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There is – thankfully – a big difference between considering dropping out and doing it, especially due to money problems.
A thread… /1 https://twitter.com/SaveTheStudent/status/1303634256732786688
A thread… /1 https://twitter.com/SaveTheStudent/status/1303634256732786688
We do have a dropout problem in the UK (around 1 in 7 students do it), but many HE systems around the world have far higher rates.
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However, in many of those countries, ‘dropout’ does not come with the penalty – and debt – that it does in the UK.
Many (most?) countries recognise that a year or two of HE is valuable, albeit maybe not as valuable as successfully pursuing a full degree course.
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Many (most?) countries recognise that a year or two of HE is valuable, albeit maybe not as valuable as successfully pursuing a full degree course.
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In the UK, not only do we tend not to give people credit for any time in university when compared to none, our society – and employers in particular – stigmatise people who “fail to see it through”.
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Meanwhile our student financial system means that students who feel forced to drop out are not only worse off in their employability, but also worse off in financial terms than if they had not gone to uni at all.
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This is why many students faced with great hardship consider dropping out, but don’t go through with it. However bad your financial crisis, dropping out will usually only make matters worse.
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This is not okay though. This difference from other countries is a reason why it is all the more important that the English Government should ensure that students have access to the funds they need to complete their studies successfully.
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Meanwhile #Covid19 has created even greater hardship for many students, many of whom rely on the hospitality jobs and seasonal jobs that have disappeared (work that often detracts from their studies anyway). Without that work, they can no longer make ends meet.
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(Remember: students have the rare and unenviable distinction of being unable to claim other benefits such as Universal Credit by virtue of the fact that they are enrolled on a course of higher education. If they don’t have access to funds, they are literally destitute.)
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That is why it doesn’t surprise me that 1 in 25 reports having resorted to sex work. This is a mark of the desperation of their situation: unable to carry on, unable to drop out, unable to work. @SaveTheStudent
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Our student finance system keeps people from dropping out of courses successfully, but by using a stick, not a carrot.
And in the process, it causes great financial hardship to students who struggle on and it fails to provide them with a safety net.
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And in the process, it causes great financial hardship to students who struggle on and it fails to provide them with a safety net.
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