Yesterday's Sunday Times had a very good piece on the thorny issue of university entrants - do we send too many students to universities?

It's well worth reading. But I do think there's another factor now which slightly weakens the argument of those - such as myself - who would once have argued that too many students went to university. In a day when fees and living expenses were paid by the taxpayer, there was every reason to question if it was a sensible use of tax money to fund degree courses in knitting or beer making, or to fund the knitting or beer drinking habits of the students who went on them.

But things are different now. Yes, student loans are on preferential terms. But students today do have to live - financially - with the consequences of their actions. Their time at university is not a three year party at some one else's expense. So whilst it is perfectly sensible to point out to potential students themselves that they might not be best suited to going to university, the public policy case is less important. The market decides. If people want to pay for a three year course in whatever, then fine. It's their time, it's their money, and it's the university's profit. So let them get on with it. Or not.