University tuition fees.

Fretwired

Hertz32 said:

Much as I hate the tories and wish we had a Lib Dem government, I kinda have to make do.
I'll be going to university in a year and a bits time, and the tories "havent ruled out" a further tuition fee rise to 11,500 a year.
Being new to this politics lark, I can't even think to try and predict how likely this is.

All I will say is, they better fucking not.

This isn't official but the government is looking at scrapping them and having an NI charge on graduates .. at the moment hardly any of the money ever gets repaid.

bobblehat

My Son graduated last year with a Masters in Computer Science and £40k of debt. Yes this is a lot of money but his degree also meant he could walk straight into a relatively high paid job and hopefully a very well paid career. My daughter is just coming to the end of her second year of a 4 year degree and will also have around £40k of debt.

If I could give any advice it would be:

Think about what career you would like

Find out the best way to get that career eg, degree,apprenticeship etc.

If your going for a degree have a good look at the course content as not all degrees are the same.

Check out the cost of living in the University town/city as you will most likely need some cash from your parents or get a job to supplement your loans.    

guitargeek62

Good point, I should have added that my student debt is/was around £35k.

Snap

Hertz32 said:

 I know Laney are based in Sheffield, I love it there.

are they? wow, I've lived here 22 years, have a Laney amp, and I never knew that! It makes me feel that little bit better about having my Laney VC15, even if it is sitting in the corner covered in dust cos its so chuffing loud it never gets cranked, lol

Myranda

Hertz32 said:

Much as I hate the tories and wish we had a Lib Dem government, I kinda have to make do.
I'll be going to university in a year and a bits time, and the tories "havent ruled out" a further tuition fee rise to 11,500 a year.
Being new to this politics lark, I can't even think to try and predict how likely this is.

All I will say is, they better fucking not.

Just as heads up for politics future proofing, you should probably mention your hatred for Labour as well - they came up with, introduced then raised tuition fees.

As for the numbers...

Don't sweat it... 9% of everything over £21,000 doesn't add up to a lot on graduate pay... I mean, you're probably not going to earn enough to pay anything for several years after leaving university (assuming you even land a job!).

Also, don't forget £9,000 a year is only the Tuition fee - you'll also end up owing money for maintenance loans (you know, to pay rent and buy food). So currently it's closer to £15,000 a year at the moment... So proportionately the increase if it happens is not as much as it might seem.

And there's interest on the loan... so with the small pittance you pay back you'll probably never pay it off. The labour manifesto pledge of reducing the tuition fees would have resulted in paying back the same monthly amount - just for 1/3 fewer months... but of course with the amounts involved you could still be paying till retirement - so would end up paying the same amount.

Just think of it as uni-tax.

I kind of think they should up the fees to £50 trillion a year, then the economy can claim to be owed more money than all the other nations combined have in the bank or owed to them... then on paper we'd have the strongest economy ever.. and we'd be able to buy the rest of the world - on credit, and then as we'd own the whole world, we could write the loan down ourselves and turn America into a sweatshop.

MrBump

I think that the more interesting and popular a job gets, the more the wages can be suppressed - simply because there are usually legions of well qualified, enthusiastic and brilliant people wanting to do it.  Music, environmental jobs, anything arts based.

Unfortunately, past administrations have slashed at careers advice and guidance budgets, and you could probably do with some of that.

Don't dismiss apprenticeships - they can be excellent, and can lead into very good roles, particularly if the company is a progressive one and invested in their staff (can lead on to L4/5 qualifications at uni while at work, which is a bit of a no brainer if you know what you want to do).  That said, my gut feeling is that any apprenticeships in the music business - if they exist - will be heavily contested.

Unfortunately, lots of young people use university to put off a career - I know I did exactly that in the early 1990's, Thatchers Britain and all that, no jobs, no future...  And there was the Nu Labour aspirational project of getting undergrad numbers above 50% of school leavers, which I think was a mistake.

Anyone going to university these days needs to do so with much more of an eye on the cold reality of graduation than I did.  I don't think that tuition fees are an issue particularly (I had a student loan, and didn't pay that off until I earned a decent living).  But anyone thinking of going should think long and hard about their reasons for going: To get away from home?  To learn a skill?  To become chartered in the profession that they've chosen?  Or to just get a degree and hope that it's a lead into a better paid future?

I was definitely the latter.  I have a decent career now, but it took me 10 years after graduation to find it, and I don't think that my degree was necessary, particularly.

Drew_TNBD

Can you get an apprenticeship when you're 31 years old and have fucked your life up?

Myranda

Drew_fx said:

Can you get an apprenticeship when you're 31 years old and have fucked your life up?

Nope, they're for young people only... I think 25 is the cut off date but it could be younger

guitargeek62

Drew_fx;629427" said:

Can you get an apprenticeship when you're 31 years old and have fucked your life up?

No, but you can get an internship.

Myranda

guitargeek62 said:

Drew_fx;629427" said:

Can you get an apprenticeship when you're 31 years old and have fucked your life up?

No, but you can get an internship.

Assuming you can find a UK company that offers them... You'd think a low paid trainee worker would be a good thing, but lots of companies seem to hate the idea. My employer hit the £Billion revenue mark last year and has no internship program at all

Also, while the Apprenticeship scheme is regulated so to qualify students must show certain practical knowledges, there's (to my knowledge) no similar internship system, so you might not have your experience recognised by the sort of HR drones that scan your CV for certain buzzwords or qualifications.