Tough decisions must be taken on the future of university education in Scotland

Whatever you might say, It is hard to believe that adding a large debt to somebody’s start in adult life - however benign the repayment terms - is anything other than a deterrent to that educational journey.

Unfortunately, however, this policy comes at a cost which, unless it is compensated for by Government - difficult in a time of austerity - puts our universities at a disadvantage relative to those in other countries. Scotland’s universities have historically punched well above our nation’s weight .

Our Universities carry out world class research which attracts both funding and world class talent . Added to this they contribute directly to the economy , providing jobs and generating wealth. In many ways universities are the new " factories " of the knowledge based economy.

It is absolutely vital that we enhance rather than diminish the capabilities of our universities relative to their competitors elsewhere. I therefore have 2 difficult questions.

First, Why do we direct so many of our students into University education when it may not be the best thing for them? Is more students always better?

Higher education is no longer a semi-automatic route to a decently paid job, many young people would be better served by going straight into work or an apprenticeship and yet there is relentless pressure in many school to maximise the proportion of their leavers who go to “good” universities.

Private schools are often the worst at this, engaging in a vanity competition to show off the grades their students get and shove them into university.

This culture needs to change - parents should wake up and realise that employability - the ability to speak and write English to a good standard, how you present yourself, common sense, being interested in other people and tenacity when the going gets tough counts for far more than an A grade. As a nation perhaps fewer of us should go to university.

Second, Why do we treat our school leavers as though they are lazy and more stupid than the English? When I was at university many years ago I had lectures on a Monday and Tuesday, a day off on Wednesday, lectures on Thursday and another day off on Friday.

The out of lecture work I had to do could easily be crammed into the three lecture days. Well guess what - little has changed! The work intensity in the early years at university is , in some subjects - social sciences possibly the worst offenders - just laughably lax. The taxpayer is not being fairly treated.

As regards the comparison with the English, why does it generally take four years to do an honours social science or arts degree at a Scottish university and three at an English one? The answer we tend to be given is that of course Scottish students stay at school for a year less than English ones so that overall, the total time to work towards a degree is the same. Very convenient - and not true. Most Scottish students now stay at school for the same length of time as their counterparts do in England. Scotland needs to decide, do students leave school at 17 and do 4 years at university to obtain an honours degree or leave at 18 and do three years at university as in England?

If we want to keep free university education for our students without imposing an excessive burden on the taxpayer or damaging our universities standing, we are going to have to fight for it. Misdirecting young people towards university, not making our mind up about how many years we do at school and university and then having long holidays and loose timetables is not sustainable. Realism is required and someday soon our politicians need to grasp this unpleasant nettle.

Pinstripe is a senior member of Scotland's financial services community.