Attitudes to... University

Sure.

So a record 34% of people in England think a university education isn't worth the time and money it usually takes.

And that's up from 14% 20 years ago.

OK, one in three of the population in England don't think studying at uni is value for money.

And the reason, of course, we've selected people in England is that tuition fees, of course, they vary in different parts of the UK.

So in England and in Wales, a university student can expect to pay around £10,000 a year.

In Northern Ireland, local students are charged about £5,000.

So half the cost.

And Scottish students studying in Scotland, well, they don't pay tuition fees at all.

So it's a different calculation based on where you live and where you study.

And Alex, do we know how that variation in fees changes kind of broad views on the value of university?

That's right.

It's something we examined as part of the report.

For the sake of simplicity, we focused on attitudes towards England, given the divergences in the systems that you've identified.

And we have to be a bit careful with the results because there's only a small proportion of people in the BSA sample living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are actually asked these questions.

But there are evidence of some divergences.

So Scottish people, for example, are less likely than English to agree a university education is just not worth the time and money.

Only 20% of Scots agreed with that statement compared with 34% of English.

It's not a huge reduction.

And of course, they're not paying tuition fees if they're Scottish and studying in Scotland.

So maybe that explains it.

That's right.

Yeah, it's a completely different system north and south of

OK, now, so what we do know is that it's not just value for money that's the issue.

There's sort of increasingly sceptical attitudes across the political spectrum on whether we've got too many university students, too many graduates, what kind of state support they should get, and indeed whether university is self-evidently a good thing.

Sure.

So a record 34% of people in England think a university education isn't worth the time and money it usually takes.

And that's up from 14% 20 years ago.

OK, one in three of the population in England don't think studying at uni is value for money.

And the reason, of course, we've selected people in England is that tuition fees, of course, they vary in different parts of the UK.

So in England and in Wales, a university student can expect to pay around £10,000 a year.

In Northern Ireland, local students are charged about £5,000.

So half the cost.

And Scottish students studying in Scotland, well, they don't pay tuition fees at all.

So it's a different calculation based on where you live and where you study.

And Alex, do we know how that variation in fees changes kind of broad views on the value of university?

That's right.

It's something we examined as part of the report.

For the sake of simplicity, we focused on attitudes towards England, given the divergences in the systems that you've identified.

And we have to be a bit careful with the results because there's only a small proportion of people in the BSA sample living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are actually asked these questions.

But there are evidence of some divergences.

So Scottish people, for example, are less likely than English to agree a university education is just not worth the time and money.

Only 20% of Scots agreed with that statement compared with 34% of English.

It's not a huge reduction.

And of course, they're not paying tuition fees if they're Scottish and studying in Scotland.

So maybe that explains it.

That's right.

Yeah, it's a completely different system north and south of

OK, now, so what we do know is that it's not just value for money that's the issue.

There's sort of increasingly sceptical attitudes across the political spectrum on whether we've got too many university students, too many graduates, what kind of state support they should get, and indeed whether university is self-evidently a good thing.