Getting high: university is about learning to think

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A-Level students will be on tenterhooks this week. By this Thursday, the agitation will reach fever pitch as their grades are revealed. Students in higher education appear to be feeling the pressure. The number who have disclosed a mental health condition to their university has increased since 2010, according to the House of Commons. It was over 5% in 2020/21.

Results season often ushers in a questioning of whether university is the correct option for so many young people in Britain. This year, the argument feels more pronounced. While the economy appears to be turning a corner, the cost-of-living crisis is still keenly felt around the country. The Student Loans Company reckons that graduates in England leave university with an average debt of £44,940 (a BBC expose has shown burdens as high as £110,000). It’s little wonder that students stressed.

Yet the merits of higher education are myriad. Universities are where young people go to learn how to think. It’s where people pick up the ability to discern a good idea from a bad one. Skills of interrogation, criticism and expression are vital for a society that wants to push forward. Lecture halls and libraries are where many first discover that the world is nuanced, layered and hard to understand. In a world of outrage and binary debates, that becomes more vital than ever. The government and academic institutions need to come together to ease the financial burden on students. Dropping out is rarely the right course of action.