Liam Halligan: Only four top UK universities are returning to full in-person teaching this term

Now, this is the week when most of the UK’s universities are welcoming back students. Yet, only four of 27 top universities are returning to full in-person teaching this term - despite most charging a cool nine thousand pounds a year, and increasing demand from students for face-to-face learning.

So chapeau – hats off! – to Sheffield, Southampton, Sussex and York for restoring normal in-person studies.

Most top universities, in contrast, are taking a “blended” approach, combining face-to-face with online learning. Many students who started university in September 2020 have yet to physically attend a lecture.

It is difficult – even for the academically gifted - to stay motivated while “staring at a screen”. Almost two-thirds of students surveyed say the lack of face-to-face learning has had a major or moderate impact on the quality of their course.

The "Put Warwick Students First" campaign, based at my undergraduate alma mater, has amassed over 1,500 student signatures. Campaign leaders complain the quality of teaching has been “really inferior” online compared with in person classes in previous years.

"It’s harder to communicate your opinions online and build on other people’s opinions,” they say. “This has definitely not been the university experience we signed up for.”

Warwick University deny that, of course, and say the high quality of their courses remains very much intact. A record 450,000 UK students are starting degree courses this month. But amidst frustration at ongoing online learning, which many students suspect is a way to cut costs, more and more young people now question the broader idea of going to university.

Britain has lagged for years when it comes to vocational education. The German apprenticeship system, in contrast, celebrates practical know-how, not presenting vocational qualifications as inferior to academia.

And, of course, with more than half of young people now attending university, some say standards are slipping. Even the Office for Students, the government regulator, has warned it could fine universities for running poor quality courses, so called “Mickey Mouse” degrees.

So, as students go back, that’s your On The Money question today. University education – is it really worth it?