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University: Total waste of time
Middle-class people assume that going to university is something they should do. Total nonsense. Really, what skills does university give you? The ability to write some essays and drink lots of alcohol?
There is no logical reason for a graduate being better qualified to do most graduate jobs than a non-graduate, with the obvious exception of fields like medicine and engineering.
Take the example of M&S's fast-track graduate management scheme. Graduates are given an instant advantage, despite having learnt nothing about retail on their degree and despite academics being irrelevant to retail. The graduate overtakes someone who has been working in retail for the last 3 years when he has been drinking for the last 3 years.
Uni used to just be a way to limit social mobility. You did a degree, and even though you learned nothing useful to you, it gave you an advatange by giving you a badge saying that you were upper-middle class. Daft politicians have decided that the way to change this is to send more people to uni. What rubbish. All this does is waste money whilst leaving the people who still come from a background where few go to uni in a even worse position.
There is absolutely no need for most people to be studying beyond 18. It doesn't make any sense to have most people in a academic education until they are 21 when most people aren't academic.
My solution? Slash the numbers going to uni. The target should be 10%, not 50%. But increase funding for people doing phDs and research: this is actually important, getting thousands of teenagers a undergraduate level degree in basic History is not. Put the rest into apprenticeship schemes: attempt to identify what people are actually good at, not give them a piece of paper which does nothing except say "I'm middle-class enough to go to uni even though I'm not academic, give me a job".
Agree?
There is no logical reason for a graduate being better qualified to do most graduate jobs than a non-graduate, with the obvious exception of fields like medicine and engineering.
Take the example of M&S's fast-track graduate management scheme. Graduates are given an instant advantage, despite having learnt nothing about retail on their degree and despite academics being irrelevant to retail. The graduate overtakes someone who has been working in retail for the last 3 years when he has been drinking for the last 3 years.
Uni used to just be a way to limit social mobility. You did a degree, and even though you learned nothing useful to you, it gave you an advatange by giving you a badge saying that you were upper-middle class. Daft politicians have decided that the way to change this is to send more people to uni. What rubbish. All this does is waste money whilst leaving the people who still come from a background where few go to uni in a even worse position.
There is absolutely no need for most people to be studying beyond 18. It doesn't make any sense to have most people in a academic education until they are 21 when most people aren't academic.
My solution? Slash the numbers going to uni. The target should be 10%, not 50%. But increase funding for people doing phDs and research: this is actually important, getting thousands of teenagers a undergraduate level degree in basic History is not. Put the rest into apprenticeship schemes: attempt to identify what people are actually good at, not give them a piece of paper which does nothing except say "I'm middle-class enough to go to uni even though I'm not academic, give me a job".
Agree?
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I agree that there are a ridiculous number of idiots going to university, i mean what percentage of jobs require a degree? Not 50% surely. University used to be a place of academic excellence, now any old rubbish can get in.
Did you know also, that an illegal immigrant in the care of social services is entitled to go to uni and more likely to get a place (due to ticks in boxes).
But wait for the punch line:
This illegal immigrant won't be in debt - the social picks up the tab.
Yes, politicians are daft dappy *****.
But wait for the punch line:
This illegal immigrant won't be in debt - the social picks up the tab.
Yes, politicians are daft dappy *****.
Aack
Did you know also, that an illegal immigrant in the care of social services is entitled to go to uni and more likely to get a place (due to ticks in boxes).
But wait for the punch line:
This illegal immigrant won't be in debt - the social picks up the tab.
Yes, politicians are daft dappy *****.
But wait for the punch line:
This illegal immigrant won't be in debt - the social picks up the tab.
Yes, politicians are daft dappy *****.
thats just annoying
jacketpotato
Middle-class people assume that going to university is something they should do. Total nonsense. Really, what skills does university give you? The ability to write some essays and drink lots of alcohol?
There is no logical reason for a graduate being better qualified to do most graduate jobs than a non-graduate, with the obvious exception of fields like medicine and engineering.
Take the example of M&S's fast-track graduate management scheme. Graduates are given an instant advantage, despite having learnt nothing about retail on their degree and despite academics being irrelevant to retail. The graduate overtakes someone who has been working in retail for the last 3 years when he has been drinking for the last 3 years.
