Stay-at-home students

Students' social skills and employability are damaged by a growing tendency to study at universities close to home, according to a report from Education Research Services. One in five students opts not to leave the parental home while at university, and at new universities the figure is one in four. "Young people who live at home with their parents are less likely to undertake optional work placements as part of their degree, less likely to undertake graduate-level jobs on graduation, less likely to socialise with their fellow students, and more likely to feel isolated from their peer group at university," said Sarah Parkinson, director of ERS.