Is university the best preparation for the future?

I was amazed to hear a debate on the news as to whether the army should be allowed to continue to recruit 16-year-olds. This surprised me because, as of this year, the school leaving age has been raised to 17, or does enrolling for service in the armed forces count as education and training?

There is still much confusion as to exactly how schools and colleges will accommodate these additional students and what education or training they will be offered. Certainly, the funding issue for 16 to 19 students is looming large.

We have a dilemma in this country. We have been encouraging as many young people as possible to continue to study and to enrol on university degree courses. The number of institutions which have university status has increased dramatically in recent years as have the courses available, although now we are seeing some retraction. However, these students have incurred huge levels of debt and many have failed to obtain the posts or careers to which they aspired.