10th December 2010 9:00
By Harriet Boulding
School sixth formers are not having a good time right now. They are experiencing the final leg of their A level studies, preparing coursework, revising for January re-sits and being given bottom-line talks by their schools and parents. Worse, they are doing this against a back drop of deep uncertainty when it comes to higher education. Yesterday, on the day of the parliamentary vote on tuition fees, another huge student protest took place, with bulletins and blog updates a constant reminder that even if they do secure a place at their chosen university, competing against scores of other bright students, they may still have an enormous debt hanging over them when they leave.
That is the brightest outlook for many. University acceptances and rejections are starting to arrive, and for some it is extremely difficult to continue their studies knowing that, either they cannot afford the debt their course will leave them with, or that they have no university place to take up no matter how well their studies go. This is the alarming truth for many students, for whom achieving a solid mix of As and Bs in their AS levels is no guarantee of a place.
There is no doubt that the education system in this country requires some major changes. However, raising tuition fees to such a huge extent and cutting funding in the arts will ensure that only the rich, and those who intend to pursue lucrative careers will fully benefit from going to university in the years to come. A charities sector worker recently said that, if he had to go to university now, the crippling debt would force him into a city job instead. This applies to teachers, civil servants, and third sector workers to name a few and may well become a very common story. Surely the last thing we want is to make university unattractive to people who keep our country together.