Answered by Paul Rowen

I think that we should continue to encourage more people to go to University and invest in higher education, however, although the 50% target for young people in university set by the Government is laudable... Show more »I think that we should continue to encourage more people to go to University and invest in higher education, however, although the 50% target for young people in university set by the Government is laudable it is looking increasingly unrealistic.

Mandelson has today announced 10,000 extra places at university for this coming year, but without any extra funding for teaching, I question whether we should increase numbers of students, if the funding isn’t all there. Further to this questions still remain about the quality of education being received, often negatively impacted by lack of funding, do universities provide the right skills to make graduates employable?

The Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills committee has just finished a massive inquiry into students and universities; the report is expected to be published around August 1st, I think that this will answer many of the remaining questions when it is published, transcripts of the evidence heard by the committee is available on their website and may be of interest in the meantime.

Ultimately, we need to invest in skills for Britain’s future, in order to prepare for jobs in the post-recession economy, and sending young people to university is a good way to do that. The UKCES published their ‘Ambition 2020’ report on 7th May saying that the UK should be aiming to be in the top quartile (the top 8) of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for low, medium and high level skills. (high level skills translates roughly to degree level). At the rate we’re currently progressing, we won’t be in the top eight for any of those. We do, therefore, need to encourage young people to go to University so that the skills base is available when the job market picks up, keeping the UK globally competitive. Show less »