The growth of financial incentives, lower entry requirements, unconditional offers and spurious advertising (Don’t mislead to attract students, says regulator, 19 December) is further evidence of a marketised higher education system that is not properly serving the interests of students nor the country as a whole.

The product of this approach is the large proportion of university leavers going into jobs that don’t require a degree, one of the highest rates in Europe, while at the same time the UK has a growing skills shortage, including at graduate level. Some form of planning of courses and student numbers will be necessary if higher education is to do right by students and significantly improve its contribution to meeting the nation’s skill needs.

Chris Pratt

Author, Building a Learning Nation

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