Is a degree worth it?

It’s results time for 700,000 A-level and T-level students. It’ll mean final decisions about their future – and whether university is the best option for their finances and their career. 
 
With the huge cost of a three or four-year course, squeezed graduate incomes and fast changes to the job market due to AI, is a degree worth it? 
 
Niall Paterson speaks to business and economics correspondent Paul Kelso about whether the cost of a degree outweighs its reward and just what has changed since Tony Blair vowed to get 50% of school-leavers going to university in 1999.  

Producer: Emily Hulme  
Editor: Paul Stanworth

Post from Sky News on August 13, 2025