They must wonder why they bother. School leavers who got their A level results this month had already been told by the education secretary Gillian Keegan “grades will be lower than last year”. There will be fewer places on many university courses, and often no vacancies for “clearance” in many popular subjects.
If they do find a place, students will struggle more than ever to find a convenient place to live, certainly after the first year. They will pay at least £27,725 for three years’ tuition, most likely graduating with debts, after living costs are taken into account, of around £50,000.
That is if they graduate at all. The A level students finishing now are the cohort whose secondary education has been most disrupted by Covid and teachers’ strikes. Those trying to graduate from university this year are their brothers
