Morning:
10°c
My eldest son has just dropped out of university - one of the soaring number of students who fail to complete their degrees. According to new figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency,
14.1 per cent - one in seven - of those who started degrees in 2005/06 will not graduate. My son was at one of the newer universities where the failure rate is even higher, as much as 50 per cent in some institutions.
He was in his second year, studying for a degree that he believed in the end cost much and promised little. He decided enough was enough. He came home, applied for and was fortunate enough to land a good job with a career path in front of him.
As such, he joins four of the five richest Americans who didn't complete their degrees: Microsoft's Bill Gates, casino king Sheldon Adelson, Oracle's Larry Ellison and Paul Allen, also of Microsoft. In Britain, he is on a par with the 19 of our self-made billionaires who did not go to university. They include Sir Philip Green, Sir Richard Branson, Bernie Ecclestone, Joe Lewis and Charles Dunstone. Another entrepreneur, Sir Alan Sugar, also didn't go near the place.
But we ignore them and instead we put enormous and increasing pressure on our children to go to university. My son should never have gone - he's not an academic, he's always wanted to get on, impatient to be working and earning. Others, though, dictated that as a bright boy with decent exam results he should obtain a degree. He didn't feel as though he had a choice. All the chat from teachers, his peers and family was about "uni". It was expected that he would spend three years studying for something. He must - society demands it.
His decision to leave was not taken lightly. But there will be far more like him: the Government wants greater numbers to take up higher education places, not less. John Denham, the universities secretary, wants to achieve a 40 per cent target of the workforce having graduate-level skills by 2020.
Yet, a high proportion of those going should never have gone at all, like my son or they're ill-equipped to cope and also don't finish their degrees. The Commons Public Accounts Committee reports that in the past five years, more than £800 million has been pumped into the system to try to stop students quitting. Universities that recruit from poorer backgrounds get additional funds and receive special payments for extra pastoral care and tuition and they are not penalised if students leave early. Yet dropout rates have stayed roughly the same; meanwhile, other new figures show that despite billions being spent on schemes to improve access, the proportion of state-school pupils going on to university has risen only slightly.
This is based on the assumption that university is best for everyone. Higher education has become one of the great mantras of our age. It is evidence apparently, of an intelligent, sophisticated nation, one that is better suited to deal with the pace of change of the modern world. Denham and his colleagues point to analysis from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showing that Britain's higher education system is expanding less rapidly than that of many of its economic competitors - hence this latest Government drive.
Odd, then, that they should accompany such a push with tuition fees and higher charges. Virtually every student I've spoken to has financial worries. They are genuinely burdened by money concerns, anxious as to how, with many thousands of pounds owing, they will be able to begin to scale the property ladder - something that in the South-East is already difficult.
What is also strange is that this Government considers it knows what is best for business - without bothering to ascertain what business thinks. Talk to any corporate executive and unless they are in a top-flight investment bank or law firm that can draw on the very best graduates from the leading universities, they will moan about the quality of those they are seeing. They may be graduates but many of them are not equipped for the world of work, lacking communication and arithmetical skills.
Neither are they used to the punishing regime of Monday to Friday employment. One student I know has just six hours of lectures a week - the rest of her time is her own.
It never used to be like this. When I was at school, around 60 per cent of my sixth form went to university or some form of higher education. More than a third did not but went into banks, building societies, shops and factories - and nobody thought any less of them for it.
Today, the pressure to carry on studying after school is intense. Every town with any ambition has some form of university or college. Courses are offered that didn't exist then - and shouldn't exist today. The result is a whole generation of graduates leaving university with pieces of paper that are frankly worthless. They may look good, may give initials after their name, but the qualifications are useless.
Nobody is putting a brake on this - quite the reverse, if Denham and his colleagues have their way. But it's no use merely boosting the institutions and courses on offer. Ministers need to ask themselves why so many students are quitting. Some, like my son, aren't suited to the regime and want to get into paid employment. Others, though, find that once they are there, a degree is beyond them. Their secondary education was so poor they are unable to stand on their own two feet and cannot deal with the level of specialisation that university demands.
It's why state pupils either fail to get into Oxbridge or, once they are there, often fare badly. It's also why many students struggle at other universities. There seems little point in loading up the university end of the education system if the rest does not prepare children for university. It makes no sense.
Yes, higher education can be vital for stretching the mind - but not in all cases. Likewise, I don't doubt the need for a vocational degree in a subject such as medicine. Nor do I doubt the crucial role played by universities and colleges in research.
But pushing as many pupils as possible towards university according to some blind, one-size-fits-all ideology is also misguided. We should recognise that for some children, university is not the answer - and not treat them as failures. Equally, for those who do go, we must ensure they receive a better education before they get there. And we should examine the quality of the courses they are doing. In short, we must stop betraying our children.
