Do Degree Requirements Count as Discrimination? A 2026 Guide for UK Employers

Requiring a degree in job adverts is not illegal in the UK, but it can contribute to indirect discrimination if it disproportionately excludes candidates from certain backgrounds without being essential to the role. In 2026, with the rise of skills-first hiring, SaaS and tech companies are increasingly dropping degree requirements in favour of proven ability, relevant experience, and performance indicators. Employers should apply a degree requirement only when the job genuinely needs it and be prepared to justify the decision.

Is “Degree-Only” Hiring Still Justified in 2026?

For years, job adverts that read “Degree required” were almost automatic across many industries, especially in tech, SaaS, sales, and corporate roles. But today, with:

• an evolving talent landscape

• increased focus on diversity and inclusion

• clearer legal guidance

• and a global shift toward skill-first hiring

Is it still fair, or even necessary, to demand a degree for most roles?

1. The Legal Position (UK, 2026)

Let’s start with the law.

In the UK, it is not illegal to require a degree IF:

• The requirement is objectively justified

• The degree requirement is clearly relevant to the job

• It does not unfairly exclude protected groups

A blanket degree requirement can be considered indirect discrimination if it disproportionately disadvantages candidates by race, socio-economic background, disability status, or age and there is no genuine occupational need.

In other words, companies can ask for a degree-educated candidate; they need a very good reason.

Examples of defensible requirements:

·       Medical practitioners

·       Engineers who legally need accreditation

·       Solicitors requiring recognised qualifications

Examples of NOT defensible:

·       SaaS SDR roles

·       Sales roles that rely on personality, persistence, and track record

·       Customer success roles where experience matters more than academics

·       Administrative or operational roles where training can be provided

2. The Reality: Degrees Are No Longer Predictors of Performance

The idea that a degree signals better capability is increasingly outdated, especially in the SaaS GTM world, where Oakstone operates.

Today’s hiring trends show:

• Adoption of skills-based hiring rose from around 40% in 2020 to around 60% in 2024. (source)

• 62% of UK employers now value experience over education (source)

• Major tech employers have removed degree requirements from most roles

• Diversity initiatives actively warn against degree bias

In fast-growth SaaS companies, the best AEs, SDRs, CSMs, CROs, and RevOps leaders don’t necessarily come from university backgrounds. They come from performance, resilience, and a track record of delivering growth.

3. Why Companies Still Ask for Degrees (Even When They Don’t Need To)

From working with founders, CEOs and SaaS leadership teams globally, we see a few common reasons:

1. Habit: Job descriptions get recycled year after year.

2. “Quality filter” bias: Some leaders feel a degree indicates intelligence, professionalism, or capability, despite no evidence that degrees guarantee performance.

3. Company culture legacy: Larger or older companies often historically hired graduates and never re-evaluated the requirement.

4. “It feels safer”: Hiring managers sometimes use a degree requirement as an unconscious risk-minimiser.

4. The Diversity & Inclusion Impact

Requiring a degree disproportionately excludes:

• candidates from minority ethnic backgrounds

• career changers

• neurodiverse talent

• older candidates

• those who could not afford university

In 2026, diverse hiring is not just a moral imperative; it’s a competitive advantage. Removing unnecessary degree requirements widens your pool while increasing fairness.

5. When a Degree Requirement Is Justified

A degree is appropriate when:

• The role requires specialist or regulated knowledge

• Academic research, data, or technical understanding is core to daily work

• There are legal/industry accreditation requirements

“But could equivalent experience deliver the same capability?”

6. When a Degree Requirement Is Not Justified

These roles almost never need a degree requirement:

SaaS Sales Roles

• SDR

• BDR

• Account Executive

• Enterprise Sales

• Channel Sales

• Partner Managers

GTM Leadership

• CRO

• VP Sales

• VP Marketing

• CSM Leaders

Customer Roles

• Customer Success

• Support

• Onboarding

Operations

• RevOps

• Marketing Ops

• GTM Ops

These roles rely on skills, experience, coachability, and performance indicators, not academic background.

7. How Employers Can Avoid Unintentional Discrimination

Here are practical steps we advise SaaS founders and hiring teams:

Replace “Degree Required” with:

• “Degree or equivalent experience”

• “We hire based on capability, not certificates”

• “Skills-first assessment approach”

Use skills-based screening

• Structured interviews, role-plays, work samples.

