Do you regret your tertiary education? Most other Aussies do

Survey results show three quarters of us think we misused our time spent at university or TAFE - and more than half are looking at a career change

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If you feel like your tertiary education was a waste of time, you’re in good company – new research shows three-quarters of Australians wish they could go back and do their education differently.

Seel Learning's annual Careers and Education Report shows 55% of Australians think they didn’t make the most of their education opportunities and a third feel like they didn’t make the right education choices while at school, university or TAFE.

The biggest regrets were not taking study more seriously (37%), not trying harder (32%) and not staying in education longer (32%).

The fourth biggest regret was making the wrong choice of subjects (29%), followed by not asking for more advice about study choices (21%).

In an interview with News Ltd, Seek Learning general manager Tony Barrett says part of the problem is that people make their education decisions when they’re very young.

"It's not unusual for people, with the wisdom of age, to wish they'd done things differently.”

The survey of 1,257 Australians also showed just 51% feel they’re in the right career, with more than one in five planning to return to study to change their career within the next 12 months.


 

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