Are degrees in the UK value for money?

GreatApe

kinger101 wrote: »

Professional examinations employ moderation all the time. Failing about half each time. I don't have an A-level in further mathematics, but creating a cohort of the 10 best students is cherry picking an absurd subset. The fact is 16,000 people took further maths, not 10. And I doubt the best student would have ranked #5 in the world even. Yet the current grading system at best tells me the top 30-percentile. Unless they all got 100%, it is possible to construct a grading system that's more informative to employers.

Also most jobs don't need a degree level education or even an A-Level education

Maybe only 5% of the population needs to be educated to university level and another 5% to A-Levels

In 1980 only half the kids left school with 5 or more O-Levels and the country worked fine and if we went back to only 10% at university and only 20% at college things would be fine. The kids would more or less get the same jobs for the same pay but start earning 5 years sooner and have no mass university loans

GreatApe

SingleSue wrote: »

Ok, so where does the parent get the money from to buy that food? Remember we are talking about normal families here and not well off ones where they don't have to count the pounds.

There would be a food bill, there would be the increased electricity, gas and water usage to pay for. Who would pay for their mobile bill? Their clothes? Any social activity they may want to do? The travel card?

Their main savings are rent and bills
I recall it cost me £7000 a year in rent and household bills when I was a student.
£21k for the three years.
Had I stayed at home I would have paid closer to £2k for a travel card.
£19k saving

With hindsight I wish I had done that especially considering most weeks I didn't even bother going into lectures. I just worked through the books and went to lab work majority parts.

SingleSue

But there would still be a contribution to food and bills plus clothes, social events etc. Where does that money come from if not from a student loan or from earnings (due to the using it all to pay for that not needed back packing jaunt)?

economic

GreatApe wrote: »

Their main savings are rent and bills
I recall it cost me £7000 a year in rent and household bills when I was a student.
£21k for the three years.
Had I stayed at home I would have paid closer to £2k for a travel card.
£19k saving

With hindsight I wish I had done that especially considering most weeks I didn't even bother going into lectures. I just worked through the books and went to lab work majority parts.

i did a maths degree. so no lab work. just lectures. in theory i wouldnt need to have gone at all, just copy my mates notes. in fact i think i only understood like 5% of the lectures i did attend.

economic

SingleSue wrote: »

But there would still be a contribution to food and bills plus clothes, social events etc. Where does that money come from if not from a student loan or from earnings (due to the using it all to pay for that not needed back packing jaunt)?

your son would still get a loan. he just wouldnt need as big loan. before uni he is/was already living with you right? you pay for all the food and bills etc? and he lives/lived rent free? it would just be another 3 years of that whilst at uni.

SingleSue

Yes, they were living with me but I was also receiving child benefit and tax credits to help with that.

Unfortunately, paying for it when not receiving a contribution towards food and bills would be an impossibility. Currently living on my own, my gas and electric usage are both down by over 70%, food bill down by over £40 a week....the list goes on.

economic

SingleSue wrote: »

Yes, they were living with me but I was also receiving child benefit and tax credits to help with that.

Unfortunately, paying for it when not receiving a contribution towards food and bills would be an impossibility. Currently living on my own, my gas and electric usage are both down by over 70%, food bill down by over £40 a week....the list goes on.

So you have been saved by your sons going to uni elsewhere by the taxpayer funding your sons living expenses and tuition?

SingleSue

No, my income went down when they started at university and so did my bills, so even Stevens really. Had they stayed at home, they would have had to have made a contribution for the extra usage and food over and above what my single usage would be.

Actually since I am now alone in the house, my life is a hell of a lot more of a struggle than it ever was. I'm talking life not finances here though as I am disabled and without them, I am struggling to do things others take for granted.

Had they not gone to university and were living at home, they would have been working...and paying board, food and bills.

economic

SingleSue wrote: »

No, my income went down when they started at university and so did my bills, so even Stevens really. Had they stayed at home, they would have had to have made a contribution for the extra usage and food over and above what my single usage would be.

Actually since I am now alone in the house, my life is a hell of a lot more of a struggle than it ever was. I'm talking life not finances here though as I am disabled and without them, I am struggling to do things others take for granted.

Had they not gone to university and were living at home, they would have been working...and paying board, food and bills.

IMO that would have been better for your kids. They would have had to work but overall it would still be a saving right?

What degree are your sons doing and what ranking are the unis?

economic

Today i learnt that a leap year does not occur every 4 years. It occurs every 4 years unless the year is divisible by 100 in which case if its divisible by 400 it is a leap year only.

I did a maths degree at a top uni. I studied maths at alevel. I was pretty studious. Why is a simple fact like this not hammered into my brain?