In the UK, the education system was designed to produce well trained, capable and intelligent individuals to take up all the key jobs. In other words – the best people for the best jobs. Today, that is still the intention but the playing field has changed significantly. In those days, only 5% of school leavers went to university. Students didn’t have to pay tuition fees, there was no EU [not as it is today] and there were not enough graduates to go round. That was then. Today [2010] the percentage of school leavers that go to university stands at between 35 and 40, and according to statistics, this figure increases every year. Today we have a 27 member-state European Union that offers citizens the freedom to travel, work and study anywhere within the union. Many are choosing the UK especially London. In addition to EU students, UK attracts hundreds of non-EU citizens as international students some of whom settle in the UK after studies. Today we are going through the worst economic recession since the great depression of the 1930s. This is a massive change from the conditions under which our education system was designed. This has a huge impact on higher education funding and the graduate job market. There are simply too many graduates chasing after very few jobs.
With the huge number of graduates seeking the very few available jobs, with student tuition fees on the increase year after year, with the average student graduating with a £20,000 - £30,000 mountain of debt, with the average university course taking 3 – 4 years to complete, with graduate unemployment at record levels, with the country going through one of the worst recessions in history; the serious question now should be if going to university is still a good investment for the average student.
The answer to that question is yes and no. No because only those willing to make the huge commitment should be encouraged to go to university. Yes because if done properly, a good education is a ticket to riches beyond imagination no matter the cost.
Higher education in this country is highly overdue for revision. The current system is not sustainable. University education is simply not for everybody. A more effective method of selection is needed to reflect current times. A more ruthless system is needed to cut down on quantity and maintain quality. Quality has suffered under the current system at the expense of quantity. Former polytechnics were all given university status for the wrong reasons. Higher Education has to be elitist. The current system mass-produces graduates. Polytechnics should be brought back so that universities can concentrate on specific areas and research. Grants-for-all has to be changed to scholarships for the few. That way, only those good enough get to go to university as should be the case.
I always advice my students to aim for nothing but a first class honours. The decision to go to university today by the average student should be a decision to graduate with flying colours. It should be either that or nothing. It should be a decision to go from average to above-average. Nothing else is good enough. Not only will the average graduate today need good grades to survive these cut-throat competitive times, the average student needs good long-term job securing strategy. Investment in career management is also advised.
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