Are too many young people going to university? 

University hopefuls trepidatiously opening their official A-level emails this morning will on the whole be happier than last year. All the indications are that they are more likely to get a college place, and indeed have a better chance of making their first choice. The reasons for this are complex, but largely boil down to two serendipitous facts. One is the disappearance of the artificial bubble created by Covid, which left universities overfilled and so constricted their scope for new admissions. The other is a drop in foreign applications, due among other things to students being discouraged from bringing their extended family with them, and to the collapse of the currency of Nigeria, from which many overseas students previously came.

All this will certainly please a good many UK teenagers. Is it good news for the country and for higher education?

In one sense it probably is.