A'level results day.

[MarillionFan]

If you can call being a Janitor "cushy".

He gets his own office and a cupboard. That's more than you have!!

[shaunbhoy]

He gets his own office and a cupboard. That's more than you have!!

And unlimited use of the mop and bucket at weekends too!

[Mich the Tester]

And unlimited use of the mop and bucket at weekends too!

Is it IR35 compliant to use clientco's mop and bucket at home?

[TimberWolf]

You're missing the point spectacularly again.
I was pointing out that it is possible that the underlying population will change and so the average intelligence of the sample that is A-level students may not be the same from year to year.
If we take London where most immigration takes place and where there has been a sizeable impact (40% of people are non white British as of 2007), there could be a massive difference over the years. Maybe for the better if immigrant children study harder, maybe for the worse if they sell drugs.
The Flynn effect would apply both in places with immigration and those without.
Unfortunately as the exam system has changed over the years we can't easily see what the impact has been.

Well all the more reason for grades to be renormalised each year, unlike the case with IQ scores I believe (I'm not sure how and when IQ scores renormalised, it's not surprising things like the Flynn type effects occur - and the effect takes years to emerge I gather) and ideally standardised nationwide rather than having separate examining boards and curricula. There did seem to be unfairness under the separate examining board system, as some boards curricula seemed harder than others. Or maybe that was just rumour. Not sure why they got away with it, but no system is going to be perfect. This is picking at details compared in a fairly robust system and ignoring the huge problems in the current system though. Talk about Flynn effect - your 3 A's are only average these days. In your day you'd be in the elite class, if that's believable.

[shaunbhoy]

Governments view large numbers of youngsters going to Uni as a really positive thing for the following 3 reasons :-

1) It teaches them all about how to run up sizeable debt

2) It keeps them off the Unemployment figures

3) It gives Employers an indication of which individuals have the best cut/paste skills

[Mich the Tester]

Governments view large numbers of youngsters going to Uni as a really positive thing for the following 3 reasons :-

1) It teaches them all about how to run up sizeable debt

2) It keeps them off the Unemployment figures

3) It gives Employers an indication of which individuals have the best cut/paste skills

4) It ensures that you'll be served your Big Mac and shake by someone with a nice middle class accent instead of a spotty chav saying 'innit' all the time.

5) It provides an inexhaustible and inexpensive supply of nubile 'work experience' interns for party HQ.

[TimberWolf]

I sometimes wonder what the point of rote learning, and possibly a classical education is, when a world of (mis)information is at your fingertips. Is an education of yore valid in tomorrows world? Does it count more that you can get results rather than personally knowing (poorly probably) the kings of England, which can be looked up?

[Bunk]

4) It ensures that you'll be served your Big Mac and shake by someone with a nice middle class accent instead of a spotty chav saying 'innit' all the time.

5) It provides an inexhaustible and inexpensive supply of nubile 'work experience' interns for party HQ.

6) It keeps half the pubs, bars and clubs in the country in business.

[lukemg]

So, we churn endless thousands more into made-up uni's (I went to one) which totally devalues having a degree - hence stipulation for 2:1 minimum and reality is that where you went will be very important.
These thousands then churn out into a tiny job market swamped with others in exactly the same position and they will be thousands in debt too. And this is how the country will thrive in the future ?
I pity the people embarking on this, I see a future of part-time and low-paid work (if any). We had it easy, it was mostly free (barring debts due to social life excess) I had a brilliant time and while it didn't provide me with virtually any useful work skills it did make a healthy impression on my character, resilience and independance. I will be encouraging my offspring to go for these reasons but as a golden ticket to success - Nah, take some chances to open your own business while you are young enough to have little to lose.
Also - All the stats about degree holders earning more are based on a situation very different to today.

[Mich the Tester]

These thousands then churn out into a tiny job market swamped with others in exactly the same position and they will be thousands in debt too. And this is how the country will thrive in the future ?

Yes. Britain will be turned into a giant fly-in fast food centre for people flying from somewhere else to New York. The fly-in fast food centre will include MacD's, Burger King, KFC, Wendy's, Taco Bell and obviously a Starbucks for the posh passengers, and will employ thousands of multilingual would-you-like-fries-with-that graduates. Only the ones with a 2:1 or higher though.

Service industry innit. Is da fewcher!