Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, made the comments ahead of A-Level results day, amid ongoing debate about the value and direction of higher education. Ms Stern said students might be deterred from pursuing university if "all you can hear is people talking it down." Jo Saxton, head of UCAS, said technical education should not come "at the expense of higher education." She said: "I find kicking higher education incredibly frustrating. “This is about having high standards across the piece, high aspirations, high expectations.”