Labour To Hike University Tuition Fees.

[webbo3]

More lies from Labour.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13900725/Labour-hike-university-tuition-fees-10-500-despite-previous-pledge-scrap-altogether-amid-fears-current-unsustainable.html

https://x.com/bobmca1/status/1840297368169668910

 

Thats old people annoyed and now young people.

 

[naomi24]

More joy for the poor.  

[davebro3]

I'm surprised so many school leavers choose to go to university now unless it's to obtain degrees necessary for their intended career.

In their position I would be deterred by the accumulation of debt & probably seek an alternative path into the world of work.

People I was at school with and have subsequently met didn't seem to suffer for the lack of a degree.

[theshedman]

Did you expect much else from Labour.  Say one thing and do the opposite.

[naomi24]

Wasn't it Tony Blair's idea that university should be available to all - and we ended up with people studying nonsense subjects for worthless degrees.

[newmodarmy]

Most people never repay their loan in full anyway, so for most students it makes no difference, unless the government puts up the graduate tax rate  which is 9% currently for income over the threshold (which for new students is on income above the first £480 pw.

[vulcan42]

They also pledged to compensate those exposed to nuclear radiation so add dying service personnel to the list.

[brainiac]

The main cause is that there are far too many universities now for the number of students who want to attend them.  Perfectly good polytechnics and colleges have been upgraded to university status - there are now an absurd 131 UK universities listed in the Times Good University Guide.

No wonder many universities are closing courses and firing staff.

[New Judge]

“The current system is unsustainable….” 

Absolutely correct

“….and we need to raise tuition fees”

Not necessarily correct

What’s needed at the same time is a fundamental reassessment of what university is for, why people go there, what they get from it and how much (if anything) they should pay.

In particular, the entry requirements should be rigorously examined with a view to properly assessing whether or not people applying to go to university can actually cope with the requirements of an academic path. I have worked with people who come equipped with a degree (often from a former polytechnic college) who are scarcely able to string a coherent sentence together. Quite how they gained entry to a university, let alone coped with a rigorous degree course, always baffled me.

As well as that, the university loans scheme is being abused on an industrial scale. It was evident seven years ago:

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41966571

And it’s still going on now:

https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8143/investigation-into-student-loans-issued-to-those-studying-at-franchised-higher-education-providers/news/201022/student-loans-system-wide-open-to-fraud-with-risks-to-students-and-taxpayers/

What’s needed is a policy which shifts away from offering a degree course to people unable to cope with it and which they don’t need anyway. The idea that 50% of young people need to be educated to degree level is ridiculous. That should be knocked back to about 10-15% (and so align with the percentage of careers that actually require a degree). 

There may then be sufficient funds then to educate those who actually require a degree for their chosen career virtually free of charge. Universities which thrive on awarding useless degrees will then be free to offer them to overseas students from whom they  can demand whatever fees they like. It would also require the visa scheme to be rigorously policed so that only the students are allowed to settle here and only for the duration of heir course.

Of course, the Labour government has the answer:

“But at the same time we need to look at maintenance grants to help those who can least afford it.”

aka more ££££££s. If dealing with the train driver's dispute is anything to go by, the ££££s will be awarded and the underlying problems left for another day.

[ToraToraTora]

Blair basically destroyed the value of a university education, by convincing all and sundry they can get a degree we ended up with micky mouse degrees and mick mouse grads. In among them there are of course the usual acedemics that should be there, those that will go on to contribute to human endeavour. Sadly most grads these days are little better than the school leavers of the 70s with half a dozen O levels. Many are a lot worse and barely numerate and literate.

[david small]

Blair has a lot to answer for, But he won’t. Bums on seats means money for the university’s. Degrees in ridiculous subjects, of no use in a practical way. So many follies. The road to hell paved with good intentions.

[DDIL]

Perhaps it will stop people going to uni and doing useless degrees.

The last group of graduates I interviewed could barely string 2 words together.

[Omg21]

I have two young relatives who had the qualifications to go to university but decided to do apprenticeships instead.  They are now both in well paid jobs with good career prospects. 

[nicebloke1]

Were are all these poor people everyone keeps on about. Just been looking back on 2 weeks of news threads on AB?

[renegadefm]

It costs young people enough already to go to UNI. 

It normally involves the student leaving their home, which is added expense as it is. 

My eldest daughter had to leave her home here in Cornwall and moved to London, but she said everything is so expensive to live in London, she even skips meals. 

I never did trust Kier Starmer but hes certainly showing his true colours now isn't he? 

[Khandro]

Another balls-up was turning the Polytechnics into universities in 1992.

[Old_Geezer]

We need to turn the clock back to the time when sanity was more common in the way the nation handled further education.