£9K per annum gets you pot luck. £18K per annum gets you exposed to ides and theories espoused by some of today's most exciting theorists.

I don't really buy that. There are brilliant teachers in most universities and some quite "unfashionable" universities have the very best courses in their fields. Of course, if you want to be a politician these days, a PPE from Oxford seems to be the way in for all parties which says more about the "club" than the university.