Around this time of year, thousands of people are experiencing what life is like at university. For a large number of students, this is their first taste of what life is like away from the cushion of their parents. They have to deal with financial problems, finding a job, and generally looking after themselves, whilst still studying full-time for a degree. 

This might seem like a living hell to someone who spends their life being looked after and provided for by their parents, and not having to worry about such a high level of pressure in terms of studying. 

However, I have heard it said that, whilst at university, a person has the highest ratio of freedom of responsibility. This means that, while a student does have to deal with all of the headaches I have mentioned above, the responsibility resting on their shoulders is not a great as when they are in the world of work, trying to provide for a family. 

The flip side of this is that university students also have much more freedom compared to when they were younger. They are able to drive, get married and generally are able to do pretty much whatever they want, whenever they want to. 

At this point in the article, you may be wondering why I started by talking about issues arising surrounding universities, due to all of the benefits of being a student there. 

In London, we are very fortunate to have an exceptionally high-quality set of schools, meaning our student have a good chance of getting into the country’s leading higher-education establishments. Indeed, many studies have shown that Oxbridge, in particular, seems to favour accepting students from wealthy, South-Eastern families who have often attended expensive public schools.

This raises the issue of equality. If the country’s top universities only accept a small demographic to study at their institutions, then a large proportion of the country is being excluded. In fact, “Richmond sent 8 times as many students to Oxford as Salford, Middlesborough, Hartlepool, Blackpool and Stoke combined” according to politician David Lammy, who is in favour of Oxbridge accepting students from a wider variety of areas of the UK.

But it is not just those students from less affluent areas who are being turned away who are suffering: with a lack of diversity at universities, the all-round education which they all advertise is less enriching. Everyone benefits from a change in perspective, and this cannot be achieved if no one is in a position to offer an alternative perspective.

Also around this time of year, the deadlines for Upper Sixth students’ UCAS forms are looming. Hopefully this year, universities will look at the content of what is inside the application letters, rather than which postcode they are sent from.