London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, May 31, 2025

UK ditches Blair's 50% university graduate plan. Maybe now we can get the skilled elite we'll need after Covid

UK ditches Blair's 50% university graduate plan. Maybe now we can get the skilled elite we'll need after Covid

Damian Wilson
After more than 20 years of shoehorning young adults into time-wasting and inappropriate degree courses, the 50% target has been binned and Tony Blair’s dream of colleges churning out liberal Labour voters is finally dead.
The decision taken by the UK government to ditch the target of getting 50 percent of young adults into higher education, a relic of the Blair years, is now consigned to that overflowing dustbin of history.

Though not officially the policy of any government since the 1990s, the idea had become a yardstick, and even this year, a huge 40 percent of 18-year-olds have applied to go to university.

The belief that three years studying Spanish and art history will prepare these young folk for life in the rough and tumble of a post-coronavirus work environment is downright dumb.

It doesn’t prepare them for anything. It simply delays, in many cases, the maturity that is needed to take on board the opinions of those they disagree with. It hampers the growth of the financial nous required to become independent from the Bank of Mum and Dad, and it instills the completely false perception that a university degree equals an instantly high-paying job on the outside.

Well, tell that to the 34 percent of university graduates working in non-graduate jobs.

The 50 percent target was more than an educational goal from that snake-oil salesman of a prime minister, Tony Blair.

It was really a cynical attempt at social engineering, encouraging more left-leaning universities to increase their output so that, graduating year after graduating year, more finely tuned Labour-loving butterflies would emerge from their cocoons, ever thankful to Blair for the opportunity they had been given at further education.

But it didn’t quite work like that.

Because finding all those cinema studies and American politics graduates jobs was not what the economy was built for. Sure, we have a huge services sector, but there’s also manufacturing and agriculture, which need people who can actually DO things, not simply talk about them for hours on end over a pint in the student bar.

Vocational education and apprenticeships are often what produce the doers in this world. You want a plug socket installed? Who would you rather turn up: a trained electrician, or someone with a PhD in ceramics?

But for some reason, there is an imbalance in the way that society looks at these two people. Often, years of education earn kudos while years of training earn peanuts. It could all be attributed to Britain’s notorious class system but, in fact, it works like this in other countries as well.

In Italy, those with a degree that took only three years to earn are awarded the honorific of ‘Dottore’, regardless of the area of study or even their field of employment. You could be an arts graduate working in a shoe factory; never mind, somehow you are considered ‘better’.

In the USA there are the Ivy League colleges, each with its own special way of looking down its nose at outsiders. I know business school graduates with Harvard MBAs who struggle to eat a meal with a knife and fork.

Sure, they have a degree, but I would never give them a job.

Then there are other industrious, energetic, entrepreneurial people out there who may never have finished sixth form, but they learn as they go along. Some strike gold right away, while others might see businesses fail, ideas flop and bankruptcy beckon – but they back their own judgement, learn from their mistakes and get on with the next plan.

In the brave new world of business, which is going to be a far leaner, far meaner animal than it was this time last year, there will be no room for passengers. No space for people with an alphabet of letters after their name but not a single clue about business strategy or finance in this tough new era.

Success will be difficult, and it will take street smarts and opportunistic cunning to make it.

So while the 40 percent of 18-year-olds looking to start at a UK university in September might be excited about their brave new adventure in education, many will struggle to find work when they finish their degree in three years’ time.

Meanwhile, those who choose to dive into the deep end of what, we are forewarned, will be a recession like no other, could find themselves well-placed to build a new economy fit for a nation with entirely new demands to those of six months ago.

I know which position I’d choose, no matter how socially undesirable those over-educated liberals may consider me to be. The reality is that the 60 percent of young adults who have chosen not to take a university place this year are far more likely to be in a position of finding a worthwhile job in the three years that the remaining 40 percent will spend skipping lectures and online tutorials while building up a mountain of debt.

It’s the college undergraduates we should be pitying as the ‘left behinds’, not those young people getting down and dirty with a head start at the university of life.

That’s not how the liberal academic elite will see this, of course. They will be livid that the narrative has changed, that this government no longer considers university as the be all and end all.

That anger is the cherry on top of this common-sense decision. It’s a pity it wasn’t made sooner.



* Damian Wilson is a UK journalist, ex-Fleet Street editor, financial industry consultant and political communications special advisor in the UK and EU.

** The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of our website and other authors here.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on iPhones Amid Dispute with Apple CEO
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
Liverpool Car Ramming Incident Leaves Multiple Injured
Australia Faces Immigration Debate Following Labor Party Victory
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Macron Dismisses Viral Video of Wife's Gesture as Playful Banter
Cleveland Clinic Study Questions Effectiveness of Recent Flu Vaccine
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Junior Doctors Threaten Strike Over 4% Pay Offer
Labour MPs Urge Chancellor to Tax Wealthy Over Cutting Welfare
Publication of UK Child Poverty Strategy Delayed Until Autumn
France Detains UK Fishing Vessel Amid Post-Brexit Tensions
Calls Grow to Resume Syrian Asylum Claims in UK
Nigel Farage Pledges to Reinstate Winter Fuel Payments
Boris and Carrie Johnson Welcome Daughter Poppy
×