A degree is only part of what uni gives you.
Many jobs will require a degree
It will be near impossible to do a technical job with out a degree unless you can magic several years of experience from somewhere.
A degree is often used as a sorting mechanism: e.g., IBM ignore you unless you have a 2.1 or above from a reputed university.
If you do a top degree from a top uni then big companies are normally begging for you.
If you are going to do a degree that is from a less reputable univeristy and doing a course which doesn't provide any direct employable skill then a the degree itself wont be much use, but you will still leanr a lot of useful things at uni.