What if you couldn't go to Uni till you were 19?

SingleSue

My eldest son had experience years beyond his age due to being a young carer, he had also worked (part time during term time, full time in holidays). He actually started at university just before his 20th birthday because he had pressed the reboot button after realising he had chosen the wrong A levels. That extra year did him good as he also added in lots of volunteer work in the community which impressed so much, he also got given a very decent scholarship.

Youngest also started at 19 and it allowed him to not only get over a horrendous high school experience health wise, the extra maturation made a big difference to his ability to be able to cope at university.

The biggest difference between the two was that eldest initially had no idea of what he wanted to do (hence pressing the reboot button), whereas youngest knew exactly what he wanted to do from the age of 16 and he spent the next 3 years undoing the damage and getting what was required.

Middle son was 18 when he went but due to when he was born, turned 19 within a few weeks. He had no idea what he wanted to do, still doesn't have a defined idea apart from something involving music. He has also struggled but I think that is more due to his disabiltiies than anything else.

I don't know what the answer is, some students are fine going at 18, some are not and need that extra year. Eldest would have been fine going at 18 as he had to grow up fast as a child, youngest needed that extra year of maturation despite knowing exactly what he wanted to do in life.

Andy_L

GreatApe wrote: »

Someone who for example does media studies and finds it was of no use and then becomes say a self employed barber on £40k a year.

Are there many self-employed barbers who make a profit of £40k pa?

westernpromise

I always think the clue to whether a degree is worth having or not is whether it has any analytical content or requires intellectual inquiry. Taxi drivers like to kid themselves that doing the Knowledge is the same as a degree because it takes them three years. It does, although perhaps its taking them three years is a reflection on who does it, and it does evidence the ability to stick at something. Those aside it has no similarity to a proper degree as it's just a memory test.

Likewise, a lot of duff degrees have no analytical or reflective element and just involve remembering how to do things. Media studies degrees tend to fit this description, because if you look at the syllabus (for something like media production at Luton), it's often just the acquisition of a series of not especially demanding skills - how a rostrum camera works, etc. Such degrees probably equip you for a job operating a camera, but nothing else.

Taxi driving, media studies and plumbing all feel like trades to me, rather than intellectual disciplines, and as a result I struggle to fathom why there are degrees in them.

If people cannot work that out I am not sure that mandatory years off would help them, although I used mine to earn enough money not to have to worry too much about money.

getmore4less

You could excuse the year off for those that get sponsored and have a decent chance of a related job at the end.

Most serious professions are really a type of apprenticeship.

robpw2

i went to uni at 18 and i really wasnt old enough -it was my first time away from home where i was quite closeted really.

i went back when i was in my late twenties and got my degree and im so glad i did

i think people have to do whats best for them but i can see the benefits of waiting till your more mature

Cakeguts

Andy_L wrote: »

Are there many self-employed barbers who make a profit of £40k pa?

Our local barber/hairdresser (they do ladies hair as well) is a multi millionaire. He owns the whole block that his shop is in and a couple of houses as well. He has only ever cut hair. I also know of a house that was sold in a very expensive part of north London to a hair dresser.

I think the answer is that good self-employed barbers who own their shops do make a profit of more than £40k a year. This is one of those jobs that people think is rubbish job but it actually isn't.

Eric_the_half_a_bee

Andy_L wrote: »

Are there many self-employed barbers who make a profit of £40k pa?

£15 for a 15 minute cut = £60 an hour
8 hours x £60 = £480 for a full day
Say average utilisation is 50% = £240 a day on average
x6 days a week x46 weeks = £66k a year gross

Yes I think good barbers can make £40k net

Eric_the_half_a_bee

Cakeguts wrote: »

This is one of those jobs that people think is rubbish job but it actually isn't.

There's a huge number of jobs like that. A friend of mine is involved in construction. He can offer bright A level students a career path to £50k+ by their late 20s, fairly confidently - and no it doesn't involve spades and buckets. He struggles to find interested applicants. They would rather go to "uni" and sit at a desk doing a mundane admin job for £20k at age 30.

Herzlos

silvercar wrote: »

I suspect that 18 year olds looking for work would really struggle as every employer would suspect that they are only looking as a stop gap before uni. With so many 18 yr old's looking for work, pay would go right down to official apprentice/ intern levels.

That was my thought - the people in gap years would only really be able to get traditional student jobs.

Instead of looking for ways to make it easier for students to save up the money required to go to uni, why not look for ways to make uni more affordable?

Malthusian

Eric_the_half_a_bee wrote: »

£15 for a 15 minute cut = £60 an hour
8 hours x £60 = £480 for a full day
Say average utilisation is 50% = £240 a day on average
x6 days a week x46 weeks = £66k a year gross

You don't think barbers have any costs to come out of that £240 a day? Does your barber cut your hair with his own teeth while you sit on the pavement?

Certainly a successful self-employed barber can earn £40k a year but I imagine it takes a lot of graft to get that point.