The government is scheduled to publish its review of higher education tuition fees and post-18 funding in the new year. Coupled with the recent introduction of the Office for Students to hold the sector to account, Universities in England are facing significant change.
As a result of these changes, widening participation has become one of the primary focuses of the newly established Office for Students. Subsequently, Higher Education providers who want to charge the maximum course fee of £9,250 per year will be expected to have an access and participation strategy designed to support the recruitment of students from under represented groups.
Part-time study has traditionally supported under represented groups by allowing, those whose outside commitments restrict their ability to undertake Higher Education full-time, an avenue to study at this level. However, significantly, part-time study also offers an opportunity for higher education to those returning to education after a period out of full time education. In my experience, part-time study is often taken up by those returning to learning after an absence from full time education and it’s this return to study where adults can retrain or gain new industry skills to further employment opportunities.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says university should not only be for young people, and adults need to be able to re-train for new skills. However, as since 2010.
The CBI and Universities UK have requested more support for students to take short, flexible part-time courses and they warn of a generation of “lost learners” who might previously have gone back to study for part-time degrees or other qualifications. Subsequently, in light of the governments drive to improve the employability of graduates – where Destination of Learners in Higher Education (DLHE) data will be measured by the Office for Students – it is a worrying trend and Universities must adapt in order to be responsive to the needs of part-time students.
That said, the report highlights the significant “rise in tuition fees” which has been a particular deterrent for part-time students, who might have jobs and family responsibilities and were reluctant to take on such levels of debt. So, the question has to be, what can Universities in England do to provide a higher education service to part-time students that is short, flexible and provides either academic or industrial updating. Ultimately, before any decisions are made its important to establish what part-time learners actually want from studying in higher education. Are they studying for personal interest reasons or are they trying to upskill themselves for employability purposes? That said, having seen a 50% decline of part-time learners in eight years it begs the question… what have Universities done differently in the past eight years that has contributed to this decline? If the rise in tuition fees is a contributing factor then what support can be put in place to make part-time fees more affordable with flexible payment options to spread the cost in a similar way to full-time learners.
In the BBC article, Matthew Fell, the CBI’s policy director, said: “Too often we think of universities as being just for young people, but as this work shows, adult education and lifelong learning matter just as much.”
“Universities need to play a critical role in responding to the changing world of work by offering education and training for learners for whom a three-year bachelor’s degree doesn’t quite fit their circumstances,” he said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45979230
JD
The Equality Blog 