Given the current economic climate, is it still worthwhile to go to university or not? Does this mean a degree is no longer as valuable as it used to be? Higher education used to be free, but not any more. It’s been estimated that when a graduate finishes his degree, he will be over ￡20,000 in debt. Let’s hear from Keith Dougdale, Director of Global Recruitment for KPMG. We’ve got a recession, times are tough and it’s difficult for graduates. But long-term, the prospects are actually great and they’re going to get better, because of the demographic time bomb, which means we need more and more people with more and more skills to enter the work force as graduates. They’re looking for graduates who are employable, just having a degree doesn’t make someone employable. They’re looking for people who have supportive evidence of how they can apply their knowledge into the workplace. So getting descent work experience at university, and actually having an understanding of what that work experience will give them. We have another expert advice from Wendy Piatt. She’s the Director General at the Russell Group of Universities. Choosing whether to go to university or not is not an easy decision. But if you do decide to go, then there are other factors to consider too. So I would say please think very carefully about this decision, and think very carefully about the course that you’re going to take, and the institution that you’ll attend, because the benefits do vary, according to course and institution and it’s important to say that as well.