HE funding review good for part-time students Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - 12:18

Lord Browne of Madingley has today published his Independent Review into Higher Education Funding and Student Finance, presenting a radical plan to shake up higher education in England.

Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE , said:

"Treating part-timers on a pro-rata equitable basis with full-time students is a very welcome and long-overdue recommendation. Extending the range of part-timers covered by these arrangements from people taking 50 per cent of a full-time course to people taking 33 per cent is also welcome, but it could go further. Even short periods of study can have a dramatic impact and can act as a first step to more substantial commitment."

"The vast majority of part-time students are in full-time jobs and Browne recognises that part-time acquisition of higher level skills benefits the economy through up-skilling the current workforce. But Browne risks shifting costs for workers' study from employers to learners. We were unconvinced that the review will lead to increased employer investment. "

The report is more challenging for full-time students and government will need to consider what more may be done to build a fairer system of access for poorer students. There is also a risk that a more marketised system will result in a far narrower, more utilitarian and risk-averse curriculum."

Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE

"The report recommends the creation of a higher education council. NIACE thinks the Liberal Democrat proposal for a council for adult and higher education would be more effective in supporting the creation of a system fit for a high skills, high achievement economy. The report recognises Britain's poor performance on equality but its recommendations on access do little to suggest that that will shift."

"The report is more challenging for full-time students and government will need to consider what more may be done to build a fairer system of access for poorer students. There is also a risk that a more marketised system will result in a far narrower, more utilitarian and risk-averse curriculum."

Mark Ravenhall, Director of Operations at NIACE, added:

"We strongly support the development of Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) services that lead to a more informed consumer of HE, but once again this should not just face the individual, but look at how businesses are becoming informed consumers. This requires some infrastructure investment, it is not enough, or indeed efficient, to solely rely on institutions. For adult entrants, focussing IAG on schools won't be enough."

Lord Browne's report makes clear that:

"Economic growth will rely upon people with high level skills and it is likely to be through part-time rather than full-time study that people already in the workforce will be able to retrain and prepare themselves for work in new industries".

Initially, NIACE also stated that the report failed to address the equivalent and lower qualifications (ELQ) issue. However, it has since been helpfully brought to our attention by Andrew Holmes, lecturer, Centre for Lifelong Learning, University of Hull - and a NIACE member - that once HEFCE funding has been withdrawn the ELQ issue will no longer be relevant, other than for a small number of part-time learners who chose to study STEM and SIV subjects. For part-time learners studying arts, humanities and social sciences, the ELQ ruling will also be irrelevant as there will no longer be any HEFCE funding for the student's institution, regardless of whether the student is classed as an ELQ or not.