Uni used to just be a way to limit social mobility. You did a degree, and even though you learned nothing useful to you, it gave you an advatange by giving you a badge saying that you were upper-middle class. Daft politicians have decided that the way to change this is to send more people to uni. What rubbish. All this does is waste money whilst leaving the people who still come from a background where few go to uni in a even worse position.
There is absolutely no need for most people to be studying beyond 18. It doesn't make any sense to have most people in a academic education until they are 21 when most people aren't academic.
My solution? Slash the numbers going to uni. The target should be 10%, not 50%. But increase funding for people doing phDs and research: this is actually important, getting thousands of teenagers a undergraduate level degree in basic History is not. Put the rest into apprenticeship schemes: attempt to identify what people are actually good at, not give them a piece of paper which does nothing except say "I'm middle-class enough to go to uni even though I'm not academic, give me a job".
Agree?
There is no logical reason for a graduate being better qualified to do most graduate jobs than a non-graduate, with the obvious exception of fields like medicine and engineering.
Take the example of M&S's fast-track graduate management scheme. Graduates are given an instant advantage, despite having learnt nothing about retail on their degree and despite academics being irrelevant to retail. The graduate overtakes someone who has been working in retail for the last 3 years when he has been drinking for the last 3 years.
Uni used to just be a way to limit social mobility. You did a degree, and even though you learned nothing useful to you, it gave you an advatange by giving you a badge saying that you were upper-middle class. Daft politicians have decided that the way to change this is to send more people to uni. What rubbish. All this does is waste money whilst leaving the people who still come from a background where few go to uni in a even worse position.
There is absolutely no need for most people to be studying beyond 18. It doesn't make any sense to have most people in a academic education until they are 21 when most people aren't academic.
My solution? Slash the numbers going to uni. The target should be 10%, not 50%. But increase funding for people doing phDs and research: this is actually important, getting thousands of teenagers a undergraduate level degree in basic History is not. Put the rest into apprenticeship schemes: attempt to identify what people are actually good at, not give them a piece of paper which does nothing except say "I'm middle-class enough to go to uni even though I'm not academic, give me a job".
Agree?
It's okay for you to get your Law degree, and then criticise the whole concept of unis.
jacketpotato
Take the example of M&S's fast-track graduate management scheme. Graduates are given an instant advantage, despite having learnt nothing about retail on their degree and despite academics being irrelevant to retail. The graduate overtakes someone who has been working in retail for the last 3 years when he has been drinking for the last 3 years.
Take the example of M&S's fast-track graduate management scheme. Graduates are given an instant advantage, despite having learnt nothing about retail on their degree and despite academics being irrelevant to retail. The graduate overtakes someone who has been working in retail for the last 3 years when he has been drinking for the last 3 years.
Undermined your own argument a little bit there.
Snookercraze
It's okay for you to get your Law degree, and then criticise the whole concept of unis.
But hes in the top 10% of students.
Well uni doesn't teach you anything.Just like A-levels have nothing to do with uni work.The point of A-levels is to prove you're smart enough to do a uni course.
So the point of a uni degree is to prove you're smart enough to get a certain job.I'm not saying it actually does prove that but I am saying that that's the theory.
So the point of a uni degree is to prove you're smart enough to get a certain job.I'm not saying it actually does prove that but I am saying that that's the theory.
What about engineering?
Graduate level engineering requires years of training, which really can't be done in the field.
Fair enough that a lot of positions called engineering are successfully fulfilled by apprenticeship peeps, but get rid of graduate engineers and watch the world grind to a halt.
I'm sure the same is true for other fields too, though probably a significant number of jobs don't necessarily technically need university training
The point missed here is that there is more to life than fulfilling a predetermined role. University is an important part of life for a lot of people and a great experience (potentially the best time in their life)
What's life for, if it's not to be lived ?
Graduate level engineering requires years of training, which really can't be done in the field.
Fair enough that a lot of positions called engineering are successfully fulfilled by apprenticeship peeps, but get rid of graduate engineers and watch the world grind to a halt.
I'm sure the same is true for other fields too, though probably a significant number of jobs don't necessarily technically need university training
The point missed here is that there is more to life than fulfilling a predetermined role. University is an important part of life for a lot of people and a great experience (potentially the best time in their life)
What's life for, if it's not to be lived ?
jacketpotato
Middle-class people assume that going to university is something they should do. Total nonsense. Really, what skills does university give you? The ability to write some essays and drink lots of alcohol?
