WHEN not flying high above the earth, Richard Branson often makes a big deal of never having gone to university, and he’s not alone – Simon Cowell, Oprah Winfrey and 99 per cent of premier league footballers have never set foot in such a place. Even Bill Gates left early.

Against that, there are a great many achievers in life who did go on to higher education, and for a great deal of professions it’s vital you do this – you don’t meet too many doctors who swear by the man above they learnt their trade doing amputations above their uncle’s chippy.

The reality is, especially when it costs the guts of £30,000 to do a degree, that young people are advised correctly from the outset.

There’s something for everybody and, increasingly, this can be done by staying local and saving yourself a fortune in the meantime.

This isn’t about careers advice though, there are many millions of words, online and offline, dedicated to helping people find what they want in life, so let’s not add to this here; instead, let’s dig deeper at what is driving the inexorable energy to a university education for all.

The first thing is that almost every school wants as many of their students as possible to go on to university; it’s something they view as being a huge selling point.

The reason for this is because in Northern Ireland, there are more desks than students, so all schools want a big, succulent slice of the cake.

What better way of doing this by impressing everyone by saying 85 per cent of their students go on to university?

Perspective

To put this in perspective, universities are growing at a huge rate, so much so that for school leavers, going to ‘uni’ has become as normal as having your breakfast.

Like myself in front of said meal, colleges and universities have an insatiable appetite, but persuading all and sundry to spend such a colossal amount of money shouldn’t be considered the norm – and that’s before you take into account accommodation, travel and living costs.

In the old days – in other words, in my time – a place at university was seen as a great privilege, and universities now dine out on this alleged prestige, all adding august and erudite references to their colleges’s academic excellence while, in reality, many lecturers are at their wits’s end about the suitability of an increasingly large body of students for courses they are enrolled on.

Let’s not forget, universities will stop at nothing to market their courses, and nowadays it’s not just a glossy ad in education journals; no, they’re paying YouTube and Instagram influencers, making ‘reels’ and videos for social media, and plying the youth market with the elixir of loveliness.

They all believe they are the university that will nurture you, let you party all night but tuck you into bed after.

Then, when the craic’s over, they will challenge you academically, get you a first class honours, and finally, a cracking good job.

All marketed covertly and slightly subliminally, often not even mentioning the university’s name.

To see past this, young people and their families need to sit down and have serious conversations before making decisions.

In my experience, a lot of people go to university simply because that’s what you do and, furthermore, decide on a course they’re not especially interested in, but like the sound of it or are subsumed by its apparent kudos.

In fact, this is a conversation that’s needed to have early on in their children’s lives, before Sixth Form or sooner.

For example, BTec is a wonderful qualification – I couldn’t praise it highly enough – but it often doesn’t prepare one for an essay-based degree, while some academic A-Levels, despite the sucked-in-air reverential sound of ‘ooh’ produced when they are mentioned in public, may not be the best option for many very students who consider BTecs as Infra dig. Depressing.

Decision

To help this decision making, it’s worth noting that over one in ten drop out of computing, almost 8 per cent leave degrees in advertising with art, agriculture, architecture and business studies, among those subjects where around 7 per cent of students don’t finish.

Dropping out is a huge cost, both emotionally and financially, and students need to think long and hard before packing their bags and heading to the blue beyond.

A feeling of failure can have a huge impact on young lives – a point worth noting.

As a former music teacher, I used to get odd knocks on the door from various embarrassed 19-, 20- and 21-year-olds asking me for help to apply for a degree in music because their pathway to becoming a lawyer hadn’t worked out.

I must add the caveat that these students were from all schools in the county and beyond, including many I had worked with in my days of being involved in a national youth orchestra.

Often they were high achievers who had been told to go to ‘the professions’ because the arts, trades and apprenticeships were a waste of time.

At the end of the day, they couldn’t fight what was in their heart, despite the promise of worldy riches and prestige. A salutary tale.

Parents, of course, are aware of this, and a great many labour long and hard over career and university choices, yet there are still far too many students being funnelled into the wrong jobs, tempted by misguided careers advice, over-ambition, peer pressure and glossy advertising.

Back-to-back with this is the poor hand the Government has given schools with careers advice.

The odd week here and there being allowed for work placement isn’t any form of preparation for a life of work.

Many employers don’t want a young person to babysit for a week, and likewise, too many students are shunted into an office, child care centre, garage or uncle’s garage to fill the time.

It’s something the Government should take much more seriously. Schools need more money to budget proper planning and one-to-one time with students to prepare for a structured platform from which to build a career.

Piecemeal

As things stand, it’s all very piecemeal, and with a little effort it could be so much better.

The potential results? More income through tax for the Treasury as young people find more apposite and fulfilling careers quicker, and shorter queues for mental health appointments as fewer square pegs are put into round holes.

As for Richard Branson floating above us in his hot air balloon, rocket or Virgin plane, he didn’t have it especially easy growing up.

As a child, his mother once dumped him off in the middle of the countryside to teach him resilience – I don’t think we’re at that stage yet.