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University

As this year's school leavers await their A-level results, and prepare for record levels of debt from higher education, Quentin Letts asks, 'What's the point of university?'.

"The noblest task of a university is to encourage its students in the disinterested and relentless search for truth" - so said the Archbishop of York in 1953. But the search for truth doesn't necessarily lead to a job and could land today's students in debt until their fifties, so what is the point of university in double-dip Britain?
As students in England anticipate their A' level results tomorrow, Quentin Letts canvasses the views of people within and beyond the ivory towers about the value of a university education. Is it becoming purely a means to an economic goal, a route to a better job, or is it an end in itself, learning for learning's sake, the true benefits of which cannot be appreciated in advance?

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Wed 15 Aug 2012 21:30

Broadcasts

  • Wed 15 Aug 2012 09:00
  • Wed 15 Aug 2012 21:30