There is no logical reason for a graduate being better qualified to do most graduate jobs than a non-graduate, with the obvious exception of fields like medicine and engineering.
Take the example of M&S's fast-track graduate management scheme. Graduates are given an instant advantage, despite having learnt nothing about retail on their degree and despite academics being irrelevant to retail. The graduate overtakes someone who has been working in retail for the last 3 years when he has been drinking for the last 3 years.
Uni used to just be a way to limit social mobility. You did a degree, and even though you learned nothing useful to you, it gave you an advatange by giving you a badge saying that you were upper-middle class. Daft politicians have decided that the way to change this is to send more people to uni. What rubbish. All this does is waste money whilst leaving the people who still come from a background where few go to uni in a even worse position.
There is absolutely no need for most people to be studying beyond 18. It doesn't make any sense to have most people in a academic education until they are 21 when most people aren't academic.
My solution? Slash the numbers going to uni. The target should be 10%, not 50%. But increase funding for people doing phDs and research: this is actually important, getting thousands of teenagers a undergraduate level degree in basic History is not. Put the rest into apprenticeship schemes: attempt to identify what people are actually good at, not give them a piece of paper which does nothing except say "I'm middle-class enough to go to uni even though I'm not academic, give me a job".
Agree?
There is no logical reason for a graduate being better qualified to do most graduate jobs than a non-graduate, with the obvious exception of fields like medicine and engineering.
Take the example of M&S's fast-track graduate management scheme. Graduates are given an instant advantage, despite having learnt nothing about retail on their degree and despite academics being irrelevant to retail. The graduate overtakes someone who has been working in retail for the last 3 years when he has been drinking for the last 3 years.
Uni used to just be a way to limit social mobility. You did a degree, and even though you learned nothing useful to you, it gave you an advatange by giving you a badge saying that you were upper-middle class. Daft politicians have decided that the way to change this is to send more people to uni. What rubbish. All this does is waste money whilst leaving the people who still come from a background where few go to uni in a even worse position.
There is absolutely no need for most people to be studying beyond 18. It doesn't make any sense to have most people in a academic education until they are 21 when most people aren't academic.
My solution? Slash the numbers going to uni. The target should be 10%, not 50%. But increase funding for people doing phDs and research: this is actually important, getting thousands of teenagers a undergraduate level degree in basic History is not. Put the rest into apprenticeship schemes: attempt to identify what people are actually good at, not give them a piece of paper which does nothing except say "I'm middle-class enough to go to uni even though I'm not academic, give me a job".
Agree?
Partly agree. The post seems to imply that almost all students are studying academic non-vocational courses, which isn't the case at all.
Aack
Did you know also, that an illegal immigrant in the care of social services is entitled to go to uni and more likely to get a place (due to ticks in boxes).
But wait for the punch line:
This illegal immigrant won't be in debt - the social picks up the tab.
Yes, politicians are daft dappy *****.
But wait for the punch line:
This illegal immigrant won't be in debt - the social picks up the tab.
Yes, politicians are daft dappy *****.
I'm pretty sure illegal immigrants are deported on account of being illegal. And the legal ones get just the same social benefits as anyone else. Then again perhaps I'm being naive.
Also you'd be surprised how quickly people who go straight into work can move up the job ladder if they work hard. Presumably at least as hard as you need to work for a degree.
I do suspect there are a lot of people who do aspire to go to uni just because its the status quo and not because its for the best.
KimKallstrom
Well uni doesn't teach you anything.Just like A-levels have nothing to do with uni work.The point of A-levels is to prove you're smart enough to do a uni course.
So the point of a uni degree is to prove you're smart enough to get a certain job.I'm not saying it actually does prove that but I am saying that that's the theory.
So the point of a uni degree is to prove you're smart enough to get a certain job.I'm not saying it actually does prove that but I am saying that that's the theory.
That depends what you're degree is. I'll use my degree as an example (Computer Science) most of the stuff I learn is stuff that is useful if you work in the IT industry whether its software development or consultancy etc.
The same applies for most science degrees and subjects like medicine and law.
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