University staff plan strike action for 31 October

I think it's a lot easier for me to feel supportive when they schedule it in the middle of reading week / half term!

It does rather seem a little counterproductive though when it won't cause any disruption in many places.

what about oxbridge

My Dad is an academic and earns £40k, and a less until recently. He's in his 50s and has nearly 30 years of experience.

I wouldn't call that 'struggling to survive', but it's low for someone with a PhD, and low compared to other industries. He could have got more than that by joinng the Navy. Bringing up some manager's 250k salary is extremely misleading.

It does, however, worry me where the extra money could come from. I strongly believe higher education should be financially accessible, for the good of the country if nothing else. £9000 tuition fees were criminal. Unfortunately the solution is probably to cut down on degrees that could be apprenticeship led. That might sound snobby, and I don't know if apprenticeships are even better value to the government so I take it back if not, but I think funding in academia should be preserved for academic subjects - sending half the population to university simply isn't sustainable.

Thank God someone agrees with me on this; the only people that should be going to university are those that need a degree or want to attend higher education, forcing people into education doing vocational courses with little prospects is not doing them any favour as they will find it incredibly difficult to get a job; and it's not doing anyone else favours either because menial jobs now require degrees despite them not being relevant. We've become a society where paper is more important than production...