I didn’t work at college or uni. I would not have been able to handle the workload, quite honestly. I barely coped as it was.

At university I just borrowed half of the money and I did get a bit from my folks. I could have worked, but I preferred to be poor and not driven insane by having to do loads of work.

Oh and games programming is an awful job.

sounds like a normal teenager to me. when graduates are struggling to get jobs in costa and people are leaving uni with £50000 debt is it any wonder he’s not motivated? sounds like he knows the value of money if he can make a tenner stretch all week…lets be honest, the only reason people leave uni with debt is that the bank has you by the balls for the rest of your life, conditioned to think that a 50 grand debt is normal ffs!

I worked all though sixth form as a kitchen porter at a Cambridge College. Did three nights a week and Sat and Sun morning. I also worked every summer holiday as well. I really enjoyed it, was sociable and nice to earn your own money.

conditioned to think that a 50 grand debt is normal ffs!

It’s not a bloody bank loan!

It’s an investment. Maybe there should be more help on understanding this for potential students – some sort of cost/benefit analysis taking into account potential rewards from chose subject and career ambitions.

No it isn’t. Quite. But it is money that is owed and needs to be paid back (assuming you meet the criteria etc etc). And that will have an impact on your disposable income once you get a job which will also have an impact on what you want to do with regard to housing and general living. I really do wonder about the value of a degree course for a lot of students these days when you look at what it is going to cost them vs the subject they take and their aptitude / intellectual capability. Although the flip side is what other choices are there for them if there are no jobs for them? As was also pointed out ^^ I really question how many jobs these days actually require a degree.

Yes and repayments are proportional to income, which is most definitely NOT like a normal loan!

It really is a graduate tax with a limited duration.

I really do wonder about the value of a degree course for a lot of students these days when you look at what it is going to cost them vs the subject they take and their aptitude / intellectual capability.

Well yes, that’s a very good point. Is a university education a good idea for most people? I doubt it. Is some kind of training a good idea? Absolutely. Is leaving home for that kind of environment a good thing? Definitely. Should the Government fund that kind of activity? Yes, but it needs a creative way to afford it.

Vocational colleges* partly funded by industry would be a bloody good start. Probably wouldnm’t cost much since industry has to train uni grads anyway.

* maybe we could call them ‘Polytechnics’

Hmm, double post thingy.

He sounds like a lazy git.

And most 18 yr olds are out with their mates smoking weed.

Give him a kick up the jacksie.

And if he has no work ethic now how is that going to change once he has his (worthless?) gaming degree?
Wouldn’t he be better off getting a trade now before burying himself under 1000’s pounds worth of debt? If he likes nerdy/ geeky stuff he could look at sound engineering, lighting or electrics.

Of all my mates and cousins that went to uni I know of only one that is using her degree. Oddly she studied computer science, but had top grades and only really got the job because of our uncle.

I think a lot of jobs say that you require a degree simply because every candidate had one nowadays. Most jobs can be done with a bit of common sense and support from the employer.

At the time when all my mates were going of to uni i was jobbing and saving money to go traveling. I thought I was missing out, but on reflection and when looking at how much debt many of them have got themselves into, I’m happy that I learnt a trade and didn’t go and study.

One of my mates who earns more than anyone else amongst my olds school friends went up London at 16 and had work his way up. He incurred no debts and earns over 200k a year (without his bonus).

And I don’t think that uni should be free. But that perhaps is another topic….

Why should he get a job if you are funding him? You can easily solve this by not giving him any cash at all, then he will want a job

You can easily solve this by not giving him any cash at all, then he will want a job

How miserable do you want him to be? He’ll have 50 years of slaving for a living, no need to rush into it.

One of my mates who earns more than anyone else amongst my olds school friends went up London at 16 and had work his way up. He incurred no debts and earns over 200k a year (without his bonus).

Only one? And what about everyone else who left home at 16?

Most jobs can be done with a bit of common sense and support from the employer.

Probably, but employers don’t think like that. Maybe they should, but they don’t.

Wouldn’t he be better off getting a trade now before burying himself under 1000’s pounds worth of debt? If he likes nerdy/ geeky stuff he could look at sound engineering, lighting or electrics.

It’s not the same. I’m a geek, and there’s no way I’d be happy being a lighting engineer!

Sounds like it could be a darn site worse than it is

If he’s keeping up well with school work I wouldn’t worry about it. From what I see of my son’s, (and UK nephews’) efforts school has changed. My generation had almost no continuous assessment so a bit of cramming before exams was enough. He’s no less intelligent and equally good at exams but that doesn’t save him from the mountains of marked homework that counts towards exam results.

Midnighthour seems to have it spot on.

Essentially, its not that he doesnt want to work, (a degree is work, to some level, and he’s prepared forthat).

Whats odd, is that he doesnt appear to want what work brings – INCOME.

If he has no money, at 18, he can’t go down the pub with his mates. Has he even got any? You dont mention his going out – it sounds like he’s a loner. My nephew is now 23 and has never worked – he was not encouraged, and now has zero social skills. He just sits at home on a computer, getting larger and larger, without any mates or life outside the home. I think he is fantastically depressed, and has no life tools to move on.

Sounds a bit like your son to be honest.