‘Plumbers earn more than many graduates': do you think university is still worth it?

Telegraph

2 days ago

With A-level results released on Thursday, students in England, Northern Ireland and Wales will be considering their next step – whether it is pursuing higher education, entering the workforce or taking a gap year.
On Monday, Roger Bootle argued in The Telegraph that going to university in Britain is a scam. He wrote: 'For many young people, their life prospects would be brighter if they didn't go to university.'
His sentiment sparked a lively debate among readers.
In response, we asked whether you believe going to university is worthwhile today. Of more than 15,000 respondents, 72pc said no – citing the devaluation of degrees due to over-subscription, the growing importance of learning a trade and the rising influence of AI.
What is your view? Vote in our poll below, and read on for the best of the debate.
Apprenticeships are a common alternative to attending university, and an option respondents strongly supported.
Reader Christine McIntyre's son went to a grammar school, 'but decided at 14 that he was not going to university as he didn't want student debt and he wasn't interested in studying for a degree which likely would serve no useful purpose'.
Instead, he began an apprenticeship to become a cabinet maker – and 12 years later, after acquiring an understanding of specific aspects of the building trade, 'he has progressed to working for a company in London and is involved in negotiating high-end contracts for commercial premises'.
Highlighting the financial benefits of apprenticeships, Jim Stewart said: 'Young people who took trades from the late '90s onwards are financially outperforming their peers. Young people need mentors and apprenticeships, not brainwashing and meaningless qualifications.'
Meanwhile, Cheshire CG offered a word of warning with the advancement of AI: 'In the new world of artificial intelligence, I'd think very carefully about whether the subject you want to study at university is going to provide the jobs you expect on graduation. Many jobs in professional careers will be reduced significantly as AI takes further hold.'
Alongside AI's role in limiting available jobs, university qualifications no longer help job applicants stand out, according to Susan Jones. She said 'higher degrees [are] given out like candy'.
Achieving a first in a challenging subject, she said, 'used to invoke awe and respect and not many achieved it'.
'Now everyone who goes seems to get a top-class degree, whether they can string a sentence together or not.'
'University is just a three-year holiday'
Hu McG weighed in on student debt: 'For many of these 'graduates', they are not saddled with the debt, the taxpayers are.
'A large percentage of graduates never earn enough to have to pay back the funding they get. For them, university is just a three-year holiday at the taxpayer's expense.'
Brenda Harrison said: 'You can go into accountancy after A-levels and work on the job while you qualify.
'There was not a shortage in nursing until the last Labour government decided nurses needed a degree. Again, on-the-job training with opportunities for advancement to specialise is offered along the way,' she explained.
'Plumbers' earning potential is significantly higher than a lot of post-graduate jobs, as well as many other skilled trade work.
'There are a number of degrees not worth the paper they are written on,' she asserted.
Andrew Rowe, a former Russell Group lecturer, described how he 'got out 20 years ago when academia became an international 'pile 'em high' business more interested in activism than academic practice'.
Despite his feelings, his daughter 'will be going to university as you can be disadvantaged at any point in your career if you didn't participate in the scam', he said.
'She will graduate with costs of £100,000 while her same-aged apprentice tradesman boyfriend will probably have a similar amount in the bank by then.'
'Intangible benefits'
However, a minority of readers still championed university. They highlighted the independence it fosters and its role in helping young people shape their identities.
Reader Sue Tudor reflected on her experience at Oxford University, where she studied history and theology. She acknowledged that 'the effect on my marketability' was 'zero or less' – however, she said, 'the intangible benefits [were] huge'.
'How many people get to sit in the Bodleian Library reading, in Latin, a medieval book that is not even available in English? It is a rarefied pleasure.'
Alongside the potential for pleasure that studying can offer, another reader pointed out that 'living away from home is an important part of university'.
'For probably the first time, the student is responsible for managing virtually all of their life as an adult and prepares them for life away from their own town.'
Having worked for the Ministry of Defence and a major US corporate defence contractor for several years after college, reader Billy Rubin soon found his promotion path barred by a lack of a degree. He went to university because he 'had no other choice'.
Now working at a university himself, he explained how his graduates 'regularly enter the workplace above the point where I left it, despite having no work experience'.
He concluded: 'Unless young people get a trade, university is no longer optional. Raw intelligence, experience and ability is no longer enough. It hasn't been enough for 20 years or more.'