Degrees, Debt And Disruption - The Future Of Higher Education In The AI Age

A Festival of Economics lunchtime panel in Cinema 1 at the Watershed, asking whether an undergraduate degree is still worth it in the age of AI — and who should pay for it. The question sits on top of nearly three decades of rising tuition fees and student debt, now colliding with AI's disruption of the graduate labour market. Chaired by the FT's Chris Smyth, with Gill Wyness (UCL/LSE, economics of higher education), Glen O'Hara (Oxford Brookes), Debbie McVitty (editor of Wonkhe) and Sarah Bevan (Universities UK). 11:30–12:30, ticketed, with group and school discounts. Why go: a well-sourced panel on a question founders and anyone hiring early-career talent should be chewing on — what a degree signals once AI can do the entry-level work. More policy debate than builder session, so come for the argument, not a how-to.