We’re giving young people a chance.. the rest is up to them
IT’S brilliant news that more young people in Scotland than ever before are getting the opportunity to go to our world-class universities.
New figures from UCAS – the body who organise applications for people who want to go to uni – show the number of Scots students getting a place at a Scottish university is at an all-time high of 27,830.
Crucially, in the last two years alone, the number of young people from disadvantaged areas going to university has risen by 20 per cent to record levels.
These figures show that the Scottish Government’s drive to widen access to higher education is working.
It won’t surprise anyone that as an SNP MP, I feel passionate about widening access to education.
I believe strongly that wherever you come from, whatever your background or your family income, if you have the ability to study, you should get the opportunity to go to university.
Getting into university should be about your ability to learn, not how much you can afford to pay.
I’m proud the SNP abolished university tuition fees in Scotland.
It’s shameful that the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems all broke their promises on tuition fees and are forcing students in England to pay through the roof, with fees of up to £9250 per year.
It can’t be right that, according to the charity Sutton Trust, students in England are starting their working lives with the highest levels of student debt in the English-speaking world. Each student owes an average of £44,000 before they’ve even begun their careers. Under the SNP, Scottish students will never face these awful tuition fees and improving access to education and driving up standards will always be a priority.
University can be a life-changing experience, providing the opportunities to learn, develop and gain experience, with the hope of a job at the end of it. Scottish university graduates now the best-paid in the UK, with the lowest levels of student debt.
Higher education can boost social mobility, providing a route to success for young people, whatever their background, and giving those from the most disadvantaged communities a ladder out of the poverty cycle. But, of course, getting a degree is not the only path to success.
One of the best things I’ve seen was the #NoWrongPath social media campaign – reminding us all that success comes in many forms.
People from different industries and life experiences shared their stories of getting to where they are now – from business leaders, to journalists, politicians, artists and many others.
People told how they didn’t get the exam results they wanted at school. Many didn’t go to university or dropped out, but they worked hard and found other paths to success in the jobs they wanted.
That’s a really important message, especially for young people facing all these choices. We all face barriers and problems. That’s life.
Sometimes, we fail and sometimes we need to choose our own path. But keep at it and have faith in yourself. You never know where you might end up. ●Nicola Sturgeon is on holiday.