Uni culture screws you over, here’s how

It starts at school. Learning your craft shouldn’t be a privilege.

Why wear black or white when you can wear both?

The experience of young people who don’t go to university is often a story of luck or having known the right people.

Last year 28% of the UK’s young people used UCAS to apply for a degree. But why keep studying when there’s a myriad of options available?

I remember when I was in Sixth Form, my Head of Year said:

“It’s a matter of when you go to university, not if.”

Aged 16, I heard: “We don’t let anyone fail.”

But that’s not strictly true. I went to university the year it ticked into the £9 grand per year. The change was announced a day before the assembly with my Head of Year. With everything I know now, I think it was instilling an institutionalised fear of failing in me. And if I didn’t, it was my fault. And importantly, league tables judge schools on the number of students accepted into university.

For me, going to university was an easy option. There’s an easy form to fill in. There’s an easy personal statement to write. There’s past experience from my teachers and ex-pupils to boot.

Why not give it a go?

The process itself was remarkably gamified in my school. Every day we’d hear trickling announcements from each university that teased the competitive folk. Each email had conditions if met would mean guaranteed glory and a staving off adulthood. Going into Politics and hearing: “I got an email from UCAS,” was both disheartening and elating.

For me, I got into my university options, even my ‘wild card’ that I had no chance of getting into. That flip your heart does hasn’t been replicated since. No one ever said they’d applied for an apprenticeship. And back then, apprenticeships were synonymous with mechanics, farming and other semi-skilled roles.

But that changed. When the fees increased, my year group weren’t ready. We applied for university under the old guard’s rules. We sleepwalked to tutorials about UCAS by our personal tutors. We didn’t question whether it would be worth it once. Looking at what the cost of Higher Education meant, wasn’t at the top of our priorities. Instead, for me at least, it was a case of:

“Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”

I enjoyed my time at university, I grew as a person, I grew intellectually and I met people who really understood me. Both in the classroom and in the clubs. But I was starved of the real choices of the journeys I could take.

Financially, it’s no better now. Fees are now in excess of £9,250 per year. The better institutions are justifying those rates because of kids like me, we did well and maintained their privileged spot in leagues. Coupled with the number of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds increasing to 16%, university education is quickly becoming a poverty trap.

Yes, it’s great more can access Higher Education, but at what cost? My latest Student Finance statement showed that my debt was increasing year-on-year to way over £60,000. This is despite having always earned over the threshold to pay back. So, for people who can’t afford to pay before they start, or during the course, the crippling interest keeps them locked in for years beyond their experiences. The fear that if I lose my job or am made long-term unemployed frightens me. How would I get back on my feet, making me fear how much further away I’d be from paying my dues. Crossing the bridge of realising the privilege that was afforded to me is always there at the back of my mind.

And flipping that, there are more lower-class families convincing their kids that university is the only/ best route to take. It puts pressure on young people who aren’t supported in the classroom to take up courses costing the deposit for a house. Saying yes to a dream their parents had is easier than challenging it. It’s especially hard when they haven’t fully formed their views on what’s best for them yet. The societal pressure encourages a view of university that it is prestigious and established, and attending will guarantee success. As more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds go to university, we normalise the experience of applying to people who would otherwise be deemed successful through other means. By creating an amicable image that single parent kids go, we tell parents that if your kid doesn’t go they’re failing, especially since it’s now easier to go. It doesn’t breakdown the privileged education culture, it reinforces it.

So why would someone from a lower-socioeconomic background choose this route?

Honestly, it’s because it gave me 4 years to think about what I wanted to do. I got some work experience without the pressure of having to earn a full time wage. And it gave my proud mother a reason to gloat to the extended family.

Crucially, this only works as a plan if you go to the so-called “good” unis — red bricks, Russell group, Oxbridge, ancient. Whatever your slant, the price of education today is the same as the price that social mobility has had since the 18th century. Name and class. The degree really means that if your future employer recognises the name of your university, knew someone who went there they like — you find yourself comfortably recognisable. Disguised, despite being part of the Asian Diaspora and failing to understand Boris Johnson’s slang.

The market is changing finally. Employers still ask for a 2:1 from a “good” (whatever that means) uni, but more and more this is desirable and not required. So new ways of learning are becoming acceptable forms of development.

There are innovative ways for learners to improve their skills

1. A sandwich course. Here university students complete one year in industry to master their trade.
2. Learning and development programmes. Most employers now have an expected spend per worker on extra learning opportunities. That can be an in-work qualification or extra training.
3. Apprenticeships are finally on the up. They answer the age-old question of: “When am I going to use this in the real world, Miss?” You can even pivot after having done a degree through a post-graduate apprenticeship.
4. Diversity internships. For those that are mid-way through their degree or haven’t gone to university. Internships like these prepare young people who wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity to experience company cultures. They work in entry-level roles with the right support. Schemes like these focus on ethnic minorities, women, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, disabled and some even support LGBT people in this way.