Why I am telling my children that university is losing its value

As the parents of teenagers across the nation take a collective sigh of relief that the exam periods are over, many are already preparing for the next stage after A-levels.

They’re also preparing for the conversation over the garden fence or all-important social media update about how their children got on and, importantly, which university they are going to.

I remember when my daughter finished her exams a couple of years ago, and every conversation seemed to lead back to: “So, how did Kayla get on?” I was so proud to tell anyone and everyone she would be reading economics at York.

“‘Read economics’, who am I?” I remember thinking. Old Middlesex Polytechnic Tim didn’t “read’ anything”. He did study Psychology, but only because his mum had told him to – it was the only “guaranteed” way to climb the aspirational social mobility ladder, she insisted.

My mum thought a degree would be my passport to success. It’s a belief held by many parents, both then and now, but with my 16-year-old son currently thinking about his own higher education options, I find myself reflecting on that advice, given all those decades ago.

As parents, I worry we are giving directions to our kids for a world that has quietly and quite quickly rearranged itself, and the map is now out of date.

Because, while most young people who go to university will be glad they did – whether it’s because of the friends they make, the experiences they have, or the things they learn – what happens after is a different question.

A record number of 18-year-olds now go to university, yet the jobs it was meant to guarantee are thinning fast. Graduate roles are at their weakest since 2018.

More than half a million people started a degree last year, while the top employers were advertising only 25,000 graduate jobs between them.

Nearly four in ten employers say they plan to hire fewer graduates because of AI. Some major firms have cut their graduate intake by a quarter in just three years.

These stats tell the story of my daughter’s degree all too well: when something becomes common while, at the same time, the thing it promises becomes scarce, its value falls.

A degree isn’t worthless, but it’s a bit like using your British passport to go on holiday to France and Italy – it still works, but it no longer gives you access to the fast lane. It’s more like the entry visa you need just to get in.

The problem is that hiring is inherently unfair. When I speak to employers, they tell me: “Bring me someone with the right attitude and I’ll teach them the rest.”

And I believe them – I’ve hired on that basis, and it’s also the basis on which I was hired two decades ago when Lord Sugar, then Sir Alan, took a chance on me.

But faced with hundreds of applicants for every position, employers have to filter. It is increasingly an algorithm sifting CVs before a human even reads them, and attitude is hard to demonstrate on a form.
That means excellent candidates are being screened out before they get the chance to show their potential – often simply because they don’t have a degree.

Even at firms which don’t filter based on degrees, where there is a focus on skills-based hiring, the mass of applications must be managed somehow so there will just be a different hurdle to clear.

How do we solve this? We need to stop focusing on the certificate and start focusing on the evidence.
The degree may still be the ticket onto the plane, but it doesn’t guarantee you a seat in First Class.

To get the upgrade these days, your child will need to prove they can do something real and talk about it as well. A Saturday job held down (if they can find one), a project completed with a tangible outcome and charity work that highlights their attributes. Today’s young people must be solutions-focused, problem solvers.

And parents must learn about the alternatives too, rather than relying on that old map of the world to help their child make decisions.

While graduate hiring is falling, apprentice hiring is rising – and a degree apprenticeship can mean a full qualification with no debt and a job at the end.

These can be hard to find but it’s worth speaking to your child’s college and using the government’s apprenticeship site to see what is available. Alternatively, T-Levels offer a more technical way to study, and from 2027, new V-Levels will bring a more vocational route.

Parents who are able to should use their networks and make introductions to get their child in the room – and don’t forget to help the children of parents who do not have this luxury.

It’s time to forget about the conversations over the garden fence and social media updates, and throw away that World Atlas from 1985. We have spent years preparing for a journey that has fundamentally changed.

Instead, we need to give our young people as many different routes to their destination as possible.