The Student Room Group

are too many people going to uni these days?

Is anyone else in the same boat as me and worried about Blair's target of 50% of people going to university? I think it's totally bonkers - 50% of people were never meant to go to university, they aren't built for that type of study. That's not to say they are any better or worse than people with an academic bent, but in the same way I haven't a clue about how to take a car engine to bits, other people aren't well suited to academia. Equally, there are some people who are amazing at sport, but don't cope well with 30 hours of lectures a week.

I'm worried about the way New Labour is trying to homogenise the UK into a white-collar, middle-management nation of administrators. It seems to be afraid to have blue-collar workers as those people "might" feel inferior. How inferior do you think plumbers, electricians and carpenters, so in demand at the moment on £80K a year in London feel? Not very, I'd wager.

I think this is really storing up real problems for the future. We should be encouraging people to pursue different career paths that reflect their skills, not trying to make them fit a mould that Blair likes the look of. It makes for a more interesting society. The abolition of the technical colleges was a big mistake in my opinion - I reckon someone could make a killing setting up an equivalent fee-paying institution now - I'd bet you'd get loads of mid-30s former white-collar workers paying to learn metal-work, wood-work, wiring, etc. so they could get out of their dull office based jobs. An Academy of Useful Skills.

Anyone fancy starting one?!
Reply 1
I wouldnt say its about the people being suited to university. i would say that its simply a fact that 50% of jobs dont require a degree. As such a target like that is an obvious waste of money and time. It also means that the funding for other students who are planning to get a job that DOES require a degree lack funding.
Reply 2
It also affects the value of higher education - if 50% of the workforce have degrees, no one stands out above the crowd. In ten years time people will need a Masters just to get ahead in the workplace. With penioners living longer and students in education longer, the economy could stagnate.
Reply 3
John82
It also affects the value of higher education - if 50% of the workforce have degrees, no one stands out above the crowd. In ten years time people will need a Masters just to get ahead in the workplace. With penioners living longer and students in education longer, the economy could stagnate.


I wouldnt agree that it necessarily devalues degrees - a degree from Cambridge is hardly worth less because someone went to wolverhampton. Its more the fact that the degreee there is often not worth the 3 years and public expense.
Reply 4
The whole thing is just an extension of the downgrading of A levels and GCSEs to my mind. Why don't the exam boards just award As to the top 20%, Bs to the next 20% and so on, and then produce a sheet that employers can use to benchmark years against each other (like a wine vintage chart) so, for example, if 1999 was an exceptionally "good" year, and you got an "A" in 1999, then you are clearly an exceptionally talented-studend.

GCSEs, A-levels, uni degrees, MBAs are all become so debased - something's got to be done.
Lawz-
I wouldnt agree that it necessarily devalues degrees - a degree from Cambridge is hardly worth less because someone went to wolverhampton. Its more the fact that the degreee there is often not worth the 3 years and public expense.

I agree.
Everyone who wants to go to uni should be given the opportunity, but setting targets of getting people into uni just lowers the standards. employers are already complaining about the quality of graduates.
Reply 6
foolfarian
I agree.
Everyone who wants to go to uni should be given the opportunity, but setting targets of getting people into uni just lowers the standards. employers are already complaining about the quality of graduates.


So you are saying that too many people go then, because if fewer people were admitted it would follow that unis were being more selective - in theory anyway! :smile:
Well 50% of people in uni is just silly. First off University should be about doing something academic for 3/4 years... it doesn't have to be useful.. see classics.. but it is the prosses of training your brain to think.

I would say its rather generous to assume 50% of youngsters could achive that let alone want to. Univerity should be easily atainable to anyone who has the ability to do it. This target is either going to increase drop out rates or devalue the worth of a degree.. not that devaluation hasn't already happened.

personally i say bring back the polytechnichs (sp?) where people can learn to teach/cook/plumb (?)/etc
Reply 8
50% is ridiculous...

though bringing back polytechs would be a good idea. britain's transitioning to a service-based economy, and while that includes more white-collar jobs, it also includes a lot of jobs that require technical know-how. electricians, plumbers, computer specialists, and the like are still necessary and going to uni would be a complete waste of time for people interested in jobs like those.
Reply 9
But the polytechnics never actually went away - they just got nominally changed to universities. If anything its primarily to the disadvantage of those that go to the less respected (read; former polytechnic) universities but that actually are serious about their studies as it will reach the point where ordinarily respectable degrees will simply be ignored if they come from non-russell group universities.
Reply 10
It's a ridiculous target! It's a waste of money and I do think it will devalue degrees, because although yeah, Oxbridge degrees are still going to stand out, it's hard to decide what makes a 'good' university. And if the extra people are going to go to rubbish universities anyway, then what's the point?
Reply 11
This is all interesting stuff. I think pretty much everyone who's posted here thinks that Labour's target of 50% going through uni is absurd - why do you think they stick with it? If the students themselves aren't even for it, who do you think is advising them that it's a great policy?
Reply 12
jrhartley
This is all interesting stuff. I think pretty much everyone who's posted here thinks that Labour's target of 50% going through uni is absurd - why do you think they stick with it? If the students themselves aren't even for it, who do you think is advising them that it's a great policy?


An erroneous sense of moral necessity.
Reply 13
a degree means nothing these days. 2 many rubbish unis and rubbish degrees. i think that the goverment should abolish any degree that requires less than CCC grades, this would also get rid of a lot of rubbish universities, like UEL. the buildings can then be used by nearby, good univerisites, or be converted into to hospitals, schools, houses, or anything useful!