Bucks New Uni based in High Wycombe specialises in Police Studies and that's where my son is studying. He wants to be a copper. I don't think they do medicine?
I don't think that they do what I'm doing either but then only about half do. Most unis are better for different things. Good luck to all your sons (and daughters) at their unis
I'm personally not a great fan of higher education. All my kids have gone for it - my eldest got her degree in 2009 and my younger 2 are due to (hopefully) graduate this year, but they will all start life in the 'real' world already carrying £40k of debt each - which I can't afford to write off for them. My eldest has done nothing with her degree and has worked in a hotel chain for years - being marched up and down by people who are nowhere near as qualified as her (her choice of course). I joined a big company and worked my way up from the bottom - and there is no way I would have done it differently. The wife is a teacher - so she had never left school - so that's why my kids have all gone down that route.
My mother is a professor at Buckingham, she started going back to uni when I was 14 after years off open university, for her PhD in Geology. She started a job but a few years later and went back into uni for business etc. She even wrote one of the books about Lean management that changed businesses etc. I'm nearly 50 now and she's 69 and shows no sign of giving up studying and writing books. And yet us three boys never followed her desire and go to uni, apart from the hardest uni of all. The uni of life.
My own mum went down the OU route and ended up with a quantum physics degree. My wife has a BA and a Masters and is currently studying for her 3rd degree - she wants to go on and get a doctorate. I can't think of anything worse!! Good luck to all who do go down that route of course though !!
I think that there is a growing emphasis on higher education amongst sixth formers. Whilst in the past people would've gone into a job after school and worked up the company, nowadays people seem to all be going down the degree route and ending up in the same place as those who in the past wouldn't have needed a degree. I think that whilst some proffesions need certain degrees there needs to be more before degree entry points into jobs for young people.
I have absolutely no regrets about going to uni, it helped me get to the job that I have now, and I really enjoy it. I also don't see the debt as a burden either whatsoever. Yes I'm in 21k of debt but it's not any debt that is ever going to cripple me (it only comes out when I'm earning) and while it is an annoyance, I'd pay it time and time again if I were to have the repeat option of a) the experience of uni and b) what my degree ultimately helped me to achieve. The problem these days is that too many people go to uni and get degrees, and on top of that, students are too used to being guided through education, resulting in problems when they suddenly realise that they ultimately need more than just 'a degree' to cope in the real world. I would never underestimate the value of uni whatsoever, it really can be very useful, and I would still recommend it, but absolutely not at the cost of real world experience. Valid points on both sides for sure, but without my degree I wouldn't be doing what I do now at my age.
Higher education usually gives you the capacity for independent thought whereas as a degree can sometimes open doors. However most of what you achieve in life is down to your own drive and luck (and being in the right place ate the right time) .
