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The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, is putting measures in place to restrict student numbers on what he has termed \u201crip-off degrees<\/a>\u201d: university courses that have high drop-out rates and are unlikely to lead to\u00a0highly skilled jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Instead, the government is\u00a0promoting apprenticeships<\/a>, through which young people train for a specific career while in employment. Ucas, the universities admissions service, is making it easier for applicants to\u00a0compare degree options with apprenticeships<\/a>.<\/p>\n But attempts to encourage people to take vocational routes as an alternative to studying for a degree are unlikely to work.<\/p>\n A degree is a widely recognised mark of achievement, and its value does not look likely to diminish. Young people and their families aspire towards degrees. They also know that having a degree is likely to lead to a\u00a0higher salary<\/a>.<\/p>\n Degrees now incorporate elements of vocational training that might traditionally have been associated with work-based training, and a degree has become an entry requirement for many careers. Even when people choose apprenticeships, they are increasingly taking up higher level courses that\u00a0can lead to a degree<\/a>.<\/p>\n The current pattern of increasing higher education participation started with Tony Blair\u2019s New Labour government. Blair\u00a0set a target<\/a>\u00a0in 1999 for 50% of young people to enter higher education, which was\u00a0ultimately achieved<\/a>\u00a020 years later.<\/p>\n But Labour\u2019s expansion of student numbers was originally part of a wider plan to boost learning throughout life. This would be achieved by combining vocational and academic learning, rather than positioning them as alternatives. The plan was outlined in a consultation paper published in 1998 and titled\u00a0The Learning Age<\/a>.<\/p>\n The paper expected that more people progressing to higher levels of learning would benefit both individuals and the economy. It also claimed that \u201ca culture of learning will help to build a united society\u201d.<\/p>\n It stated that people should be able to access different types of learning more easily and at more stages in their lives. This would begin with a new qualification combining academic and vocational learning at age 16-18, which would replace A-levels. Then learning would expand through the growth of further and higher education together.<\/p>\n The proposals also expected that, as more people entered higher levels of education, it should increasingly be financed by learners contributing to the cost of their studies.<\/p>\n Only this last part has survived the 25 years since.<\/p>\n In 1998, Labour introduced tuition fees of \u00a31,000 per year. Under different governments and through re-payable loans, this fee\u00a0then increased<\/a>: to \u00a33,000 from 2006, \u00a39,000 from 2012, and \u00a39,250 from 2017.<\/p>\n But rather than a united culture of education \u2013 integrating all kinds of learning \u2013 policies increasingly encouraged direct entry to degrees as the starting point for a career.<\/p>\n Even though Labour increased tuition fees in 2006, the government was still also\u00a0providing funding to universities<\/a>\u00a0for teaching students. This included funding for collaborations between further education colleges and universities, with the aim of\u00a0enabling learners to progress<\/a>\u00a0from vocational courses to degrees throughout life. But the idea for a single qualification combining A-levels with vocational qualifications in schools\u00a0was abandoned<\/a>.<\/p>\n A Conservative-led coalition elected in 2010 replaced most of the university teaching grant with tuition fee loans from 2012, then removed caps on student numbers for degree courses from 2015. This allowed even greater numbers of young people to go to university. It also placed reliance on\u00a0student choice and competition<\/a>\u00a0to shape the pattern of courses offered by universities.<\/p>\n This more competitive system made the educational vision presented in the Learning Age paper \u2013 learning for people throughout their lives and in all parts of the country \u2013 more distant. Universities\u00a0focused on<\/a>\u00a0bringing young students to study full-time on their own campuses.<\/p>\n The proportion of undergraduates studying part-time, which is favoured by older students who are not entering directly from school,\u00a0halved<\/a>\u00a0across the decade until 2019.<\/p>\n The pathway from school to university and then into a graduate career became the definition of success for many students, parents and teachers. As a result, recent attempts to divert young people towards vocational routes have met with limited success. Since 2017, funding for apprenticeships in England has been boosted by a\u00a0levy paid by employers<\/a>, but apprenticeship numbers are\u00a0going down<\/a>\u00a0among school leavers.<\/p>\n The government is also\u00a0experiencing difficulties<\/a>\u00a0implementing its new vocational T-level qualifications, which have been promoted as an alternative to the A-level path towards degrees. Exam results are right around the corner, and there are so many options for further study and training available.<\/p>\n Have you heard of T Levels?<\/p>\n Here's everything you need to know 👇<\/p>\n — Department for Education (@educationgovuk) July 31, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The value of a degree<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The higher education market<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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