@Chris

IT and Comp Sci are (obviously) different, moreover the quality of education varies immensely from institution to institution. I suspect that comparing the quality of Alumni from (say) Imperial College's Comp Sci MEng course with (again for argument's sake) Brighton University's BSc might highlight this.

You are also not quite right about the degree being required, the IT industry is once of the few where 3 years of good quality professional experience counts for more than a good quality degree.