Why are so many YP going to uni, when uni isn't right for so many YP? AIBU to think fewer YP should go to uni as it's only giving them a huge debt?

This is a very fashionable point of view right now: everyone is being told they should encourage their kids to become welders or plumbers and not go to university. Its everywhere.

There’s definitely an element of truth in this. A generation of children was pushed inappropriately into tertiary education when they didn’t stand to benefit from it and a lot of blue collar careers are extremely important, well paid and rewarding. Its good that these jobs have higher status now.

But I think the pendulum has swung too far now and I worry about people actively discouraging academically capable children from going to university.

There’s more to university than just getting a well paid job. Its about building a quality research base which ultimately benefits the UK economy over the long term. We need bright kids to study blue sky subjects which may not yield immediate results but which are laying the groundwork for important discoveries in the future. Its about building independent living skills. Its about developing critical thinking skills and the joy of being able to study something for the pure joy of interest.

Not everyone can or wants to become an electrician or a plumber: blue collar work isn’t a panacea for unemployment and it isn’t AI proof. Some people will continue to want to study subjects which may not have an immediate financial benefit but which are ultimately socially beneficial.

I worry a bit that by trashing universities we are actually storing up problems for the future.

Easy, there are no jobs for young people especially ones from low income families you go to university its a guaranteed income and roof over your head if you have the brains to make it work you get a few more years of education and by the time you finish your old enough for employer's to look at you properly

I don't think it's easy to get into uni. Maybe it's course dependent but my DS needs a minimum AAB to get into the courses he's looked at, some require AAA. He has two friends who didn't get in this year because they didn't get the grades needed. I can't remember what they got but I think it was BBB or ABB, I know that I was surprised they didn't get in with the grades they had.

I hate this sort of comment. It’s true that wealth makes phd more accessible. But you can’t be “not particularly bright” and gain a doctorate. This sounds to me like a sideswipe adjacent to the “mickey mouse degrees” comment that used to be regularly flung about. Just because a subject of inquiry isn’t pure maths or reading medieval manuscripts doesn’t mean it isn’t of academic value.

Your view is not evidenced-based, OP. Read this study, for example: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/sites/default/files/field/downloads/2025-03/UUK-graduate-employment-outcomes-analysis-v2.pdf

Maybe most MN children go to diffeerent types of schools, but my DD's school doesnt promote uni as the only or best option for everyone. In Y10 & Y11 vocational courses & apprenticeships are discussed and highlighted. Similarly, apprenticeships are discussed in Y12 & 13 with events and careers fairs supported as well as supporting uni applications. I think at every stage it is aboit discussing & researching what is the best next step for each young person.

There is a lot of truth in this.

School def made one of my DDs feel inferior for even considering a “less academic” practical course at a local college, rather than A levels at sixth form.

They were right that she was capable of A levels, but crucially she wasn’t interested. It was a complete waste of two years.

That’s good to hear!

Not even the future. We are going to see university closures within the next five years. And when a university in a medium sized town or small city closes it trashes the local economy.

Or this study: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/graduate-labour-market-outcomes-leo/2023-24

Yes, it's amazing how many in leadership positions in the US, educated at elite institutions themselves, are now anti-higher education. It's almost like they want to discourage the development of critical thinking.

Which is something totally separate from the current employment and debt situation. It's a shame we now need to separate education for its own sake from education as a route to a job.

Those who want to dissuade young people from going to uni don't tend to read the evidence!

CDE in the 80s would be roughly BCD now due to grade inflation and stars. In your father’s day only 25% of people went to uni. Now it’s 50%. Students aren’t less intelligent or hardworking but there are far more of them thus include a much broader range of intelligence.

& the idea that getting Bs & Cs at A level is a walk in the park is just nonsense. A significant proportion of young people dont get 5 × 5s at GCSE nevermind Bs and Cs at A level. You dont just walk in to lower tier uni courses in many subjects - you need decent passes in level 3 courses. MN often presents a very skewed view of what average attainment looks like.

Meanwhile China is sending more than 60 per cent of its young people.

why aren’t people worried about how our knowledge economy competes internationally?

private debt is a core concern, but if the economy continues its current sluggish situation and we don’t skill people correctly then children we’re worrying about now entering HE now won’t have any state pension provison at all when they retire

Bullshit. You can easily do a PhD in the arts and humanities today without being bright. I stand by that

Where's the evidence for this? A PhD is hard going, takes consistent effort.

How do you know?

And what evidence are you standing by it based on?

This is true.

Our DC all wanted to go and to live away from home
Scotland so no fees and we supported them fully financially so no debt
All seems to have worked out well so far

I can't tell you without disclosing personal information on a public forum

I'm not against degree apprenticeships: I think they fulfil the same function the polytechnic training on the job route that got my DF into accountancy in the early 1980s. But the completion rate for a Level 6 apprenticeship (undergrad equivalent) is 65%. Equivalent uni completion rate is 85% I think, though lots of variation within that.

It's a complex stat because that covers lots of courses and there's a huge variation between industries and regions. But the idea that degree apprenticeships are universally brilliant and a replacement for university study in all ways is just not true. My understanding is that they can be very sink-or-swim for the apprentices - perhaps in a way university used to be. As a PP pointed out, unis are required to put a lot of support in place for students during their time that goes well beyond academia's. I think this is important and part of making educational accessible but it's not cheap.