True Maggie, most of the current cost of further education goes on accommodation and basic living costs. You raise some good points and as I always maintain not everyone should go to university.
A year or so of work would be a good thing, I even think some kind of national service would be good (not necessarily military) to engage all people with society. However I'm sure this would just reinforce the status quo of rich people getting better work placements in this period, ultimately making them more appealing to universities. Determinism strikes again.
The bottom line is cost and we can say goodbye to many professionals and innovators under this new policy.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/only-a-quarter-of-all-graduates-will-pay-off-loans-2158168.html