Stress, anxiety, a bit of nervousness; there are a wide range of emotions in May, when our children are about to start their exams. Some of these feelings are amplified by the fact that it is also a very important time to choose their next career path. University? Work? Gap year? Maybe an apprenticeship?
Our eldest daughter is about to embark on this crucial period, which in many ways, might determine her future. For those of us, who are blessed to be parents, it is also quite a delicate moment in terms of supporting our children in relation to their next “big move”. Some kids are quite good at listening to parents advice, others are quite independent thinkers and they want to be “in charge” of making these decisions.
As a Polish national, who has been living in the UK for the last 19 years, I am also learning quite a lot about the Higher Educational system in Britain, which has significantly changed since we came over.
Personally, I am a big fan of the apprenticeship schemes. Would I go to University today if I knew that I would have an opportunity to work, gain a qualification, much needed experience and most importantly, end up not having a loan/ debt to pay off, which inevitably would impact my budget and finances? Yes, quite possibly. I agree; it all depends on the course that you might want to take. Being a doctor, vet or a dentist equals most probably going to University, however for many other subjects and professions (in my case History), the need to go to the University could be debatable.
However, I also believe that University can give us so much more than only a Degree. I know that in my case, my several scholarships in Croatia enabled me to enhance my life skills, improve my ability to adapt to a different culture, language or social circumstances. Some of these experiences can’t “be bought”, no matter what. They form us and help to build our character. Therefore, I do believe that the University can provide an invaluable life lesson for our children.
Although I wish I had as many options as my own teenage daughters, I do think that entering adulthood is quite tricky these days. The often negative influence of social media, lack of “social connection”, peer pressure, challenges in relation to mental health mean that growing up today can be demanding. I am also quite convinced that being a parent is actually the hardest job; we want our children to feel empowered and valued, even if it means that their choices are not aligned with what we have envisaged for them. However, we also want to ensure that they can enter adulthood well prepared, with tools and skills that enable them to flourish. Not an easy balance to strike!
All schools are doing their best to ensure that their students (and our children) stay “tuned” with the educational system so that their aspirations, dreams and future plans can be met and achieved. An easy job? I don’t think so.
As we are about to enter the GCSE and A-level exams; we have faith in you and your skills, talents and abilities. The future is yours!
* Michal Siewniak is a Lib Dem activist and councillor for Handside ward, Welwyn Hatfield.
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11 Comments
>” Would I go to University today if I knew that I would … end up not having a loan/ debt to pay off”
It irritates me how many people still believe a “Student Loan” is a loan that has to be paid off.
Yes, it’s a loan buts not a loan, neither is it a tax, but it’s a lot like a tax… hence is best treated as a graduate income tax, which is only paid if your income goes over a predefined threshold. The nature of the SL and the payments, means it is in your interest to get the maximum tuition loan and maintenance loan, as most students won’t replay the loan before the government writes it off. Naturally, if you can also get a vacation job it will help you to leave university with minimum debts.
However, university isn’t for everyone. A school friend didn’t go to university ( did do A-levels), followed his passion, ended up forming his own wildlife production company and getting his films aired on TV. He is probably the most successful ex-pupil from that school.
@Roland “The nature of the SL and the payments, means it is in your interest to get the maximum tuition loan and maintenance loan…”
Not necessarily.
This was certainly the case before the Coalition’s changes, but when the Conservatives and Lib Dems increased the rate of interest and the lifetime of the loan (as well as tuition fees, obviously), those who have the resources and expectation of good graduate salaries (Lib Dem target voters? 😉 ) can save a lot of money compared to their less affluent peers by avoiding the loan and paying tuition fees up front.
Though the lack of a clear link between the size of the loan and the cost of repaying it that you highlight is why I lost confidence in the honesty or competence (both, actually!) of Nick Clegg et al who appeared to believe that there would be some sort of price competition between universities with typical fees well below the maximum.
Also, with regards to “most students won’t replay the loan before the government writes it off”, apparently, “after the 2022 reforms this [the percentage of new full-time undergraduates repaying in full] would increase to 61% among new students from 2023/24” (https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01079/), so perhaps it is fair enough to think of the loan as a loan.
