Just to put things in perspective, the following link provides a brief summary of tuition fees and grants for university courses in the U.K.

Grants, loans and tuition fees: a timeline of how university funding has evolved - Telegraph


When I was young, I opted out of university because I couldn't wait to have some cash in my pocket in order to start globetrotting as soon as possible.

My thoughts on grants at that time were that why should the government subsidise higher education with taxpayers money ( mine included ) when in the end, the beneficiares would get better jobs and a better salary than others. This would seem to justify any investment of their own that they put into their own education without the need for using the public purse.

However, nowadays it seems that a university education can cost upto 36,000 pounds which IMO will put it beyond the means of children from low income families.
University tuition costs to hit £36,000 - Telegraph

Whereas I still think university fees should be charged and that people should be required to contribute to their own higher education , aren't things getting a little out of hand ? Wouldn't a 10,000 pound fee ( or thereabouts ) be more reasonable
since it would still be a worthwhile contribution without scaring off a lot of homegrown talent ?