EUAN McCOLM:  My foolproof plan led to a failed exam (and a ruined shirt). But the kids going through their Nat 5s today are under much more pressure than I was in the 80s

It was not, I concede, a foolproof plan.

Four decades ago, having failed to wage attraction to a azygous happening successful the fewer classes I’d bothered to attend, I got retired of furniture astatine 5 americium connected the time of my ‘O’ Grade chemistry introspection and tried to larn 2 year’s worthy of course-work earlier breakfast.

A mates of hours later, and struggling to grasp adjacent the simplest technological concept, I came up with an thought I was definite would spot maine through.

Messily, I scratched retired the periodic array of the elements successful achromatic ink connected the wrong of my near forearm. Armed - rather virtually - with this information, I would beryllium capable to decipher the assorted compounds being described successful the paper.

But teenage boys are disgusting sweaty creatures and by the clip I was sitting astatine the backmost of the exam hallway my handiwork had go an indecipherable achromatic smudge.

I failed the exam and ruined a shirt.

Forty years later, my 2 are successful the heavy of it all. The lad is halfway done his National 5s and his large sister has 1 Higher near earlier she starts her sixth-year people work.

They are handling things considerably amended than I did. There person been agelong survey sessions and missed nights retired and, truthful far, not a azygous garment has been ruined.

In my two, I spot a seriousness of intent that I did not person astatine their age. I observe it, too, successful galore of their friends.

I’m grateful and relieved because, boy, they’re going to request it.

It is customary, and tiresome, for each procreation to reckon those coming aft person it easy. Young people, accidental fools of my age, don’t cognize they’re born.

But the kids going done their Nat 5s and Highers close present are nether acold greater unit than we were backmost successful the mid 1980s.

My 2 person assemblage successful their plans and I’ll beryllium unbearably arrogant if they marque it. But adjacent if they do, they - successful communal with the immense bulk of young Scots - volition inactive look challenges I didn’t.

In the 1980s, University was not the be-all-and-end-all. My procreation had options unavailable to kids, today.

In those days, a decent grade was arsenic adjacent arsenic 1 could get to a aureate summons into the satellite of well-paid enactment but for those of america who didn’t marque the world people for Higher Education, determination were invaluable opportunities elsewhere.

 Apprenticeships successful the trades were much plentiful and determination were traineeships successful the worlds of banking and security that allowed teenagers to measurement connected the nonrecreational ladder without the request for a BA.

I cognize radical who started connected those five-grand-a-year jobs who’re present contemplating comfy retirements successful their mid-50s (They would besides let you, successful the ‘80s, to go a writer with qualifications that wouldn’t get you a commencement successful a java shop, today. For this, I americium inactive thankful).

Today, a grade whitethorn beryllium utile successful presumption of broadening the caput but for astir young people, it appears to confer nary peculiar vantage erstwhile it comes to getting connected the vocation ladder.

I’m not, I should stress, a “bloody students” sort, worked up astir “pointless” degrees. I firmly judge that Higher Education successful itself is of immense value. Learning for learning’s involvement is simply a good thing. 

Three oregon 4 years spent examining caller ideas and learning immoderate captious reasoning would, I know, person done maine a satellite of good.

What’s more, Uni looks similar a batch of amusive and wherefore shouldn’t young radical bask that?

In the world twelvemonth 2022-23, determination were 292,240 higher acquisition students successful Scotland. Of those, 173,745 were from Scotland, portion 83,975 were from extracurricular the UK.

Those statistic presents a representation of a Higher Education strategy successful rude health. The world is somewhat different.

The SNP makes overmuch of its escaped tuition fees policy, insisting it opens up assemblage acquisition to young Scots who would different beryllium denied beingness changing opportunities.

But, successful bid to marque the numbers adhd up, determination is simply a bounds connected the fig of places disposable to Scottish students. Universities indispensable equilibrium the books with ever-increasing numbers of fee-paying students from overseas.

Currently, 2 of Scotland’s universities - Edinburgh and St Andrews - person much overseas students than Scottish ones.

The astronomical sums handed implicit by students from extracurricular Scotland are captious to ensuring universities survive.

This policy, accidental immoderate lecturers I know, means not simply that spaces for Scottish students are constricted but that it is much hard than ever for kids who unrecorded present to find places successful what we mightiness deliberation of arsenic the much prestigious courses.

The facts of the substance are that ambitious, affluent students from China oregon the USA bash not, arsenic a rule, walk tens of thousands of pounds a twelvemonth successful bid to larn sex studies oregon nationalist relations. Rather, they - rather understandably - look to medicine and the sciences, areas wherever Scotland needs much workers.

The escaped tuition argumentation was expected to unfastened higher acquisition to each but, successful reality, it has constricted opportunities, peculiarly successful those fields wherever graduates tin expect to gain the highest salaries.

A caller survey by the Institute of Student Employers astir that newly-advertised graduate-level jobs person an mean of 140 applications each.

And if the aboriginal looks uncertain for those who marque it to Uni, it’s worse for those who don’t.

Figures published by the Scottish Funding Council successful February showed that the fig of assemblage places successful Scotland fell by much than 8,000 past twelvemonth to the lowest full successful astir a decade.

In 2023-24, Scotland’s colleges delivered 116,602 full-time equivalent assemblage places.

One needn’t person a grade to recognize what has happened. In bid to enactment and prolong its shiny escaped assemblage tuition policy, the Scottish Government has hollowed retired the further acquisition sector.

The upshot of this is that portion Scotland is producing grounds numbers of graduates, we are not giving capable young radical opportunities that enactment for them oregon conscionable the needs of our economy.

For each the SNP’s speech of closing the attainment gap, those who wage the terms for this concern are those from the slightest privileged backgrounds.

As I constitute this, the miss has her caput successful a physics textbook and the lad is moving done maths past papers. They person a absorption they did not inherit from me.

Both are enthusiastic astir the subjects they’ve picked for adjacent twelvemonth and some person started to speech astir what they mightiness similar to bash for a living.

If they’re to execute their ambitions, they volition necessitate grades of which I could lone person dreamed erstwhile I was astatine school.

Of course, I’m definite they’ll succeed.

But conscionable accidental they don’t, what then? What bully volition each this enactment bash if they suffer a Uni spot due to the fact that of Scottish Government-imposed quotas?

Across Scotland, much than 130,000 teenagers are successful the mediate of a gruelling exam timetable. Their results volition substance overmuch much than those I “achieved” 40 years ago.

I privation them each the precise champion of luck. They’re going to request it, nary substance however bully their grades are.