“most students won’t replay the loan before the government writes it off”….
That, ultimately means they are in a job that never required a degree in the first place ..That’s the issue as regards a degree – a significant number will be of no use in the workplace…
My advice is to move your family to Scotland so they can complete their education in a Scottish school and then face no University Fees should they decide to enter higher education in Scotland. This would be good for your daughters and also good for our country to have talented individuals choose to move north of the border and strengthen and enrich our society.
@Martin Gray – I know several teachers who have student loan debt going into six figures because the amount they are able to repay is less than the interest due, so it just mounts up. Upshot is many just won’t ever repay it, just repaying monthly.
And unless something has changed, teaching most definitely needs a degree.
@Mary Fulton “move your family to Scotland so they can complete their education in a Scottish school and then face no University Fees should they decide to enter higher education in Scotland.”
Out of interest, something I’ve often wondered is if Scottish Lib Dem policy is to introduce tuition fees in Scotland, and if not, why not?
Michal will doubtless know that his (European) children are fortunate enough to have access to degree courses delivered in English from European universities, including some in Poland.
Student loans/fees are a millstone that his daughter would do well to avoid. It is true that if she stays in the UK the payments become automatic, but even then being subject to an additional potentially variable tax is an irritant. If she chooses to work outside the UK, the payments become bureaucratic and onerous.
In truth the student loans/fees/tax are a blight on our Party and the antithesis of Liberalism. In effect, even at best, the system is a tax on virtue, a tax on an educational opportunity that is recognised to be beneficial for an advanced technological society. It makes no more sense to impose additional tax on educational advancement than it would to impose additional tax on using renewable energy.
There are sound reasons for compulsory education and providing free education to 18, but none for financial deterrents to higher education.
Might a submerged purpose and/or consequence of charging students for their tertiary education and making places of education effectively in financial competition be to make them more controllable by the rentier section of society?
Anyway, how can the marketisation and commodification of tertiary education be deemed have any benefits for the whole of society?
1) Places of tertiary education are increasingly short of money
2) Some 83% of students are expected to be too poor to pay back their loans
3) Tertiary education staff are under avoidable pressure including excessive work loads and increasingly likely job loss
4) Less remunerative departments are being closed and so the range of learning is
being reduced/lost if they are not currently fashionable
5) Are there/will there be enough sufficiently rewarding employment, personally, socially and economically for graduates?
6) Have we made our places of tertiary education dependent upon the less than predictable importation of students?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/14/market-universities-crisis-staff-strike
Besides which, any strategically minded and caring government would positively encourage, and pay for all their children [a nation’s greatest asset] to experience and enjoy some form of tertiary education which results in a better, more productive and longer life.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/23/every-year-spent-in-school-or-university-improves-life-expectancy-study-says
@ Peter Watson
The Scottish Liberal Democrat Manifesto in 2021 promised to robustly fund Universities, to expand places at University and to repair the system of student support. No mention of Tuition Fees.
So much student housing in Bath.
The OU has an excellent reputation with good tutors. Much cheaper too and you are able to work.
Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket, think outside the box.
@Peter Watson – I agree the new arrangements and the Plan 5 (August 2023-> ) loans are much more commercial and more open to government manipulation of the interest rates, mean those families with spare capital/income will be more inclined to self-finance.
A couple of interesting and relevant articles that indicate how the repayment in full figure will go from 27% to 61%.
https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/how-much-earn-pay-off-student-loan-full-2682551
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/money-mentor/loans-credit-cards/loans/student-loan-repayment-2022
https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/graduate-salaries-in-the-uk
@Martin Gray
“That, ultimately means they are in a job that never required a degree in the first place ..”
If only it were that simple…
Evidence from the USA government are that policies that encourage the employment of foreign graduates depress STEM graduate wages by 20~30%. We’ve also seen here in the UK the situation where the government was paying graduates in the NHS circa 30% less in real terms than they were paying in 2010, before the 2023/2024 pay settlement.(*)
(*) The wry laugh is that in 2010 the UK supposedly had no money, but could afford to pay NHS staff more than todays government can, after 14 years of Conservative economic policy and supposed economic growth…