Consultants so good

Pupils in England are required to remain in some form of education until they are 18. For the vast majority this will entail A-levels after GCSEs with the view to embarking on a university degree. Last year, over 50% of young adults continued to university education in September. However, lectures and coursework are not the only means to an education, and although this is certainly not suited to everyone irrespective of their intelligence, it is the default route we are herded towards as teenagers. Should so many of us be attending university, and what other avenues are available to the 50% who are left behind? Should pupils be driven towards university as the ultimate goal?

The intrinsic link between failure and success: it is human nature that we find failure difficult to talk or even think about – you don’t want to look it in the eye or linger. It is all too easy in the age of social media to believe our peers are thriving and achieving goal after goal behind the screen as well as on Instagram, when obviously this is not the reality. Success is a case of trial and error: encountering failures but choosing to learn from them. This entails some often uncomfortable self-analysis, but is also an immeasurably valuable learning opportunity if we choose to alter our mindset.