Uni: is it your natural right to go?

I wasn't brought up in a family blessed with a long academic tradition.

Circumstance and environment limited the opportunities available to my grandparents.

My dad was the first family member to enter uni. My mum - training to be a midwife - had no need.

What's interesting is that university - like getting that first kiss or learning to drive - seemed to me like a natural rite of passage. Part of growing up. I didn't contemplate not going, it simply wasn't an option not to.

The latest results from the massive student study Futuretrack reflect this.

Apparently, students with parents who attended higher education see university as their right.

57% of these so-called 'traditional students' claim that uni is the "normal thing for someone like me".

Yet compare that with the 'non-traditionals' - people who are the first in their family to enter uni - and you'll find that only 27% have this attitude.

If these students don't see uni as their 'natural' right, do they have a better attitude towards it?

According to the report they certainly see higher education as a life-changing, career motivated move, rather than just part of growing up.

So does that mean that traditional students don't take university as seriously?

Although I saw uni as part of my natural path, it didn't mean I was complacent about the experience.

What's interesting is that university - like getting that first kiss or learning to drive - seemed to me like a natural rite of passage...

Dafydd Singleton

For me, going to uni was an honour. I didn't take the task lightly and applied myself academically.

However, it's fair to say that I didn't know what I wanted to do when I actually finished my course.

I couldn't be bothered thinking about it. In truth, I was blindly confident in my degree and its magical power to get me a job.

But I was a product of the 'old school' system. I didn't have to pay fees and I got a non-repayable grant.

Futuretrack shows that drifters like me don't exist any more: only 3% say they don't have a clue about possible careers after uni.

I wonder if that's because students - like you - now have to pay for your education.

There's been a shift from passive consumer to active customer.

You're savvier. You've invested in this experience and you expect to get a job at the end of it. If you don't, you won't be happy.

And that's the difference. If I'd underachieved as student and failed to get a job on graduation, the responsibility would've rested squarely on my shoulders.

But if the same happened to you - the modern, paying, educational customer - who would you blame?