Prof. Christine King has been asked to explore the issue of part-time study in higher education.
One of the aims of the Government is to increase the skills, and capacity for innovation and enterprise in the workforce. In this context it is expected that adults often studying part-time will make up an ever-increasing portion of the student population.
This raises issues for universities, employers and individuals which need to be considered.
Prof. King has now delivered her report: Part-time Study in Higher Education [PDF 170kb] which is publicly available for you to comment on.
You can join the continuing discussion on the issues and recommendations by posting your views on any aspect of Prof. King’s report on this blog.
Comments made on this page will be brought to the attention of the respective policy handlers for this issue on a weekly basis.
We look forward to hearing from you.
(Comments posted on this topic earlier in the higher education debate process are still available in the archive for you to consult should you wish.)
As someone who has worked in healthcare education for over thirty years both outside and inside the HE sector it is interesting to note (as an example of challenge) the area of student nurse education that transferred into HE some 20+ years ago. This is primarily a full-time programme but has a 50-50 split between practice ‘in the real world’ and university based lectures/skills development.
It is my experience that HE has struggled to accommodate anything (including nursing) that does not neatly fit into the existing calendar of the full-time HE academic programme.
If we add part-time ‘top-up’ students (again health care linked) into this equation there is pressure to ‘fit’ the programme around the central process of summatively processed work.
Flexibility in both the operationalisation of HE together with a recognition of support issues linked to widening access and retention concerns all impact on the brave new world of HE.
I fully endorse the belief that those who wish to undertake an HE programme should be encouraged to do so but this should be aligned with a system that both accommodates and supports a range of student ability, study options and timeframes.
An interesting paper.
But where does the “long summer vacation” still exist?
My School and others like it are heavily engaged both in the provision of part time education by distance learning and in the supervision of dissertation projects undertaken by full time MSc students. For the staff involved, the “long break” is a fortnight in September following the submission deadline for MSc dissertations -and then there is research to fit in…
I don’t believe that Russell Group universities could accomodate a lengthways extension of the academic year. However, if the approach was based upon a longer teaching day, then this would be an entirely different matter. Utilisation of facilities would be significantly improved: however, a range of staffing related issues would have to be addressed.
It cannot be denied that HE has to move forward. However, it is also clear that there cannot be a “once size fits all” model across the HE sector. If we are to regard Universities as dynamic, responsive business units, then surely they must be given latitude in determining their own business models.
Prof. King makes some very interesting points. I have recently been looking to return to university on a part time basis myself, and you do tend to get the feeling of being a second-class citizen, once you say you’d like to study part time.
The major stumbling block that I’ve found is finance. The recent ELQ changes make re-training nigh on impossible. I appreciate the sentiment behind increasing fees for people studying ELQ’s, but part time learners should at least be given the access to some kind of financial help. Perhaps something as simple as allowing people the opportunity to take out a second student loan?
I myself would have no objection to paying the increased fees, and have found a number of University’s in my local area who offer part time courses that I believe would allow me to futher my career, however with no finiancial help of any kind avaliable to me it seems very unlikely that I and a other like me will ever be able to re-train in this way.
I have tried to find a forum to ask about mature women into HE, especially those who were graduates but are now returning to HE to retrain for work. As a carer for threee years my finances are depleted and I desperately need to earn for a pension and for my care of my mother, who is 80. Yet the Govt perversely encourages HE to dismiss us because there is no financial support for those of us with a previous degree. I want to do engineering (a skills shortage area) and noticed a £3million this year for women in work engineering etc. I tracked it down and found originally it was to help poor women such as myself to retrain to the male dominated sector but then it got re-shaped to help fund women ALREADY employed in the sector with up skilling. You see if we graduated but didnt get employed by sexist business/credit crunch business then the govt would have egg on its face/. Yet how much money is now being spent on helping migrant workers enter the UK (due to skills shortage) to take up jobs, and as we often know about migrant labour particularly from the countries we regularly recruit, it is usually male.
I am very tired of being ignored - when the emphasis appears to be on youth and race and not on reskilling and retraining our own population. If employers were asked to fund places at HE then of course they would rather import the skills. SO WHY DOES THE UK PAY FOR NHS, TEACHERS AND SOCIAL WORKERS but when we need to upskill our workforce for the little industry we have left does the govt move the money AWAY from the original ideal…
Part Time students are very much neglected currently by the government and universities. The issue is very much related to plight of Postgraduate students, many of who are unable to secure funding for their studies and are forced to take the part time route, usually this means taking a part time jib which pays well below the average for graduates.
The government should its policy regrding postgraduate students in general, more people are taking professional qualifications, but without the funds available many are forced into poverty by studying and working part time, whilst they strive for a better future. People with great potential are increasingly forced to question whether the risk is worth it.
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