Comedian and former teacher Geoff Norcott was the first in his family to attend University. However, with everything he’s been hearing about the sector lately, he’s no longer sure a degree would be the right thing for his son.
This year Geoff was going to start a college fund, but he also needs a new motor. A tough decision needs to be made.
In the new BBC Two documentary Is University Really Worth it? which airs on Monday, 11th March at 9pm, Geoff investigates the country’s higher education system to determine if getting a degree is value for money.
With student satisfaction at an all-time low, lecturers striking, online learning and reports of vastly inflated grades, Geoff hears from students who feel the University experience they were sold ended up being a nightmare.
Along the way, he meets students at war with their institutions, graduates locked in legal battles with their universities and struggling students having to survive off food banks. He asks if our universities are still the world beating institutions they once were, or whether the system has become too focussed on profit and not enough on students (and yes, he makes a few quips along the way).
Despite the challenges, Geoff also meets those who still believe in our higher education system. Students at Sheffield University say they’ve had an amazing experience and valued the new opportunities studying away from home brings. He also hears about the positive impact a campus can have on local economies and important research partnerships between universities.
Obsessed with the idea that literally all young men should ‘get a trade’ Geoff visits a plumbing company in Hull who believe apprenticeships are the future. He also meets up with his former high school students. During his teaching days, Geoff was fully under the spell of New Labour’s drive to get every living thing to attend university. Some twenty years down the line he wants to make sure that his well-intentioned advice didn’t ruin their lives.
At the end Geoff will make his decision: new car with heated steering wheel and alloy wheels or start investing in his son’s education?
Geoff says: ‘I’m delighted the BBC have given me another opportunity to put a bit of rigour into my partially informed polemical views. I wanted to understand why it is that loads of unis complain about lack of cash but there only ever seems to be more young people doing degrees. So how can you not make money when the number of clients only ever seem to go up? I needed to do some digging.’
This is Geoff’s second documentary for BBC Two following 2019’s How the Middle Class Ruined Britain. He’s also had several successful national stand-up tours and has appeared on Live At The Apollo, Backstage With Katherine Ryan, Mock The Week and Have I Got News For You.
Geoff is a busy social and political commentator, with regular appearances on Question Time, Times Radio, Politics Live and a host of political debate shows. He has also authored two books : Where did I go right? (How the Left Lost me) and The British Bloke Decoded.
Geoff Norcott is currently touring his latest show Basic Bloke. Tour dates here.
Picture: Karla Gowlett
