College or not

[Paul J Need]

Education is certainly the hot topic in the blue room of late. So, just curious to what people think about attending college or not.

[gareth]

Is this poll aimed mainly at young people who are on the brink of leaving school and having to make the decision? Or are we all allowed to chip in our hypothetical opinions?

[Andrew C]

Education is certainly the hot topic in the blue room of late.  So, just curious to what people think about attending college or not.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I ticked (3) on the premis that you meant "Earn". :)

[SparkySteve]

option 1 for me

[Stu]

I went for 1 too - I'm intensly proud of what I've done in the last 2 and a half years of working professionally and where I have got to today. I wouldn't have it any other way and do, wherever possible, try and recommend it as a route to others.

 

The fact I have earnt about £30-35k in this time instead of having a £15k debt also makes my mind very made up.

 

Stu

[paulears]

Spoke to someone yesterday who got a job, so started to pay off his loan. Then moved to a better, but worse paid job - and discovered that once you start repayments, you HAVE to continue, even if you then can't afford it. I wonder how many people know this?

[djw1981]

You do not have to pay if your income is below £11k (ie just over the amount you get for working full time on minimum wage which is currently £10088 for 40hr week). Above this, it is 11% of income so if you earn 11k you get hit by roughly 11% Loan. 11% NI and 10% Tax on everything over the tax allowance - currently £4800. So you lose 32% of £6200 or nearly £2k. So all in all for a minimum wage job your take home could be as low as £9k or £173 a week.

 

In Scotland, for scottish students, they don't pay back until earning, I think £20k.

[Rob]

I think it all depends on what you put into the college experience.

 

Those people who have the 'nouse' will have been getting out into the industry throughout college and will have combined the experiences to get the most out of the three years. Those people who have sat on their asses won't have the contacts and on-the-job experience. That said, the people who went straight into the industry wont have had a lot of the learning opportunities that the graduates will have had.

[w/robe]

Despite having been to college myself and now lecturing I have not voted as it depends on so may factors of the individual, not least;

 

What do you want to do when you graduate?

in 10 years?

by the time you are 45?

[Simon Lewis]

No offence meant, but the question is flawed....

 

University does not simply teach skills (which seems to be the tenor of the question), but then again, I'd suggest that the school of hard knocks cannot work fully without some amount of theory and understanding of "how it works".

 

The overall field of training and education is more complex than "is one better than the other". Both have their place, and for many people it means partaking of both.

 

I'd love to discuss further, but DIY kitchen flatpacks are calling gently from afar....

[Paul J Need]

No offence meant, but the question is flawed....

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I know Simon, well aware of the fact. I guess it was kneejerk reaction to the round of interviews I conducted recently. Obviously the graduates of any worth didn't apply for the role. Instead........ the ones who did found it difficult to convince me they had just spent 3 years at college! ;)

 

We actually employed a non-graduate in the end, someone with bags of common sense rather than peices of paper.

 

:)

[deputy dog]

You do not have to pay if your income is below £11k (ie just over the amount you get for working full time on minimum wage which is currently £10088 for 40hr week).  Above this, it is 11% of income so if you earn 11k you get hit by roughly 11% Loan. 11% NI and 10% Tax on everything over the tax allowance - currently £4800. So you lose 32% of £6200 or nearly £2k. So all in all for a minimum wage job your take home could be as low as £9k or £173 a week.

 

In Scotland, for scottish students, they don't pay back until earning, I think £20k.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

In Ireland you have to start paying your loan back almost as soon as you leave collage weather your working or not. Which is why most people here don't get one in the first place.

[bright spark]

Certainly everyone I know who has done the 'Technical Theatre' course has said they have learnt nothing.

 

Usually theres dossers within the group who do the course as a 2 year doss from work, and as a subsequent of which have no respect for the industry, the equipment or for eachother.

 

On the other hand theres people I know who have done the Technical Theatre and with industry expereince (something done on days off or at weekends) are good engineers.

 

I know a guy at the moment who is doing a technical theatre course, and does work experience for a local company on days off, and he reckoned he learnt more doing that than he is at college.

 

On the provision that somone can sit down with you and talk theory, then 3 years in the industry will get you far.