Students 'shun degree courses'

The days of the traditional university degree are numbered, according to the leader of the country's secondary school headteachers.

Mike Griffiths, president of the Association of School and College Leaders, told a conference in London yesterday that students would be turning their backs on the 30-weeks-a-year three-year degree courses as a result of rising tuition fees.

"People at my school are already questioning the value of going to university," he said. Instead, he said they were looking at options such as the Open University, where students can also take on a full-time job.