To think you can have a great career without a degree

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DD looking at an extended diploma in the creative industries instead of A levels . In general we have 5 to 6 different careers before we retire. Uni is expensive and there is an apprenticeship option. Will she regret not getting a degree later? She is bright and has a great work ethic, but had considerable anxiety in GCSEs.

How much does a degree really matter? Especially if you may have a career change later when you get fed up of being paid a pittance for unsociable hours?

I think it all depends on the industry. Some careers require it but others are more flexible with different routes in like apprenticeships etc.

Networking is everything. Fine, don't do a degree but make sure she can attend every event going that's related to her field. Teach her how to sell her work, talk confidently and create authentic bonds with people to forge working relationships. If she can do that she can do anything.

I know an awful lot more people with degrees earning not much more than minimum wage, than those with degrees earning £50k+.

It does depend on the industry, apprenticeships however continue to improve. My husband hasn’t been to university, we’re both actuaries, I did the uni and training route, he did the apprenticeship route. If we look at education years he was qualified almost three years before me, but obviously he was earning money from day one, where as I wasn’t for three years due to being at university.

We’re both educated to level 7, just different routes.

Of my two siblings without degrees, one is already out-earning me despite being 10 years younger and one isn’t far behind. They may reach a ceiling point where a degree becomes necessary but with the job market as it is I think their experience will serve them pretty well. DH struggled to progress without a degree for a while but is now in project management where other relevant qualifications seem to hold greater sway. I’ve got a non-specialist degree and earn a decent wage in a job I enjoy, and my student debt is paid off, so it was worth it for me but I wouldn’t necessarily be encouraging our own children to go to university of there are other routes to their desired career.

I'm earning just shy of £60k + substantial benefits and I don't have a degree - although I have done a lot of qualifications in my field. You don't need a degree to be successful at all and I'm a big believer in experience being just as important as qualifications. That said I do wish I had done a degree - not straight out of school - but at some point (OU or something) - just because it opens up options - particularly later on in life if you want to explore a career change or even just pursue other qualifications. But that's just me.

Agree with others that it depends on the industry. However, I would be worried that nowadays - when such a high percentage of the population DO go onto uni - that she might find herself disadvantaged when applying for jobs.

I think if you've 20 years industry experience behind you and a solid CV then employers might not care much. No degree, little experience and it might be a different matter.

Name changed.

I did this.

I started university at 16 (skipped a class when I was 5) which was far, far too young. I was in classes with mainly 18/19 year olds and struggled with the social aspect and general maturity, plus didn’t have much academic support at home. I dropped out before the end of my first year and started working in low wage jobs (retail, call centre etc) but job-hopped a lot, and had periods of unemployment.

Eventually I found an industry I liked in my mid 20s, through sheer coincidence, and not having a degree went against me. I worked my way up and then started to gain qualifications in my line of work but it took a lot of hard work to prove myself in the early years and there were so many paths closed to me simply because I didn’t meet the minimum criteria of having a degree.

I’m now 38 and my salary is £130k plus another £20-30k in bonuses, so I’ve definitely done well but, if I had my time over, I’d have taken a more traditional path and completed my education first.

Well, most highly paid people have degrees.

That doesn't mean everyone needs to have one.

If she is bright and getting good GCSEs, I'd advise A levels over an extended diploma though.
Most employers have no idea what an extended diploma is and it will undoubtedly get rebranded and changed at some point as they always do with vocational courses.

A levels in English Literature, Theatre Studies and Art or A foreign language or History would keep her options much more open for longer and be recognised by a wider range of employers in the future. It would also make it much easier to go to uni in the future if she wished to do so.

My two youngest sons don’t have degrees but one works in finance for NHS (started as an apprentice) and earns £65,000. Youngest is a software developer and earns around the same. Eldest did go to uni but got a third class degree and is a millionaire with several businesses !!

My husband did fine without a degree until his mid 30s. That's when he hit a level in his career where all promotion opportunities required a degree.

