I couldnt have gone if the current system was in place. My Dad had no idea what higher ed meant really. I had my heart set on studying English Lit at Exeter and had an offer to go there for what was essentially 2 e grades. This is russell group stuff. He asked me what job I would do and I wasnt really sure, I just knew classic English Literature lit my fire. I ended up rejecting the offer and doing business and finance. As it stands I have no regrets as I have a great career and still love reading. In some ways this encapulsulates my own view on higher ed now - i.e. what is the outcome you get and like you say what value do you bring to society. I would support any government that wanted to be honest about the costs of education and charge accordingly. Any rebalancing of costs based on societal value would be right up my street as well. Labour have an open door to walk through here, the sector is open to innovation, I really hope they walk through it.
They reached the end of their natural cycle when Cameron went. In any other political circumstances they'd have been gone in 2017.
I think any intellectual endeavour has value to society. Arts subjects, such as English Literature, are just as important to a full and rounded society as anything else. The STEM subjects have been put on a bit of a pedestal because there is greater scope for more people (and not necessarily the graduate) to make more money from them. We would be cultural wasteland without at least some people studying English Lit, philosophy, history, fine art etc. So I think it would be very difficult to rank subjects according to societal value. I think part of the overall problem is that there are too many universities and too many people who are encouraged to follow an academic route when a technical or vocational one would be more appropriate for them.
Just catching up on Putin vs The West. I never thought I'd say I miss a Tory PM, but ****ing hell, Cameron looks like he comes from a different planet to May, Johnson and Truss.
