Certified losers

Vice-chancellors anxious to avoid the fines for high dropout rates threatened in the white paper might consider an idea from the head of the New York city school district. Carlos Lopez said that every potential dropout should be given an "undiploma" informing students about what they stand to lose by not finishing their education. It would state that the recipient had decided to drop out with the full understanding that he or she may lose up to £260,000 in earnings during his or her lifetime by working in low-paid jobs or being unemployed.