Readers' reactions

Last month in The THES:

Baroness Blackstone announced a review of university careers services

I have recently retired after 30 years as a university careers adviser and feel that the Dearing report on higher education was both timely and welcome. I imagine the review, set up by Baroness Blackstone, Labour minster for higher education, will also be useful.

We a7re very fortunate in the United Kingdom. There is no other country that has such developed careers services in universities with excellent and useful support from AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services) and CSU (Central Services Unit).

Employers can easily obtain a variety of practical contacts with universities and their graduates as AGR (Association of Graduate Recruiters) will testify.

So for Baroness Blackstone's comments and the review that will follow, it is, I suggest, more a matter of fine tuning than inventing something new and untried.

As Dearing indicates, careers services should be more involved in the academic life of their universities.

Perhaps vice-chancellors could help by taking the lead and setting an example, by showing a serious interest in their careers services so that this involvement develops fully and usefully.

16 SoapboxThe Times HigherJaugust 4J2000 Edwin Underhill

Brunel University