If degrees bring "paltry returns", are they worthless?

University students only receive “paltry returns” for their academic degrees, according to the chair of the Education Select Committee. But does that mean some degrees are worthless?

Robert Halfon suggested that too many people are studying academic degrees, and that some academic courses could reinvent themselves as centres of technical excellence to provide a better service to students.

"There are skills shortages in several sectors,” he said. “And there are millions of people who want to get on in life - preferably without a lead weight of £50,000 dragging from their feet.

"If we are going to continue to lavishly furnish universities with taxpayers' money, we need to think about how universities can specialise in these areas.”