Reader views (9)
University is not for everyone. I was viewing your artical as assistance in adressing student concerns about going to university. I am adressing the sixth form at the school where I work later this week about this matter. I myself went to university twice however not all of the students I am speaking to are. I agree that a degree is not a pre requisite for sucessfull employment in later life. However what I think the artical fails to stress, and what I will be stressing to my students is that university is about so much more than acedemic study. I couldnt boil a egg before I did my undergraduate degree, I'd never had a bank acount, lived away from home - never even washed my own clothes! It is doing these and other 'mundane' tasks which are the 'soft skills' of uni and it is important for all to understand that uni teaches you more than your degree. Saying that it is not for everyone - but for alot of people I know they have used it as the first step to leaving home - and I think in that respect (as well as others) uni is vital.
- Mairi, Langholm UK, 22/06/2009 15:26
Report abuse
I am a recent graduate with a good degree from a good university and a good job. Great - but 2 friends who never went to university both have much more lucrative careers as national managers for a supermarket and a building society at the age of 26. After all, they have almost 10 years' industry experience and are perfectly intelligent, rounded and hard-working people. I have 3 years' experience!
Maybe if the only people I knew were graduates I would be too short-sighted to realise that university is not needed for all people and all jobs.
- Colin, London UK, 09/06/2008 15:26
Report abuse
I hold two degrees yet still agree that not all school-leavers are prepared for University. I certainly wasn't and wish I'd left it until I was a little older, wiser and more financially stable. After all, there are institutions that exist that cater for those who wish to obtain a degree on a part-time basis later in life (e.g. The Open University and Birkbeck, University of London).
However, I do feel that the fees being charged by universities are now too high and it is unfair that aspirant undergraduates are being unfairly 'taxed'. The cost of living is high enough in the UK without having to start working life being shackled to a huge debt (i.e. student loans and bank overdrafts).
In response to Dectora's comment, the author stipulated that he did agree with vocational degrees in medical fields, which I believe covers medicine, surgery and dentistry.
- Kevin, London, UK, 09/06/2008 14:56
Report abuse
When I left school, 3% of school leavers went to uni, the rest of us went to work. Years later, I won admission as a student while working for a uni department, went on to train as a teacher and was so keen to teach I did not take up the option of a studentship after completing teacher training to complete a degree as a B.Ed. seemed wildly irrelevant by then. Today many employers see a degree as a blanket educational requirement for an employee, even though a degree is no indicator of ability as institutions conferring degrees are incredibly uneven in their standards and international comparisons are even harder to make.
I know from personal experience that a degree may help one climb the employment/career ladder, but has nothing whatever to do with actual competence in the job. I also know that a growing range of skill-based occupations that did not exist when I was a school leaver, or even one or two decades ago, are offering young people a viable alternative to the uni route and if they are motivated to do something other ther uni, they should go for it.
Dectora's comments are rather silly as some occupations require a specific degree and some don't. While I am quite happy to have my hair cut by a person who is self-taught and makes a brilliant job of my hair, there is no way I would consult a doctor who had 'learnt on the job'. A degree is not a universal requirement for a successful life!
- Kiwi Expat, London, UK, 09/06/2008 13:19
Report abuse
I went to university after working as an admin clerk for 5 miserable years in a bank. I saved up in order to pay my own way; it was NOT an easy ride and I had to work hard to get a good result. The lessons I learnt at uni were not just academic - they taught me to think differently and to appreciate the world around me. It was the best three years of my life and I now have a successful career that I would not have otherwise had. Do not make assumptions about other people's lives based on your own son's experience. My decision was an informed one and if your son had any wit he would not have gone in the first place or shown some resolve and finished the course rather than wasting everyone's time and money.
- Paul R, London, UK, 09/06/2008 13:09
Report abuse
I'd be interested in how the author backs up his claim that 'state school students often fare badly at Oxbridge'. The truth is that the majority of students at Oxford are from state schools, Oxford has the lowest drop-out rate in the country, and there is no marked difference in exam performance between students from different types of school.
- Barbara Hott, Oxford, 09/06/2008 11:53
Report abuse
Your son has just dropped out of university so I expect you are trying to make yourself feel better. However I wouldn't employ him and in the future getting ahead without a degree will be very hard.
- Peter, Battersea, 06/06/2008 19:34
Report abuse
In 1990, I chose not to go to Uni after my A-levels. I knew that it simply wasn't for me.
For the next 10 years, I was treated badly by graduates who had an inflated sense of self importance. The fact that they had a piece of paper and I didn't, somehow made them superior human beings.....
However, I persevered and the tide turned. The top institutions were still admired but Colleges and Polytechnics all became Universities; the pool of candidates for graduate jobs rose and the overall quality sank.
Now I interview graduates alongside experienced candidates for admin positions in my teams.
I have had a wonderful career working for Blue Chip companies around the world and don't regret not going onto further education for one minute.
- Sarah, London, UK, 06/06/2008 17:41
Report abuse
I'm sure that Chris would be more than happy to be operated on by a consultant surgeon who had gained his or her expertise in the School of Hard Knocks. Or have root canal work performed by a cheery character who said he had no degree but masses of 'hands on' experience.
- Dectora, London UK, 06/06/2008 15:31
Report abuse
