Naomi Sutherland

As someone from an older generation, but who nonetheless struggled with a £50,000 university debt that took me a decade to clear, I can share that views on this debate are mixed. And rightly so. The assumption made by any debate on this topic is that there is a categorical issue with the fee itself. This needn’t be the case. The problem isn’t just the fee; it’s everything around the fee. 

 

Students who come from supportive families that provide even just basic shelter and food for their kids during and after the university years may not suffer so much even with increased fees. It’s the kids that don’t have those basic privileges that really suffer with fees and increases. What we need to do is make peripheral support, in the form of reliable, accessible and fair careers opportunities, more egalitarian, so students are very well equipped to find competitive employment after university. 

 

For example, careers services in universities are generally not known to be effective and identify all students to be of equal socioeconomic status, on the grounds that their services are available ’to all students’. Similarly, careers fairs held at universities assume that corporate brands and highly structured graduate schemes are attractive to, or appropriate for, all students equally. But under-resourced students think only really of their need of money now. They have little opportunity to think long-term, or act longterm. I, for one, couldn’t afford an outfit for an interview when I left university. I barely knew how to conduct myself in interviews, my knowledge of employability was so weak. 

 

I found this news on student tuition an interesting point of discussion, just because I probably have the opposing view of most. I personally found my university fees so unaffordable as they were, that a few grand here or there wouldn't have helped or made much difference. I started life in debt, so as far as my self-esteem and sense of personal power were concerned, I had none of either because of those debts. They determined/dominated my first decade in work with permanent repercussions for my career. 

But this wasn't because of the debt. It was because there was no other support on the scene alongside the debt. I had no family in the UK after 17. I had no resource or idea how to build a career. It was like living in a nightmare vortex where all I heard people say was, "but what other things have you done to strengthen your CV?" As though I had the option to do anything other than cover my bills. 

For this reason, I'd argue more than talking about fees, that we strengthen support services for students that may not have loving families guiding them through their early careers. That rather than the system assuming there are families that teach their kids about interview technique, and internships, and etiquette and contacts, that we make the system to support everyone. That by the time they have to apply for work, they are independents, not family-dependents. There will always be financial stress, at least for most of us. We've gotta be ready.

 

Naomi Sutherland is a tutor and careers specialising for teens and young adults. www.naomisutherland.co.uk