Towns lag behind capital for uni students
TEENAGERS from towns across the country are far less likely to go to university than those from London.
Figures show a 10-point gap between the capital and the rest of the country for higher education, and a 20-point gap for low-income families. It comes ahead of students getting their A-level results on Thursday.
Labour Towns, targeting Tory austerity outside the capital, found 61% of Londoners go into higher education compared with 50% in towns.
For children on free school meals the gap is even bigger, with 61% in the capital carrying on into higher education. For those on free school meals growing up in towns, it is just 42%.
Yvette Cooper MP, Labour Towns chair, said: “Teenagers in towns aren’t getting a fair deal. The Government must not ignore this opportunity gap.”
THE wait is almost over. Tomorrow, thousands of nervous teenagers across England and Wales will get their A-level results. It will be joyous for many who achieve their predicted grades and get into their dream university. But for those who don’t manage the marks they need, the day will be full of angst, tears and the start of the scramble to get a place on any university course that will have them. Many will panic – a bit like buying clothes in the summer sales that you know will never fit – and end up on courses and at institutions they don’t really want because there is still a feeling that in order to be a success you have to go to university. But do you? With the obvious exceptions of professions like medicine and law, do quite so many young people need to go on to traditional higher education? The latest figures from UCAS, the university admissions service, suggest there’s been a dip in applications. Some argue this is a good thing. Professor Alan Smithers, an education expert from the University of Buckingham, says: “For too long, degrees – whatever they consist of – have been valued over practical education. Too many university courses do not lead to satisfying lives, good careers or practical success.” He believes young people should instead focus on alternatives such as “attractive apprenticeships and rewarding employer-led training which will be to the benefit of everyone”.
And I agree. When I was a teenager, NOT going to university was NOT an option for me. Before my dad passed away, he made my mum promise that I would go to university.
Like many children of African and Asian heritage, degrees were a must. My A-level results were OK, if not sizzling, but I got on to the media degree course I wanted. I left three years later clutching my certificate and I knew all about a whizzy new invention called email.
But apart from getting to wear a cap and gown on graduation day and making my mum, and hopefully my dad, proud, I don’t think I learned anything that I couldn’t have picked up by doing a practical journalism course and getting some on-the-job training. It didn’t matter so much then when university education was free.
All that changed when tuition fees were brought in. Universities are now big business. I couldn’t imagine leaving university £30,000 in debt and with little to show for it other than an opportunity for my mum to tell her friends that her daughter’s a graduate.
I’m not surprised that two-third of students say they’re not getting value for money from their courses. They’re demanding more teaching hours and a better quality of education. When you’re paying £9,000 a year, you expect to get your money’s worth.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies says degrees can boost wages, but it depends on where you go and what you study. Young people really need to think strategically about what career they want and look at whether going to university really is the best thing for them. It might not be. And there’s no shame in that.
There needs to be a less snobby attitude to apprenticeships and vocational courses. And there are increasingly more ways to get a dream job that don’t involve studying for three years and paying thousands of pounds for the privilege.