A-Level Results: Is University Worth the Debt?

Students across England, Wales and N.Ireland are receiving their A-level results today. Many occupations still require a degree, but the Student Loans Company says graduates in England leave university with average debts of £44,940. Is university worth it in 2024?

Onyinye Udokporo says going to uni is 'an investment in oneself as opposed to debt.' but Holly Hobbs, who is a Director of an apprenticeship agency, says she gained a network to start a business that she may have not have got had she gone to university.

Broadcast on 15/08/24

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[milo]

9k a semester for someone to read off a PowerPoint presentation. Biggest scam ever. Huge regret

[bigred]

University should be free, but far, far fewer people should be going, and there should be fewer universities offering fewer degrees. Blair's idea of getting the entire country to go to uni has made degrees worthless.

[TheDragonaf]

Can this guy shut up and let the guest speak??

[JupiterThunder]

I graduated in the 80s. No fees and had a maintenance grant. So no debt. Looking back over my life, I can say it would not have been worth £70k of debt.

[mattjones]

Concerning the poll. If roughly 40% of people are earning a degree but only half of them are getting "graduate jobs", then only 20% of people are likely to see university debt as being worth it.

[jantutor]

There's no one-size fits all. One problem is that apprenticeships are seen as second-class, whereas, as this guest explains they are a great alternative. That said, university is about so much more than academic learning as the other guest alluded to. What this country needs is an overhaul of the post-18 education system so that young people can take full advantage of the options that will allow them to have great careers, minimal debt and happy healthy futures.

[craigrothwell]

Ask lawyers and other professional people, Not someone with a made up degree.

[GodfreyMann]

Try becoming a doctor, lawyer, dentist, engineer without a degree…it depends on the career. If the career doesn’t require a degree then it comes down to one’s ambition rather than need.

For instance, a degree is unnecessary for photography unless you want to work for the kinds of employers who will value a BA in Photography such as publishers, archives, academia, etc.

[parker-iifg]

Maybe they could axe all these Mickey mouse degrees for a start.

[mimib]

I’m not sure if there’s any right or wrong with this. My 20 year old son passed his A Levels but was adamant that he didn’t want to go to uni and wanted to take his chances in the workplace. We were disappointed to be honest but he’s proved himself right, has started a career in the Civil Service and saved every penny for his car.

[eoinn]

He is so rude! Interrupting that poor girl non-stop and grilling her for being in favor of universities..

[OUTBOUND]

As a wise man once said, they're just nightclubs that issue degrees. 90% of people at uni shouldn't be there.

[mjl]

So one guest is in £100k debt and convinced herself that it was an investment with two degrees that I have no idea what she studied and how she will make more money than the debt 🙈
If you are going to get someone to argue for university being worth the debt get someone working in law, finance, medicine, cybersecurity, engineering etc not a professional student 😅

[ianogden]

I a none graduate cannot understand why a student/ graduate fails to realise that until they earn a higher wage than the threshold of having to pay back, they are not in debt. Does intelligence not apply to them?

[julianglandfield]

I didn't go to university. I have two colleagues I work with who both have degrees and uni debt, doing the same job as me. I think that answers the question.

[latitudepost]

The generation entering university over the last 13 years are being royally taken to the cleaners. It is not fair on this generation. People forget that before 1998 going to university used to be free and one also got a grant to boot. Bring back those days. Why should this generation get a raw deal?

[robertowen]

Just don’t do either and chill out on a beach

[eberechukwuougo]

The problem is apprenticeship scheme opportunities are still very limited especially the degree pathways. Some courses are not "lucrative" enough for apprenticeship admissions, so students are left with the option of taking up full time uni routes instead!!! Either way, staying focussed, planning and understanding what you want to do is the key!

[maxfactor]

Apprenticeships are valuable and have their place; however, this country also needs scientists to push the boundaries of science, research, and development. This is what maintains our global scientific and economic position.

[Slice]

If you’re going for a ten a penny degree then no it’s definitely not worth the debt.