Would you have gone to university if you had to pay for it?

[SueEllen]

Maybe this time, numbers will decrease. This can only be a good thing. What the government should do, however, is offer grants for people wishing to study sensible subjects, like maths, physics, engineering, but require those courses to have stringent exam prerequisites.

There is no need.

Most UK educated students don't want to do the physical sciences and engineering anyway at degree level.

The ones that take the sciences tend to want to go into the biotech or medical industry. Though a lot more take Maths A level just because it's a good base for business type degree subjects.

This has lead to lots of universities and ex-polys closing their chemistry, physics and engineering departments because too few UK students wanted to do them and they can't get enough foreign students on the courses to make them viable due to the amount of competition.

For the few UK students who do these courses there are bursaries and possibility of sponsorship but it's better to get a student on to a course first before showing them those options are available to them. Even if you get good A levels it's not a guarantee you will work at the subject.

Likewise with the EMA argument at A levels. Before EMA was dreamt up, lots of people were offered grants to do their A levels or free travel passes by their local authority but were only given this information by their school or college once they had started the course and shown dedication.

[NotAllThere]

The point is that there's not enough people doing these degrees, and they're the most expensive.

[SimonMac]

I didn't go to university at all and don't regret it