• Remove outdated job description templates

• Rewrite from scratch.

• Focus on outcomes and competencies

• “What can this person deliver?” > “What did they study?”

• Train hiring managers

• Bias in hiring is often unconscious.

8. Oakstone’s View

At Oakstone, we specialise in GTM and executive hiring for high-growth SaaS companies. Over 30 years, we’ve seen thousands of hiring processes across the UK, Europe, and the US. Our data is clear shows that some of the highest-performing sales leaders, CROs, AEs, and CS teams we’ve ever placed did not have a degree.

Their performance, mindset and resilience outpaced those who relied on academic credentials. We strongly advocate for skills-first hiring, not degree-first filtering.

Requiring a degree isn’t discrimination by default, but it can be, and often unintentionally harms your hiring results. In 2026, especially in SaaS, where speed, capability and performance matter more than ever, degree-only hiring is outdated.

Skills-first hiring widens your talent pool, boosts diversity, and gives you better people.

• Is it illegal to require a degree in a UK job advert?

  It is not illegal to require a degree for a role in the UK,  but it can lead to indirect discrimination if there’s no objective justification.

• What counts as “equivalent experience” to a degree?

  Experience gained from:

  • relevant work history

  • leadership roles

  • industry certifications

  • apprenticeships

  • performance in similar roles

• Does removing degree requirements improve diversity?

  Yes, removing degree requirements can improve diversity in talent pools. Research consistently shows degree requirements disproportionately exclude underrepresented groups (source)

• Should SaaS companies still ask for degrees?

  Requiring a degree should only be included for roles which require specific academic qualifications. In GTM roles such as sales, marketing and customer success, ability and experience outweigh academics.

• How should we update our job descriptions?

  Replace degree filters with skills, competencies, outcomes, and experience-based criteria.

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When I told my Head of Year at senior school I wouldn’t be accepting my offer to attend a top University, it was met with uproar.

‘Why are you throwing away your career?’ ‘But you’re a straight-A student!’ ‘Everybody goes to University!’

It wasn’t a hard decision for me. Starting work at a young age, I immediately knew I loved the independence, the responsibility, and the life experience; things you get only from throwing yourself into a working environment.

So when I finished my 13th year of schooling, equipped with four A Levels at top grades, I made the decision that I was finished with sitting in a room, seminar, lecture, or in front of a textbook. I wanted to get out into the business world and learn through living, from experience, and by trial and error. I believed if I looked hard, I would find companies that would accept me and train me ‘on the job’.

Over the last 2 years, it’s become apparent to me that there are companies that hire based on educational achievements, and there are those that look outside academics, and dig deeper for morals, energy, attitude and conscientiousness.

Are there equal opportunities for both degree and A-Level-educated individuals? Many job adverts specify, ‘only degree-educated applicants need apply’; is this narrow-minded? Are companies closing the door on future managers or chief executives, by not even meeting them?

Individuals may be ‘graduate material’ without the degree – but should their ambition to start their career, limit their chances of getting in front of business leaders to fight for a job opportunity?

With 55% of English teenagers attending University last year (2014) and 41% of these leaving with a lower grade than a 2:1, could real, quality work experience be construed as MORE valuable, and rarer than a degree? To attain a 2:1, one must achieve an average of 60% in their exam results – why are so many failing to accomplish this? The average pass mark is set at 40%, does this achievement really carry the worth associated with being a postgraduate? It’s clear that some companies have bolted the door against non-degree-educated candidates, but is this the right decision?

Currently, leaders and hiring managers are spending less and less time reading CVs, (some surveys suggest the average is 10 seconds per CV), and are now relying more on face-to-face meetings between applicant and hirer. So should a certificate elevate an individual’s likelihood of getting to a stage where they can prove their worth in person?

It’s a known fact that people can turn out very differently from how they appear on paper. Not taking the chance to meet a person, (who may be the ideal candidate); because they don’t have a degree is limiting, and potentially damaging to a company, if that brilliant Manager, Salesperson or Strategist joins a competitor.

Companies should be hiring based on the individual, their experience, and their demonstrated skills, enthusiasm, grit and determination to succeed. Maybe in the future, it will be illegal to discriminate against the education level of a candidate, alongside gender, age or disability.

Paul Rayner, Oakstone International CEO