“Perhaps this means that we'll see an improvement in the quality of our students. The government has, for too long, perpetuated the myth that a university education is the be-all and end-all for young people. It isn't. Some people aren't clever enough for proper university education.

Unfortunately that has been dumbed-down to an epic proportion during the last 15 years as polytechnics became universities. Young people need to realise the 10 A* grades at GCSE and 4 A grades at A level do not a genius make.

Universities have been extending some courses, particularly the those in difficult areas such as maths, physics, etc, to four years in order to accommodate failures in the GCSE and A level systems.

Few places will, surely, lead to smarter students, something that can only benefit the country four or five years from now.”

“Sad fact of life, I'm afraid.
Less money, less students.
We are all at the mercy of the greedy bankers, and this lousy Govt won't regulate them.
No, I'm sorry but there were no moans and groans when the money was pouring in, for what has already been said, a number of useless 'degrees'.
Start paying the going rate, get the qualification, then use it in that same profession, and we'll all be a darn site happier.”

“Richard - the point you make is partly correct - but the financial storm is partly myth.

There is (see the bonus banks seem able to pay - billions..) money in the Country. It is just that the political parties are scared of what they see as a greed and reluctance to pay more tax in the electorate - and wish to out-tough each other...

Sadly, with an election due, it seems to be a competition as to who threatens to cut more: a sad state of affairs where public servants become a populist target for resentment and misplaced cuts...”

“Rebecca Nesvet, Cheltenham
Erudite members of the health service, social services, defence (the list goes on and on) will all put forward well thought through, logical and equally compelling reasons why their particular service should not be cut. So we all carry on as if nothing has happened, oblivious to the financial disaster that is soon to envelop us?”

“This controversy isn't about people becoming plumbers or learning to question the media - it's about whether the government and local people treat education as a luxury or a societal necessity. It is a necessity, so we commodify, dismiss and destroy it at our peril - and we do so in this county to Gloucestershire's peril.

Why? Because, unfortunately, many people can realise their dream of attending university - to LEARN and explore, not just to gain a skillset, by living at home and/or keeping their current employment. There are a lot of talented, inquisitive, and altruistic people in Gloiucestershire with these circumstances. That means that while students come to Gloucestershire from across the nation and round the world, many former commuter students number among the university's most successful, inspiring graduates. As a lecturer, I'm thinking of several recent graduates in particular who are playing invaluable roles locally today, in and beyond their paid employment.

Furthermore, when local students learn alongside fellow students from much further away, this creates understandings that bridge communities regionally, nationally, and globally, allowing Gloucestershire to share and trade knowledge with the world. Every student builds this sort of bridge while they study here.

Consequently, any cut in the number of available places at the university will hurt some local citizens personally by denying them and their families university places, and will also hurt the community as a whole by demolishing bridges that some day we will need to cross troubled water. (Pardon the horribly mixed metaphors.)

Moreover, education isn't a consumer good, it's a survival tool for entire nations. If Dr. Alan Mathison Turing had NOT gotten a full scholarship to earn a "useless degree" in theoretical mathematics, he would not have developed and circulated his ideas and skills, and so would not have cracked the Nazis' code and saved us all from Operation Sea Lion: all British men to be "deported" by Germans to an unspecified Continental fate - cf. William Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Turing didn't go to a local former polytechnic, but that wasn't an option for anyone in his time, while the research contributions of the new universities show that it should have been. And yes, some of Turing's acquaintances considered his investigations "useless" - he applied it to playing maths games with his bicycle chain. Later, he applied what he learned from that pastime to the Enigma Code, with useful results.

British education is often called the best in the world, and histories like Turing's help to show why. It's a shame that Mandelson and co. can't see that.

Therefore, anybody who actually cares about equality of opportunity, quality of life, and sustainment of the country and world should fight the government's position on higher education very strenuously.”

“Look, it depends what subject your studying and I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think that the University of Gloucestershire Is a particuarly good one, but no harm meant, as other people on this website seem to take offence at the slightest mention of opinions. Anyway, its a real shame.”

“It saddens me that in the bastardised ruins of what was once an educational system even children taught the importance of what happened at Runnymede are often told that the barons forced King John to grant rights, such as free speech, freedom from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment and the right to a fair trial. No, not quite so. The King was forced to sign a declaration that he would not interfere with, nor abridge, those rights which were the inherent rights of English freemen (and women too, Harriet Harman take note) according to rank.
Our fellow Europeans may well enjoy similar rights, but they are rights which have their origins in constitutions and laws. The right of a German or Frenchman to free speech is a grant by law ¿ essentially an entitlement rather than a right. Here, it requires a law to set limits upon that right, which in this Kingdom is (I¿m sorry Professor Dawkins) the God-given right of an Englishman or woman from birth.”

“Pleasant words of truth Lord Mandelson has spoken ¿Universities are a prime investment in our economic future but they cannot be immune to fiscal reality -¿They have to accept their fair share of the economies. They have to change and reform to meet individual demands and employment needs of the economy. What a pity the remnants of his Government had not listened to Wise Council before they burst the Country. I always said Mandelson was the only one with brains amongst those deathly creatures that form this Labour Government. Peter Mandelson cross the floor of the House and Join the sanity of a Conservative Government”

“re: Springbank, not Hesters Way:

You are talking out your backside mate! Plenty of people who have a ''trade'' have suffered big style due to the recession (I know because I am the daughter of a plasterer who has been struggling all year round to get decent amount of work). IMO whilst the recession is on, its better to do a degree - yea its 3yrs but at least you're not fighting with many others to get a job!!”

“Only 100 places less, no big deal as hopefully next years intake of students wanting to do a useless degree in sports science or media studies etc etc will realise that learning a proper trade like plumbing, electrician or carpentry is much more useful and rewarding in this recession.”