He ended up having to do one on the OU. He missed out on quite a few great jobs in the meantime and a number of years later is now playing catch up.

If she picks an industry that values experience and pays very well, then she'll be fine.

Avoid caring professions, childcare, teaching, social work etc. Get into banking, tech, finance and so on.

The theory always used to be that a degree added an average £100K to your lifetime earnings. While that value will have changed over time, a 100K value is very quickly offset against three years of earnings, plus student loans. And being three years ahead of your peers.

I loved uni, and one of my DDs is loving hers - but unless they really want to do it, I don't think there's a strong financial argument in the majority of sectors. Obviously it's an absolute bar to entry/progress in some.

I don't have a degree and it has really restricted the jobs I have had. I did do pretty well in my twenties ( earning pretty good salaries for the roles I was doing) but they were always support roles. The directors / managers I worked for were frequently no brighter than I was but they had degrees so they could apply for more senior roles.
However, it's completely dependent on industry. Corporate world... I would venture that its best to have one.
However, there are loads of different walks of life where it may not matter so much.

It very much depends on the person, the sector and the location. I would disagree that most highly paid people have degrees. Degree apprenticeships are a great alternative and it would be well worth speaking to a qualified career adviser that can provide guidance and real labour market intelligence. Try the National Careers Service for free support.

I have a degree and my husband doesn't. He earns over 3x my salary, works from home and is pretty much in charge of his own hours so he can do the school runs etc

Also try here www.notgoingtouni.co.uk

No you don’t need a degree but they tend to open doors.

My current job is pretty far away from the degree I did and the career path I had planned but I love it and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my degree.

Experience and networking are still so important but if someone’s got a degree on top then they’ll probably be favoured.

It doesn’t mean she needs to do a degree now though.

She can do an apprenticeship and when she’s older can choose to do a degree if she wants to.

It's only a 3 year commitment, which now when young seems a lot to her, but passes with the blink of an eye. She'll always have this as a disadvantage at the back of her mind and it'll chase her through her cv evertime she applies to a new job. If she wants to be a professional she needs a degree no matter what mumsnet says. I would not consider any applications without a degree these days.

Absolutely you can, 2 of my most well off happy in their career friends left school at 16.

I’ve been looking for a job and most adverts seem to be based on people qualities rather than qualifications. Which I quite like!

I didn't do a degree, got a job in the financial services sector, worked my way up to Partner level before most of the people with degrees did, if they got there at all.

I did professional qualifications, starting at entry level and working up to Fellow level by 30.

Then I did two masters degrees with neither A levels or a degree (although professional qualifications were ultimately post grad level).

I hated school. Couldn't wait to leave. There's more than one way to get to most places in life/career.

It is industry dependent and also very dependent on the quality of the courses you do instead. I did a degree level qualification in a specific industry and whilst it was recognised in that industry, it didnt tick the box for graduate schemes or to be a teacher so it did limit some options.

Depends on the industry. I would also echo what a previous poster said about avoiding caring jobs/social work/teaching etc. You’ll never be rich in those jobs. I’ve had to find out the hard way.

It used to be that the lack of pay was worth it due to these jobs being rewarding but I never once found any of them rewarding. Just sheer hard graft with many beurocratic constraints which meant you couldn’t even make a difference even if you wanted too.

I have a first class OU degree in health and social care and I’ve just secured a job as an administrator in a well respected University Science park. I regret my degree choice but what’s done is done now. I guess the first class is still impressive.

There are many tech/finance/ai companies on the park so I’m hoping to network. Does anyone think I can progress quite quickly from an admin position or is this deluded? I am determined never to work in the health and social care sector ever again.

I'd encourage young women to get it over and done with as part of their educational framework/ portfolio before they have a mortgage and kids in tow...

That 'ceiling' and the potential barriers do exist for some industries in the future and whilst you can fit in the study afterwards, it's much harder for women to come back to it when the maternal responsibilities kick in...

Having said that, to answer your specific question, you don't necessarily need a degree. It does however, help keep your options open.