But in the end, isn't this the problem? There isn't enough skilled jobs to go around? I've always been dubious of this 50% of students should go to university rule devised by new labour. It suggests, by implication, that 50% of all jobs require a university education, which is simply not true.
The way it's going though, employers WILL require a university education for their jobs - not because they need that level of academic knowledge, but just because it's going to become so commonplace to have one that anything less is worthless. Infact I could probably say that about myself. I do need a university education in the practical sense because for the career path I'm going down, no applicant who doesn't have one will be considered. And yes, I do need a bit more knowledge than I got from my levels, but do I ultimately need to know honours degree level material? Probably not. But because of the way the education system is, if I don't have it I won't get anywhere.
It's allready happened with 16+ education; the value in GCSE's these days is as a step ladder up to some higher form of education, in themselves they won't get you a career any more high flying that being a checkout assistant at Tescos. In actual fact they provide their holders with an excellent all round ground in many skills, and whilst they don't directly qualify anyone for a particular job, they do provide a basis on just which a small amount of company training (which would be provided to you anyway regardless of your external qualifications) can turn you into a skilled worker capable of commanding quite a respectable pay packet - for probably as much as 50% of UK jobs, GCSE's alone really are enough.
Of course it doesn't work like that, becausethe government has decided that they want everyone to go onto 16+ education (why they don't just extend compulsory schooling up to 18 I don't know; it seems to work just fine in America like that). Whilst there are now many more vocational courses, the most popular route for 16+ education is still A levels. And A levels, despite what gets bandied around, do still represent some quite high level knowledge. The opportunity to focus on a smaller number of subjects and teach at a level beyond that of some of the original year group means you can get through quite a lot in those 2 years and if you work hard and get decent grades, you will hold a lot of fairly advanced knowledge which would directly apply to a lot of jobs. Certainly not all jobs need A levels, and of those more professional jobs which now view a degree as a must have, A levels actually do actually provide enough knowledge for the candidate to be suitable for the job. Indeed, many people say that they find a degree easier than a levels; and it is true that you can often blag your way through and get some sort of pass at a degree, whilst with a levels you really do have to work hard just to get to a grade C.
of course it doesn't work like that, no one who wants to do anything with their life will call it a day at 16 because GCSE's won't get you any decent job, and so A levels and other 16+ qualifications have now become pretty much a standard progression route for everyone who is interested in a life other than being a professional benefits claimer.
What that has now caused is for 16+ qualifications to become almost ubiquitous amongst job applications, so now you need a degree to give yourself an edge.
When this becomes more and more commonplace, will their really come a time when almost no one leaves education before 21? Will it get even worse when no one will be able to get a good job with just a batchelor's degree, but everyone will go and get a masters too?
I think that at the entry level to formal qualifications, the GCSE, the advanced tiered should be a bit more advanced to make them more viable as qualifications in their own right, A levels could then become the next level up which makes professional careers available to people who have them, and then university is reserved for people who really need to have such a high level of knowledge.
I think students should be made to pay for their university education, and then, maybe, they will think a little bit harder about whether they actually need one.
Maube that's one way of doing it, but as I said above a renewed interest in promoting (to employers and students alike) what's actually possible with sub degree level qualifications, rather than forcing everyone down a path of getting a degree because they won't get a decent job without one.