Political failings betray students

This is not good enough. Politicians and business leaders have spent too long arguing about this issue rather than putting in place a clear curriculum that meets the needs of both students, and prospective employers. It has to change.

Even this long-running issue, however, will be eclipsed by the desperate scramble for university places, and the number of students – including those with top grades – who may miss out on their chosen degree course.

This is not their fault. Nor is the new Government to blame; it has made extra places available despite the budgetary pressures facing the nation.

It is the legacy left by the previous government which raised expectations and actively encouraged students to study at university – and then failed to provide the necessary places, and funding, to meet the demand.

It is a policy failure compounded, still further, by the downturn – and the record number of young people being compelled to further their education because of the acute shortage of jobs.

This situation is unlikely to ease in the near future; Universities Minister David Willetts has already warned that the higher education sector will not be immune from budget cuts later this year, a move that will further limit opportunities for study. The prospect of tuition fee increases also lingers behind the headlines.

The consequence is that education now finds itself at a crossroads with insufficient university places and continuing doubts about the merit of A-levels. It also does little to ensure that youngsters have the skills to flourish in a global economy.

They are questions that Ministers are going to have to answer in the next year, and preferably with the same level of detail that they expect of A-level students.