The chief executive of a higher education thinktank has claimed that the UK's apprenticeship schemes are oversubscribed and warned university spending cuts could have a detrimental impact on the jobs market.
Pam Tatlow from million + suggested that impending reductions to government expenditure may result in Britain falling further behind other developed countries in terms of producing highly-qualified graduates.
"There were five times more applications to apprenticeship places than there were available this year," she explained. "It would be much better to have people studying at the universities than having them unemployed."
Ms Tatlow urged the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition to rethink its strategy on university funding and stressed that degrees remain highly sought-after by employers and can lend a crucial advantage in finding work.
Earlier this week, a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development found that more than 60 per cent of British university education is funded by private sector sources.