The different success stories that we hear everyday show us that there is no one way to achieve it. There are stories about top achievers since primary school who grew up to become some of the most established businessmen by building their own empire. On the other hand, there are those who are undereducated that worked their way to the top from the very bottom of the corporate food chain. And then, every once in a while, there emerge these people who just had sheer luck on their side: they join a contest and win millions as depicted in that Academy Award-winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire.



Although there are different routes to success, it cannot be denied that good education is still a key factor in achieving it. It may not be a certainty, but it sure does play a great role in directing us towards a career path that we would want to take. From the time we are prepared by our parents for our first day of school until our last year in college, they try their best to instill how important education is. Every year, they reiterate the value of education and how much it can help us better our lives. They remind us to do well, get good grades, earn a degree from a reputable college or university and become a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, an accountant, a teacher, a businessman, a high-ranking government official and so forth. These are the common dreams of parents for their children. They may be a tall order, but, obviously, there are those children that deliver.

The careers previously mentioned are just some of those that require higher education. United Kingdom's top universities offer higher education for individuals who wish to achieve such professions. To date, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine (more commonly referred to as the Imperial College of London), hold the three top spots of the list of best colleges and universities in the UK. Succeeding them are the highly noted London School of Economics and St. Andrews, sitting on the fourth and fifth slots. The rankings are determined by the ability of the institutions to earn good honors, graduate prospects, student satisfaction, research quality services and facilities, and student-staff ratio, to name a few.

The top three universities, Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College of London, have consistently maintained spots in the top five. They continuously offer undergraduate and post-graduate courses that have impressive curriculum to arm their students with the knowledge that will help them reach their full potential and excel in whatever profession they are preparing themselves for. These top UK universities brag having produced generations after generations of prime ministers such as Robert Walpole, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and India's Rajiv Gandhi, who was the youngest to achieve the position in India at age 40. They have also produced numerous heads of state or heads of government around the world, and the most notable scientists like Abdus Salam and Alexander Fleming whose scientific discoveries and breakthroughs allowed us to have better understanding of many scientific concepts and rationales.

There are many students who think that getting themselves out to the workforce as early as possible would give them a head start to success. That is why so many people head off to hunt for different jobs right after high school. It is true that gaining street knowledge teaches one unique experiences that will better prepare him or her up to face the challenges of the real world. In fact, it can also be said that there are such lessons that can only be learned outside the four comfortable walls of a school. What they do not understand, though, is that the more education they have, the better informed they are about the jobs that they take, and of the possible advancements they can achieve from their jobs. In fact, the better educated they are, the better they understand money and ways they could acquire it. Education not only teaches us concepts. It disciplines and trains us to work hard, research and investigate, and obtain knowledge on a subject that we know nothing about.

Education is still the key to success. Although higher learning does sometimes come with a hefty price tag, it is something that many parents and students are willing to invest on. The topnotch UK universities have never failed to produce the most well-rounded, intelligent and talented people, as evident in the number of successful individuals both in the past and present that came from these schools. Obtaining degrees from these highly reputed UK universities grants one with an impressive resume that can definitely give a nudge towards landing the top graduate jobs in Manchester, executive graduate jobs in London and different prestigious graduate jobs in other major UK cities and around the world. A college or high degree is indeed an investment that promises many great returns.