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The time for nail-biting is nearly over for parents – as well as for the young people who sat exams this year. I remember well from my own teenage years the worries, the expectations and then the big question: what next?
Many families will be weighing up whether to encourage their children to go to university. It's a tough personal decision, but for those with the qualifications there can be few better starts in life. The argument for staying in education has never been stronger.
I believe that education makes us what we are. I was lucky enough to go from my comprehensive school in Enfield to a place at university. There, I did not just get an insight into the history of politics, philosophy and economics – I also got my first break in politics when I was elected President of the National Union of Students in 1990.
Every year thousands of freshers are also given their break at university. They find unrivalled sports and arts facilities and make friendships likely to last a lifetime. It's fair to say that they also get a fast-track introduction to skills commonly attributed to the university of life, such as independence and financial management.
I do know that some families may be put off by debt or the fear of debt, which is why we are reviewing student funding and will put out new proposals for this in the autumn. Even so, it's important to remember that time in university or college is a sound investment with an exceptional return.
Graduates are likely to earn 35 per cent above the average salary – that's a substantial sum over a lifetime. Eight out of 10 new jobs over the next decade will require the sort of skills that a higher education can bring. It's just one reason why we are pressing to open up the opportunity to go on to university to at least 50 per cent of young people by 2010. The UK's strong economy needs that influx of skilled young people to maintain its competitive edge.
Reaching the 50 per cent target will be an important signal that Britain has finally been able to shrug off the old snobbishness surrounding universities. Today, those who are well off are still five times more likely to go to university than those from a low-income family. That's just not acceptable, which is why we are working with universities up and down the country to help young people be the first in their family to aim higher and go to university.
The exam standards needed to get into university remain challenging – talk of a "dumbing down" of standards is nonsense.
What is new is the flexibility in the ways to take a degree. Alongside the traditional three-year full-time degree, there are now opportunities to study part-time, take a vocational course or apply for a foundation degree with on-the-job study.
Too often pupils are told that university is just not "right" for them, but with more paths into higher education that's not an argument that stacks up. Everyone should aim high. Benjamin Disraeli once called university a place of "light, liberty and learning". I agree, but I believe it's a place that should be open to the many and not the few.
The writer is minister for young people and learning. He read PPE at Balliol College, Oxford
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