The higher education charade must stop

A study has shown that 1/3 of graduates receive no financial benefit from having a degree. And there’s been a 12% rise since 1992 in the number of graduates in non – graduate positions five years after leaving university. The worst performers were converted polytechnics and new universities spearheaded by the Labour government. These findings show the dangers of the incentivisation of higher education.

A couple of weeks ago I said school wasn’t for everyone. Well, university isn’t either. Bribed into A levels by EMAs, and fooled by dated graduate salary figures into university, young people are sleepwalking into up to £20,000 of debt. And it’s not just a few of them either – some 50 percent of school leavers are intended to head to university.

Universities need to be returned to their essence: academic excellence for the few not the many. This will allow young people to apply their skills in the appropriate setting, rather than act as pawns in Labour’s game of “graduate success”.