Nail on the head. You can't blame universities, because if you look on the Uni threads on here, lecturers and teaching staff at Unis are saying exactly the same thing about students expecting extensive hand holding, accommodations, etc., and they're blaming the schools! Schools really need a massive kick up the arse as far too many kids are being let down. Not blaming teachers as such, but the whole system, and especially the grade inflation over decades.
And yes, far too many kids are going to Uni (thanks Blair, you idiot!) because it's just become the "norm" even for jobs that never used to need a degree. Unis are fighting each other for students, so standards are dropping, as they're having to take in "the best they can get" rather than "the best", so accepting students who really aren't up to standard just for "bums on seats" and the resultant funding!!
We really need to turn back the clock, say 30 years, to where there are lots of options OTHER THAN university, i.e. bring back Polys, return FE colleges to everyone, not just 16-18 year olds, restore adult education, turn back the clock on all the careers (especially public sector) that now require a degree (any degree of course and any grade!), and re-instate alternative entry points and on the job training via evening classes, day release, etc.
We have to accept that education over the past few decades, probably since the scrapping of the grammars in the 70s, has been a failed experiment, and start to look at other countries, such as Germany maybe, who have a completely different approach, especially to secondary years.
When we have half the kids leaving school at 16 without adequate Maths and English skills, and sometimes have kids "passing" a GCSE with a so-called "good pass" despite getting only a third of the marks, or less, you know that something has gone badly wrong.