It felt like a make-or-break moment for millions of 18-year-olds last week, as they collected grades that determined whether or not they had obtained a university place. Over the next few weeks, thousands will be shuffled through the clearing process, matching up students without a place to universities with slots to spare.

For the students going through it, the process feels as if it will determine the course of their whole careers. The truth is rather different. Based on current data, only half of them will be in professional jobs in three or four years’ time.

This is a national scandal. The amount of money ploughed into universities has soared over the last decade. Yet businesses across the…