Fellow UK resident here. The political reasoning behind the hike in fees is to make young people think harder about whether a university degree is actually goi

Fellow UK resident here. The political reasoning behind the hike in fees is to make young people think harder about whether a university degree is actually going to be useful to them in their career. It's fairly clear that vocational courses would benefit some people a lot more than theoretical/academic courses, and society would benefit from this too. At the moment young people tend to go to university by default, and there were (until recently) frequent stories about universities offering nonsense degrees just so they can claim funding from the government. I can't blame the those students who, in the past, went to university for 3 years just to learn how to be independent, make some friends and party. I don't think they'll do it if the privilege costs them several thousand pounds. However, our current government in the UK has signalled a change - there is a feeling that making university easy to go to has manipulated unemployment figures downwards and has not really had the desired effect that you might expect from higher education. Historically, university attendance was much lower - not because of a lack of "fairness" in society but because society accepted that only the brightest and most motivated went to such a place. I'd prefer it if young people didn't have to pay money to go to university but it's in society's interest that those who do go are recognised as having gone there for the right reasons and are qualified to do something productive. If there's a price attached to a degree then universities will (presumably) try harder to ensure that the value they provide is comparable with the fees charged by other universities. To the original poster I would say this: If you think you're smart then you might as well stick it out and get a degree, especially if you think you have a chance of going to a top UK university. You will find it very difficult to get a degree later in life when you have more responsibilities. Degrees are still cheap in the UK compared to the USA (especially if you think you will one day earn an above-average salary).