VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Matt Westwood|DATE|1357298477|CONTENT|The great big elephant in the room is the question that needs to be asked whether, perhaps, working-class boys of university intelligence may have made a measured decision that no, they will not saddle themselves with upwards of thirty thousand pounds worth of debt, that they can&#039;t be doing with spending three years in a social goldfish-bowl with several hundred hooray-henrys, tarquins and jessicas, that they have better things to do than spend every evening in pointless debauchery (been there, done that) and instead make a prudent decision to go straight into full-time employment so as to better prepare for the uncertain future ahead.

Oh to turn back the clock to the time when the government covered the complete cost of both the tuition fees and the student expenses. I had cause to be in conversation with some students from East Europe last year (Czech, IIRC), and they expressed incredulity that in Britain (or is it just England and Wales?) students are expected to shoulder the entirety of their higher education expenses. Oh for socialism once more.|EMAIL|prime.mover@proofwiki.org|IP-ADDRESS|81.142.211.61|MODERATIONFLAG|