Former Theresa May aide attacks ‘Ponzi scheme’ university fees ahead of A-level results
BRITAIN’S university tuition fees are a “pointless Ponzi scheme” that saddles young people with huge debts, says Theresa May’s former chief of staff.
Theresa May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy called university fees a ‘Ponzi scheme’
Nick Timothy called the university system – which leaves graduates in England with an average debt of £50,000 – a “gravy train.”
The Prime Minister’s former aide claimed some degrees fail to give students any return on their “investment” leading them into non-graduate roles after their studies end while allowing vice-chancellors to earn up to £451,000.
Mr Timothy warned against assumptions that more people going to university would benefit Britain’s economy. He claimed their had been no boost to productivity from growing graduate numbers and many earn no more than if they had not gone to university.
Mrs May’s chief-of-staff, who was seen as the main driving force behind the Tory’s grammar school policy, wrote in The Daily Telegraph: “On a recent visit to the barber, the young man who cut my hair told me he had graduated from Southampton Solent University with a degree in football studies.
“He was friendly, articulate and skilled in his profession, but I doubted whether he thought his qualification was worth the debt he will carry as a millstone around his neck for 30 years.”
Students posing for THAT A-level results photo
Graduates in England are left with an average of £50,000 debt after finishing their studies
Students would have an incentive to shop around
Mr Timothy published the warning as 200,000 British secondary school students prepared to receive their A-level results.
The pupils will be the first to get their results since former education secretary Michael Gove introduced tougher tests with the aim of raising standards in schools.
The tougher tests soon saw grade boundaries lowered amid fears many students would not earn the grades they needed to get into university.
Mr Timothy was seen as the driving force behind Theresa May’s grammar school policy
Mr Timothy proposed awarding a “single financial entitlement” to school-leavers and encouraging them to choose between spending it on technical courses or universities.
The former aide hopes the financial entitlement would create a market that would boost growth in technical education and encourage universities to compete on price instead lowering the £9,000-a-year fee.
The former aide proposed a financial entitlement to boost growth in technical education
He said: “Rather than forcing half of the population into expensive under-graduate courses, young people could choose the kind of study that suits them. Students would have an incentive to shop around for the best-value courses.”
Expecting a backlash from universities following his proposals he wrote: “Universities might be independent organisations, but many are charities that have lost sight of their charitable purpose.”