As A-Level students prepare to open their results, it’s time to ask once again: is university even worth it anymore? We put two experts head to head in this week’s Debate

YES: A degree is the surest route to success, as it keeps so many options open

Yes. If you want to be a pharmacist, teacher, nurse, architect, doctor, engineer or top civil servant, you usually need a degree. Rightly so, because few of us would want our kids taught by people who have had no formal education since the age of 18. Research from around the world shows patients are safer in hospitals where nurses have degrees.

On average, graduates earn more and are less likely to be unemployed, even in the depth of a recession. They are more likely to vote, to be involved in charities and even to live longer.

Does that mean everyone should go to university immediately after finishing school? No. Even the most fervent supporters of our world-class universities, like me, do not think 100 per cent of young people should immediately get a degree. Some people have had enough of formal education by the age of 18 and some want to see the world while others need time out to decide what they want to do next.

There is more........

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