The compulsory education section of the system could replace the current education system as the main infrastructure is the same. The alternative system does not change any major parts of the current system for ages 16-18. The alternative system will be inclusive allowing individuals to choose which path they take after their exams (Lasonen, 1996). They can choose which form of educational training they would like to take whether that is an apprenticeship or A levels. This is the same as the current education system, therefore, it could replace it. The system will also keep the school leaving age the same as Tieben and Wolbers (2010) argue that students who leave school early usually are of a lower socioeconomic class. This system would mitigate this by opening all options to everyone and therefore could replace the current education system. The major thing that this system will alter is opening all options to everyone, regardless of previous qualification. The purpose of qualification in this system is for employers. The education system relies on accountability and minimum entry requirements and so there is no evidence that this system will work. Therefore, the compulsory education section of the alternative system may not be able to replace the current education system.  

The ideas behind individualising the tertiary education sector seem ideal however, in reality, there are simply not the resources to make it possible. The current system individualises by allowing students to choose the university which best suits them and most universities allow for modules to be chosen. This alternative takes individualism to an impractical level when students can choose to attend physically or electronically which makes having institutions senseless. However, this does allow consideration as to whether institutions still make sense to have and continue using when technology has advanced to a level where they are not necessary. Quaye and Harper (2014) argued that student engagement was higher online which undermines having an institution to attend. If there really is not any need to attend a physical lecture, then this alternative system could replace the current education system but without the option to attend university physically.  

Entering university education in the current system is expensive; this alternative does not have tuition fees and living costs will have to be covered by the student either with or without a maintenance loan, this would mean that if an individual does wish to attend university the option is there.  Having university being entirely free is unrealistic as institutions are expensive to maintain (Neill 2009). Student uptake in university is increasing rapidly with more than 76% of individuals embarking on undergraduate study in the United Kingdom in 2018 having to fund this would be unrealistic (HESA 2019). The alternative system does not require grades to attend so this would only add to financial pressure as anyone could attend.  

The main change to the tertiary section of the alternative system is that no grades will be required to attend university. The reason for this is to create an inclusive tertiary education system that does not exclude those with special educational needs (Wang 2009). Special educational needs students often receive less attention which often leads to lower grades making them ineligible for university in the current university system (Wang 2009). This alternative system aims to overcome that by having no minimum entry grades. However, university will be four years along and the first year will be learning how to learn. This would be to bridge the gap between students with higher grades and those with lower grades so that everyone is at the same starting point. “Considering the positive impact of inclusion, inclusion appears to be an educational system worth striving for” (Wang 2009 p.159). However, although this is a positive idea it is not practical for the current education system as it would cost a lot of money for this to be implanted.  

The tertiary section of the alternative system could not replace the current education system because the resources that would be required are simply not available. Removing minimum grade requirements means that the job of universities would become more demanding as they have to ensure that they cater for abilities. This would also cause problems because at current there are jobs for every level of qualification, if everyone had a degree the degree becomes worthless.