political figure he
takes into consideration the state of our economy, he sees apprenticeship as ‘the
future’ and is hoping that more and more students would choose it over university
as a way to a qualification.

He was our choice because:

Starbuck Coleman works in Parliament and thus he could talk to us about the
student debt policy and the needs of the economy in terms of work force. This
could provide valuable information for our documentary, as those are the topics
that have been heavily discussed in the media
 Name: Chirag Patel
Gender: Male

Age: 19

Job title: Student & Banking

customer adviser

Chirag Patel’s opinion on our subject matter ‘Is University the only
pathway’:

He believes that “Going to university is a social stigma which we must abide by in

order to succeed in our careers”.

He was our choice because:

He was the first one in his family to attend university so his opinion could be
representative of the social change in terms of how university has become an
ideology for success.
 Name: Courtney George
Gender: Male

Age: 25

Job Title: IT Engineer

Courtney George‘s opinion on our subject matter ‘Is University the only
pathway’:

He had strong opinions on the topic, as he has experienced the advantages and
disadvantages of going to university and wanted to provide us with a realistic
picture of what university graduates are faced with in terms of opportunities and
debt.

He was our choice because:

As a postgraduate, he was able to explain how university used to be a few years
ago which could allow us to give the audience of our documentary the
opportunity to compare the university as a part of different time periods and so
see its development, in particular the development of the tuition fees.