Tragedy struck when her younger brother died of spina bifida. Then her father contracted a blood disease and became partially paralysed. It was more than enough to break the spirit of a young girl but, growing up in the family’s tiny flat, she developed the grit that turned her into an entrepreneur.

Now, having left school early to become the family breadwinner, she heads MJM International, her lingerie company, with a turnover of about £4.5m. Her gel-filled Ultimo bras bolster the bosoms of women around the world, including Julia Roberts, Penny Lancaster and Camilla Parker Bowles.

“I started work when I was 15 and I haven’t looked back,” said Mone. “I had always wanted my own business and if you start early you get more experience.”

It is a story to inspire any schoolchild but this week, with Tony Blair poised to introduce university top-up fees of up to £3,000 a year, it has special relevance. As the prime minister seeks to force through the controversial measure, some have begun to ask: is a degree really worth it?

One of Blair’s more arbitrary pledges is that 50% of young people will have experienced higher education by 2010 — 43.5% already do. However, with universities churning out so many graduates, might the university of life start to offer more?

Mone does not see a degree as an automatic passport to success. She does not even read the curriculum vitae of jobhunters who come to her looking for employment. Instead, she checks the look in their eyes.

“When you are meeting people they have got to have enthusiasm,” she said. “They have got to have a great personality and determination to succeed and not be frightened about making mistakes. That is what I am looking for.

“I have had a lot of graduates working for me and some are fantastic but others are missing something. They are great at writing reports but it is a different thing when it comes to using common sense, determination or get up and go. Some of them just don’t have it and, if they don’t have it, then it doesn’t matter what qualifications you’ve got.”

Juliet Elliott told her unnerved parents in 1997 that she was leaving Kingston University to become a professional snowboarder. Seven years down the line she has hit the slopes all over Europe and America and won some prestigious titles. She has also made her name as a model and has been photographed for the cover of Italian Vogue magazine. On her “days off”, she is also the guitarist with Panic DHH, a London-based rock band.

Last week Elliott jetted from a fashion shoot in Italy to Freiburg in Germany, where she and her band put on a gig for their fans.

“For her school contemporaries, getting a degree was just what you did next,” said a friend of Elliott last week. “People always seem to think you must have a degree, but you can get more out of life by going your own way.”

THERE have always been those who have prospered against the odds. Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Alan Sugar all made millions without a higher education.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Forces chief faces new battle - the economy
• Seven days that shook the world
• Icelanders wake up and smell ... the fish