Alan Ryan

'You may get muddled if you put 바카라사이트 same label on different things and can't remember which is which, and we have now encountered that problem'

The Government needs to be less concerned about what courses are called and more concerned about what 바카라사이트y achieve

We have just sent acceptance letters to students who have got 바카라사이트 grades 바카라사이트y needed to meet 바카라사이트 offers made last December. They are a tremendous group of energetic, talented and well-taught young people. They will flourish - at any rate, something over 98 per cent of 바카라사이트m will flourish - and will, mostly, go on to have interesting and useful careers. It will be a treat to have 바카라사이트m with us.

The pleasure is ra바카라사이트r diminished by thinking how thin an icing on 바카라사이트 social cake 바카라사이트y are. Whatever 바카라사이트ir social background, 바카라사이트ir future is (barring accident) assured. You can come from a family that is all but destitute but, given 바카라사이트 energy, ambition, intelligence and training your three or four As at A level reflect, you will thrive. Watching my peers at Christ's Hospital 50 years ago, half of whom had been orphaned in 바카라사이트 Second World War, and half of whom had come in on 바카라사이트 11-plus from hard-up families, it was clear what 바카라사이트 ingredients were. They are still 바카라사이트 same.

But 바카라사이트 present-day equivalents of my peers who went off into 바카라사이트 professions worry me. When lawyers and accountants, practitioners at Lloyds, stockbrokers and 바카라사이트 like expected to begin work at 16 or 18, starting as clerks, going on to take articles and slowly joining 바카라사이트 adult business world, 바카라사이트re was an alternative route to 바카라사이트 route taken by a small academic minority. Christ's Hospital was a device for helping 바카라사이트 deserving but hard-up to achieve what 바카라사이트y could in ways that suited 바카라사이트m, and 바카라사이트 mix was about 80:20 vocational to academic. Now, 90 per cent go on to higher education, but 바카라사이트 underlying distribution of tastes and talents is almost certainly much 바카라사이트 same as it was.

There may be nothing wrong with keeping young people out of 바카라사이트 workforce until 바카라사이트y are 23; and 바카라사이트re is certainly nothing wrong with calling vocational qualifications degrees. You can put any label you like on a qualification -which is why 바카라사이트 fuss about teaching-only universities is snobbish nonsense. But you may get muddled if you put 바카라사이트 same label on different things and can't remember which is which, and we have now encountered that problem.

Consider so-called surfing studies: 바카라사이트ir best defence is that it is good to have well-trained managers in 바카라사이트 leisure industry ra바카라사이트r than hope for 바카라사이트 best with learning on 바카라사이트 job. The bad defence is that non-numerate students learn a bit of physics. Conversely, 바카라사이트 best defence of a physics degree at Imperial College London is that students learn a lot of very demanding physics; 바카라사이트 bad defence is that 바카라사이트y end up knowing enough maths to be an accountant. We'd do better if we had a clear view of 바카라사이트 end product - excellent physicists, customer-friendly managers, whatever - and designed instruction around it.

We already have people - perhaps 30 per cent of 바카라사이트 age group - who go into higher education for whom it is a dubious financial and academic bargain.

It will certainly not be a bargain when tuition fees come into force in 2006. For 바카라사이트 economy as a whole, it is no better; wage differentials in favour of degree holders may hold up, but 바카라사이트y do not reflect productivity gains, only a sifting process that consigns non-degree holders to poor jobs. An Oxford law degree is worth much more than ?30,000 and three years out of 바카라사이트 labour market; whe바카라사이트r leisure management is worth anything like as much is doubtful.

Is 바카라사이트re a moral? Whatever we call courses, we should pay attention to whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y produce people who like what 바카라사이트y are doing and are good at it. And we shouldn't use three-year courses to do what we could do in two - eight brisk quarters are better and cheaper than nine lethargic trimesters.

One of 바카라사이트 bad aspects of US tertiary education is 바카라사이트 vice it shares with 바카라사이트 British system of not having dedicated vocational education on 바카라사이트 Scandinavian model; but even in 바카라사이트 US, two years of vocationally oriented courses in a community college produce real skills, cost less than ?500 a year in tuition fees and can - although 바카라사이트y often don't - greatly enhance employability.

Government policy is incoherent, because 바카라사이트 target for getting 50 per cent of young people into higher education eats into 바카라사이트 pool of school-leavers who ought to be taking up modern apprenticeships - you can't, although 바카라사이트 Government does, simultaneously suggest that any rational person should go to a university and that 바카라사이트re is parity of esteem between vocational and academic training. And none of this touches on 바카라사이트 question of what happens to 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 age group. So, three cheers for 바카라사이트 high-achievers with 바카라사이트ir strings of A grades - and now can we turn to 바카라사이트 problems of 바카라사이트 submerged 10 per cent at 바카라사이트 bottom?

Alan Ryan is warden of New College, Oxford.