While many people in the UK choose to leave school as early as they can, often without taking A' Levels, other choose to stay on and take some qualifications in the hope that it will enable them to be more competitive in the UK jobs market.
Many people do take their GCSEs and A' levels and a large percentage of school leavers do go on to take some form of further education either at university or in the form of a BTEC or other qualification in the trades at the local higher education college.
But is it really worth staying on to take exams? After all it takes a large amount of time – and money – to go all the way through higher education. I ask because of the high costs now associated with going to university. Even with financial assistance it can cost a parent around eight thousand pounds a year and this is set to rise with the tuition fees debacle.
In contrast, I know many A' level school leavers who have walked straight into jobs paying twenty five thousand pounds a year and this is just for starters. By the time this year's undergraduates have finished they will be walking into a tough jobs market.
There can be no price on education and yet the current government's policies are starting to price people out of the higher education system.
