Most students today have to pay tuition fees and borrow money against their maintenance. For the majority of students grants are a thing of the past and it is no suprise that the middle-income dominance of the university intake has continued under Labour. With Blair now mooting top-up fees as well, even potential students from middle-income backgrounds are having second thoughts.

Vocational/FE education at post-18 and Higher Education need to be addressed a whole. At the moment the state rewards academically able people by funding most of the real fee for those who go to university, plus a loan at a very preferential interest rate which is paid back only if you go over a threshold.

However, even this system has problems for those who go to university:

1) Tuition fees make students dependent on their parents, when they should be independent at 18. Like the old parental contribution to grants, parents can and do decide not to pay.

2) Maintenance loans (UK) and deferred tuition fees (Scotland) penalise students for going to university. Students already give up 3 years (or more in the case of postgraduates) of work and "in-job" experience. There is no guarantee that the student will want prioritise having a well paid job (they may choose a lower paid but professionally more rewarding career), or even get a well paid job after graduation.

3) The system leads to a "them and us" attitude to funding post-18 education. Those not academically able or who do not wish to go to university, still have to fund the system whilst not benefitting from the same level of assistance with their more vocational skills training needs throughout their lives.

The solution is for each citizen to have access to a "learning credit". This would be equivalent to the fees and maintenance for 2-3 years at university. To keep the costs down, the learning credit might fund 2 years at university with the student taking a loan (with repayment depending on salary in later life) to fund the final year. Those with the grades who want to go to university could cash the learning credit in at any time during their life. Those with other skills needs could use the credit against apprenticeship training and vocational courses, again at any time during their lives. If someone reached retirement without using their learning credit, they could receive a lump sum from the state or an improved pension.

This would seem to be the truly egalitarian solution. Everyone would have the opportunity to equip themselves for their chosen career or changes in skills requirements during their life, regardless of academic or professional aptitude, background or their parents' or their own incomes. And everyone contributes towards the scheme through general taxation (income tax would be the fairest way to fund the scheme).