Tertiary Education?

Sadly it's true in my sons case. Head of year and class tutor was consulted by Ex's sol. The boy was an under achiever and simply want applying himself.
All parties agreed and took the view that Uni was not a viable option which would have an outcome of being value for money and that becoming a plumber and taking a college course would provide the "best" outcome.

Not all children should go to Uni and are probably predissposed to a trade. We must stop telling them all that they can achieve anything they want because they cant.

My Partners 2 boys are at Uni, are performing poorly, pissing it up and nailing everything that moves and all with a projected poor outcome and no job prospects. Thing is you the tax payer are paying a huge amount for their party ifestyle. My 3 boys are not learning trades and earning more than I do in the case of my elder son and I am proud of them.

I was an under achiever at school too. Not 'university material'. Went to university after a bit of a break. Did extremely well ...

You need to avoid fixing labels on people - maybe some sort of trade will be absolutely right for them; but maybe it won't. You need to be able to adjust your expectations to a future reality that may as yet be totally unpredictable. You also need to understand that in the current and future economic reality, people will need to be flexible and be ready to change careers. The more education they get, the likelier they are to be able to cope.

Yep I agree to some degree.

I gained a trade in the Forces from the age of 16 and did Open University in my early 30's. I worked hard in a trade, paid off a mortgage then had a career change at 37. I dont think anyone knows what they want to do or even what they can realistlcly achieve when so young.
I come from a time when people like me could not even (in their wildest dreams) go to Uni. In fact it wasnt even on the agenda.

There is no clear cut answer here but we have to be realistic about expectations. Not everyone should be pushed down the route of Uni. My local McDaonalds and other retail outlets are full of Ex Uni people with no direction, unfulfilled expectations and working for minimum wage and who may never find a place in their chosen field etc. Shame because I like to mentor young people and on the whole love getting them to think seriously about their futures.
I see so many parents not talking to their kids enough and filling them full od bull about how they can (unrealisticall in my view) conquer the world.
Some of my most suvccessful friends never went to Uni but are very good at their jobs/cereers etc.

Just to digress - this is an interesting article:

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/university...y-Mouse-degrees.html

WR

I agree that university isn't for everyone. But I think it's also not fair to write it off as an option at sixteen, particularly if the person concerned 'simply wasn't applying himself'. Young people whose parents are divorcing often find it difficult to concentrate on school work, so poor GCSE results wouldn't be particularly surprising.

To explicitly write support at university out of a court order because it wouldn't be cost-effective (although most people gain much more than in financial terms out of a degree)on the basis of duff GCSE results seems to me to be making a premature judgement - particularly if you are banking on him not applying to ycourt on his own behalf later. I am surprised, to be honest, that your son's head of year was prepared to make such a high-stakes prediction.

Sadie

Just a side question regarding the original post....
What happens in the even that a child takes a 'gap year' between A levels and degree ?
Does that mean that they have droped out of full-time education, albeit with the intention of returning.

LB

A child can make their own application for uni depending on what month they were born they would be 18 or 19 another problem is the availability of courses,so in theory the kid could make the application a year after finishing A levels,if they took a gap year at uni though the maintenance would end.