Is further education a waste of time?

It is that time of year once again: A-Level results have been published, UCAS applications have been decided and recent graduates have begun that uphill struggle to secure a highly-prized job that they hope will propel them beyond the unemployment-ridden reality of modern Britain.

Once again we hear the question, which previously unheard of, is now becoming only too familiar – why should one bother with further education anymore?

There are many reasons why one should not bother. The introduction of the new A* at A-Level is a firm suggestion that the education system in the United Kingdom has become the victim of falling standards. Thousands of ambitious teenagers are leaving school with no distinction between their grades, making their fight for a university place only the more vague and uncertain. The competition has become increasingly fierce; over 68,000 more university applications were submitted this year than in 2009. Graduate unemployment is also said to be at its peak with approximately 70 applicants fighting for each available position.

It is therefore understandable why the future of further education is considered to be in turmoil. Why should the modern student ‘waste’ three or four years drinking away a student loan, eating an unhealthy amount of pasta and willingly (or unwillingly) creating a vast mountain of debt when they have the chance to get ahead of the game and to start building a career from the word go?

The chance to succeed and progress in a career from an early age has become a favourable option. However, what is being ignored in this modern-day furore of career-orientated minds is that further-education is about more that just getting a job. University is a life-changing experience that one will only have once. School leavers should not be disconcerted by fears of unemployment, debt and carbohydrate-overload because, for many, it is the first opportunity that they will have to independently grow, develop and mature.

University is about broadening horizons, meeting new people and making life-long friends. It is the best networking opportunity that anyone can have and it unites people from all walks of life. It is a chance to discover talents and to develop them so that when the time comes, a graduate is a more well-rounded, able and socially-equipped individual.

This is not to say that everybody must go to university to realise their full potential. For some, university is simply not the right path. However, this escapes the fact that the British education system has left a generation of school leavers bewildered and unsure about their future. The progressive lack of distinction between results at A-Level has essentially dampened the worth and magnitude of a prestigious university degree; courses such as ‘David Beckham Studies’ have been introduced so to offer every student the chance of gaining a much sought-after qualification. It is for this reason that a degree is now considered so ubiquitous and the deeper significance and importance of attending university has slowly, and unfortunately, been forgotten.

While it is true that in the modern day one does not necessarily need those much-desired capital letters after their name to succeed in life, the skills gleaned from a university experience can not be easily taught or preached: they are learnt, developed and furthered by the individual. It is this that gives university its true, unfeigned value and a conclusive reason to advocate why one should still bother with further education.