I lament the lack of access to a university education for working class Brits - Bill Carmichael

Many years ago when I had just started my A Levels at my comprehensive school, my history teacher pulled me aside after a lively discussion about Bismarck's social programmes and asked me bluntly: “Have you thought about applying for university?”

The honest answer was “no”. I had no experience of university, had never visited one, and had little idea of what studying at university actually meant. I knew no one who had attended university other than my teachers.

My only insight into varsity life was watching University Challenge on the telly every week, and the contestants, with their gonks and teddy bear mascots, seemed like a bunch of weirdos.

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He sat me down to explain. The state would pay my tuition fees and I would receive a maintenance grant for rent and food, and I would have a room of my own. I would be given a reading list, and there would be lectures and seminars, and a one-to-one tutorial where I would discuss my weekly essay with an expert in the field.

Jobs are at risk at Sheffield Hallam University.Jobs are at risk at Sheffield Hallam University.
Jobs are at risk at Sheffield Hallam University.

It sounded too good to be true. “What do I have to do in return?” I asked. He answered: “Well, you have to work - do the reading and write the essays.”

Work? My dad was up before dawn and spent his day unloading sisal from rat-infested rust buckets on the River Mersey. My mum slaved away stripping chickens in a Birds Eye food factory. That was my idea of work. Sitting in a warm library reading a few books was something I thought I could just about manage.

So I applied, and was successful and it is no exaggeration to say it changed my life. I met people I would never have come across on my council estate, from proper aristocrats, public school anarchists, Russian dissidents, and beautiful posh girls from the home counties who were baffled by my accent.

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I stayed up all night discussing philosophy, and was exposed to wonderful art, music, food, architecture and literature way beyond the dreams of my local council library.

I realise now that I was incredibly fortunate for at least a couple of reasons.

Firstly, there was a window of opportunity that briefly opened in the 1970s when I was a teenager, when working class kids were encouraged to broaden their horizons.

As my history teacher told me: “Aim high. You don’t have to be factory fodder. There’s a big world out there - go and seize the day.”

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Today, sadly, that window has been firmly slammed shut. Working class white pupils are far and away the most disadvantaged social group when it comes to access to higher education.

Just 16 per cent of white pupils on free school meals enter higher education by the time they are 19. This compares to 72 per cent of ethnic Chinese pupils, 59 per cent of pupils from a Black African background, and 31 per cent from a Black Caribbean background.

The other reason I am lucky is that my education was ‘free’ - although like any other ‘free’ thing it is actually paid for by somebody else, in this case the taxpayer.

Not only was my tuition ‘free’, I also received a grant for everyday expenses, with the result that I graduated virtually clear of debt.

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Compare that to today’s students who have to borrow to pay tuition fees and, often, for maintenance. Figures obtained from the Student Loan Company this week showed that almost 1.8 million people owe £50,000 or more in student debt, and 61,000 have balances above £100,000.

Unlike normal debt, student debt does not impact on credit scores, and you only start paying it back once you earn over £27,000 a year, and the balance, no matter how high, is written off at the end of the term, typically 30 years. It is more like a graduate tax than a normal loan.

But despite the high cost of attending further education many universities are in crisis. Annual tuition fees at £9,250 have not risen since 2018 despite high levels of inflation. As a result many universities are overly reliant on overseas students who pay higher fees.

The decline in numbers of overseas students has plunged some universities into big deficits. Huddersfield University and Sheffield Hallam are already laying off staff.

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I am grateful for my time at university, and for many it can be a marvellous and enriching experience.

But the sector is in a mess, built on rickety financial foundations and badly letting down the most disadvantaged working class communities. It is another aspect of British life that needs radical reform.

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