[Anonymouse]

One very bad decision I made in 1985, based on inadequate information. To explain:

The year after I (thankfully) left sixth form college, thoroughly demoralised and shattered, I got an unsolicited offer from Sheffield Polytechnic for an HND IT course, covering everything I was interested in - hardware (right down to architecture level, i.e. actual chip design!), software, fibre optics, lasers, even holography. 3 years, or 4 with industrial placement. Sounded like a dream come true.

I didn't go for it. I talked it over with Mum, and she told me that while I was at college she got something - grant, benefit, I'm not sure - but because of what Dad was earning (which was never that much), she only got a fraction of it. We assumed it'd be the same on this course, and with living away as well, it sounded as if I couldn't afford it.

It wasn't until 1989 that I discovered that grants for HNDs were mandatory - I'd have got the full amount regardless, and a bit more for living away from home, if only it had occurred to me to ask the local education authority. At the end of the course I'd have had an HND at the exact time the industry was screaming for them, and I don't know where I'd be now, but I'm pretty sure I'd be a lot better off.