Choosing a university

The logic behind choosing to charge high fees is that, for the new universities to grow in status, they have to compete for the better students. So charging lower fees would bring in poorer quality students (forgetting that the better ones are trying ever so hard to avoid the newer universities) - its like league tables in schools - nowadays the notion of providing good education opportunities has been superceded by various performance criteria.

What is happening to the new universities is they pick up a lot of wayward students - parents with the money who just want to park playboy son in three extra years of education before dealing with finding work. That's tough on disabled students who may get better pastoral care in the newer or smaller institutions. Which instead are blighted by too many indolent and rowdy rich kids. It is tough at the moment in newer universities ensuring the bright ones get a chance up against a majority of time wasters.

You don't say whether you are sticking to just Wales or buying into English universities with the favourable no fee position, as also happens in Scotland. The Welsh Universities are generally a bit better pastorally, barring something of a reputation acquired by Aberystwyth in the 60s and 70s (or is that now unfair?).

I tend to be more reserved nowadays about whether university is necessarily the answer, but the present government has reduced the options, scrapping 14-19 diploma as an alternative to GCSE/A Level, not that it had really progressed much, and pulling the rug out from under Foundation Degrees, both things I worked hard to see bear fruit.

University still teaches how to write a good essay - rather less effective at how to write a practical report, or address real world situations rather than theory. They try, but the outcome isn't very career relevant in a lot of instances.

The value of university for students on the autistic spectrum is that it is more liberating, less peer pressure, and more chance to focus interests. But you've still got the problem of finding work afterwards. So often students on the spectrum blossom in three years at university, then hit the work wall at high velocity, and losing all the acquired confidence.

Maybe by the time your son graduates we will have been able to change the way people on the spectrum are treated in the workplace. Maybe things will get better.

The other issue is whether you see your son back in Wales after graduating. A similar perspective affects rural Scotland. If a tough farming life is the usual prospect, it can be ever so hard coming back with a degree and widened expectations. OK so there are Welsh cities with industries and wider opportunities.

Would agricultural college with a specialisation in tourism or conservation lead to an outcome where he could stay in Wales, enjoy the countryside, and find an employment opportunity that makes that feasible?

But I would suggest trying for a Russell Group if it has the right subject content and good disability support, as the value added by their expertise might enhance the job options after. If the Welsh parliament is paying the fees go for the best.

The logic behind choosing to charge high fees is that, for the new universities to grow in status, they have to compete for the better students. So charging lower fees would bring in poorer quality students (forgetting that the better ones are trying ever so hard to avoid the newer universities) - its like league tables in schools - nowadays the notion of providing good education opportunities has been superceded by various performance criteria.

What is happening to the new universities is they pick up a lot of wayward students - parents with the money who just want to park playboy son in three extra years of education before dealing with finding work. That's tough on disabled students who may get better pastoral care in the newer or smaller institutions. Which instead are blighted by too many indolent and rowdy rich kids. It is tough at the moment in newer universities ensuring the bright ones get a chance up against a majority of time wasters.

You don't say whether you are sticking to just Wales or buying into English universities with the favourable no fee position, as also happens in Scotland. The Welsh Universities are generally a bit better pastorally, barring something of a reputation acquired by Aberystwyth in the 60s and 70s (or is that now unfair?).

I tend to be more reserved nowadays about whether university is necessarily the answer, but the present government has reduced the options, scrapping 14-19 diploma as an alternative to GCSE/A Level, not that it had really progressed much, and pulling the rug out from under Foundation Degrees, both things I worked hard to see bear fruit.

University still teaches how to write a good essay - rather less effective at how to write a practical report, or address real world situations rather than theory. They try, but the outcome isn't very career relevant in a lot of instances.

The value of university for students on the autistic spectrum is that it is more liberating, less peer pressure, and more chance to focus interests. But you've still got the problem of finding work afterwards. So often students on the spectrum blossom in three years at university, then hit the work wall at high velocity, and losing all the acquired confidence.

Maybe by the time your son graduates we will have been able to change the way people on the spectrum are treated in the workplace. Maybe things will get better.

The other issue is whether you see your son back in Wales after graduating. A similar perspective affects rural Scotland. If a tough farming life is the usual prospect, it can be ever so hard coming back with a degree and widened expectations. OK so there are Welsh cities with industries and wider opportunities.

Would agricultural college with a specialisation in tourism or conservation lead to an outcome where he could stay in Wales, enjoy the countryside, and find an employment opportunity that makes that feasible?

But I would suggest trying for a Russell Group if it has the right subject content and good disability support, as the value added by their expertise might enhance the job options after. If the Welsh parliament is paying the fees go for the best.