Although I agree that perhaps not all jobs require a degree, surely it is better to want to get a job that required a high level of skill rather than answering a telephone? Ian went to a school that expected the students to be factory workers or for the forces, and although both Ian and his older brother went to uni and achieved a degree, this was far from the norm and neither were encouraged to look at higher education at all.

This would lead to a huge split between people who can afford to go to uni and everyone else. Speaking as a parent, I want Emily and Thomas to aim for a job or vocation a little better than answering a telephone or cleaning the streets, not that these aren't important jobs, but they would not provide an income that would enable them to buy a house or do things like having nice holidays. I was a care worker for ten years,- I gave up this job which I loved as it paid minimum wage and did not allow me to even think about buying a house. I then went to uni, trained as a social worker (at my own cost in the days before you were paid to do this degree) and was able to buy a house due to this much higher paying job.

Perhaps the government should look instead at focusing degrees to the job market to enable students to gain a degree that might actually benefit them finding a job afterwards, in the way that social work and nursing do. Changing the emphasis would therefore provide a skilled workforce which could be matched to the areas where there are jobs.