Status tax

The significant finding of the Virgin survey ("Students favour more tax to end fees and bring back grants", THES , July 26) is that more graduates are not securing meaningful long-term employment and hence a higher lifetime income. The assumption that higher education for the many leads to higher-status jobs for the many is not borne out by the evidence. A government that builds a moral consensus towards progressive redistribution of final incomes, regardless of graduate status, is likely to have more lasting financial and more progressive social impact than one fixated with taxing the graduate "status" of individuals.

Richard Brunner
London E3