In the recent budget, announced by The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, it has been stated that a one off £270 million modernisation fund will be made available to universities this year, as a method of taking pressures off of higher education places after an increased rise in demand for courses. It is said that the extra places will include 10,000 full-time degrees, 5,000 part-time courses, and 5,000 places on two-year ‘foundation degrees’. I could understand how this would benefit those that it would apply to, as the additional places will be aimed at undergraduates doing courses to do with science, technology, engineering and maths, but how will the other thousands of teenagers who aren’t interested in these areas be affected by the budget?

Politics is a topic amongst teenagers that will lead to interesting conversation and encourage debate amongst one another, for some. For others, it’s a boring subject that does not concern them, so therefore they pay no attention to it. I often hear people saying that they will not vote in the upcoming General Election in May, but when it is something that is so important to the running of our country, how could you not want to be involved?

As a Politics student myself, I am able to have some knowledge regarding the political system in the UK, but again, what about everybody else? It has already been noted that students and today’s teenagers are expected to pick up the pieces to the economic crisis, which the country slipped into in 2008 - why is it then if we are going to be the ones largely affected by the depression, that we are the ones who are not interested in how the country is going to be governed?

University is a daunting but exciting adventure that most teenagers who wish to perceive a higher education embrace. Therefore, a one off payment will motivate students wishing to study in areas regarding the maths and sciences, but what happens after that? If the Government wishes for a greater percentage in political participation, surely they should stick to something that is unlikely to be perceived as something to boost their election support?