Website counters uni 'pressure'

Tom Mursell believes there is too much pressure to go to university

A Hampshire teenager has set up a job website for school and college leavers who do not want to go to university.

Tom Mursell, from Eastleigh, believes there is too much pressure on young people to sign up to degree courses.

The 18-year-old said NotGoingToUni.co.uk was a reaction to government plans for 40% of the workforce to have a degree by 2020.

A fifth of students still drop out of university in England and Wales despite £800m spent tackling the problem.

Last month, the parliamentary public accounts committee said the drop-out rate of 22% was the same as in 2002 when it last covered the issue.

And higher education minister, Bill Rammell, said student retention rates in England compared well internationally.

Dole queue

Tom Mursell said: "Often teenagers have simply not made up their minds on what they want to do in life when they are cajoled into going to university, saddling themselves with thousands of pounds of debt in the process.

"This is only set to get worse with the government's plans to get 40% of the British workforce to have a degree by 2020.

"Degrees are already not worth what they used to be, so by 2020 they'll be worth even less.

He added: "There is a silly amount of pressure put on school and college leavers to go to university these days."

He said he set up the site after his girlfriend was told by her teacher she would effectively be "joining the dole queue" without a degree.

"It was only after finishing my A-levels that I had time to research the options besides university and I found loads, including A-level careers, training schemes and alternative routes into professions.

"But there wasn't one comprehensive website detailing them."