Degree valued as much in UK?

My brit bf and I have been having a few discussions lately about the difference in how a bachelors and masters are valued in the US and the UK. He didn't choose to go to college and does very well for himself, better than some of his friends with degrees. I have a bachelors and know that in the US, it's very difficult to get a decent paying job w/o one. I am about to get my masters to be even more competitive for my career and hopefully move up.

His view on degrees and formal education at least in the UK are that they aren't valued as much and even a waste of time. It scares me a bit as I am about to sink a good deal of money and time for my masters there...are employers going to value that?

I'm curious what others think...how valued is higher education in terms of careers/jobs in the UK versus the US?

I think to a certain degree, this will depend upon your field. IMO there is a more prevalent attitude here that you don't need a Uni degree to be successful than you'll find in the US. That said, I think the current UK govt has been working hard to change that. I suspect that people of you BF's age are just ahead of this push. My DH is probably about the same age as your BF. DH now is on his way to a PhD but his twin has no Uni education at all - just some certifications in IT. My DH is the one who gets the surprised looks and BIL is making pretty good money.

I wouldn't say that education is less valued here as such but as Balmerhon says, in some fields it is quite possible to get ahead without a degree or tertiary qualiication.  A degree is not necessarily a pre requisite to enter management training with many organisations.   Obviously some professions require formal qualifications but in areas like sales, marketing and advertising it isn't necessary.  A former class mate of mine left school at 16 and did some secretarial training and now earns A LOT selling computer systems.  My aunt's first husband trained as a plumber then somehow got into sales and ended up as a director of a very large retail group. 

I guess the point I was also poorly trying to make is that the US was the same way. It's only in the last 20 years or so that the idea of 'education as an investment'  has been the norm. I think it's also geographical. A lot less of my mid-western family have higher education than my east coast family.

My Brit husband's experience --  he got his bachelor's degree (software engineering) right at the end of the Thatcher years, the job market here was total crap then & he struggled.  After not being able to secure a job in his field & kicking around his parents home for awhile, he decided to 'restart the educational clock', so to speak, rather than continuing to be persistently unemployed -- he returned to uni for a master's (also in software engineering).  Since then, he's had no probs employment-wise & I think that in some ways -- it does give him a bit of an edge against competitors (other employees) without the same level of qualification.

That said, I think the current UK govt has been working hard to change that. I suspect that people of you BF's age are just ahead of this push.

I think you may be right, I left school and went on a gov't training course for 2 months after which they placed me with a company, from there I have never looked back and as Andrea said I am now earning more than any of my friends who did go to uni.  That said I realize that I have been lucky and also have been in the right place at the right time and I would never encourage my son to leave school at 16 as I did, I wouldn't however insist he went to Uni unless he needed the qualification for the job (doctor, etc) as I believe experience and ambition is worth more than any qualification.

Well said!