An alternative route to BA and BSc degrees needs to be developed, according to the Association of Colleges.

In its response to the government’s Post-18 Funding and Education Review, the AoC says this is “a great opportunity to rebalance the system of higher education”.

The organisation states that although the English university system, centred on traditional three-year residential Bachelor’s degrees, has many strengths, the system needs reform because there is “too much focus on meeting the needs of well-qualified 18-year-olds and inadequate focus on the rest of the working-age population”.

“We reject any approach which simply and solely increases the numbers taking the full-time Bachelor’s route. That will not meet the needs of the economy, nor aspirations for a fairer society. Instead, we argue for more opportunities and routes for people to study flexibly, locally and throughout their lives. Many colleges and some universities offer this now, but with the right policy and funding, they could support far more people to achieve higher levels of learning and skills.”

‘Separate and distinct routes’

“Our core proposal is to develop and invest in a separate and distinct route, which will grow in prestige and profile over time alongside the Bachelor’s route,” says the AoC in its response, published today. “This will build on the best of what colleges and universities already do, but will not have to always articulate to a Bachelor’s degree at Level 6 because it will be valued in its own right.

“We envisage a technical and professional route that builds on and incorporates the qualifications which work in some sectors currently, all the way up to Master’s degree level where it is needed.”

According to the AoC, the new approach should build on and incorporate those higher technical qualifications that work well currently. However, the government should also provide funding so that new national qualifications can be developed locally with customisation to meet employer and labour market needs.

A new suite of qualifications should allow students to move from Level 4 and 5 up to degree level study at Level 6 or 7 “where this is professionally or occupationally relevant or necessary”.

National validation

There should also be national validation, and the Office for Students should use its validation powers to designate a single university or awarding body to validate programmes that have been designed locally by colleges with employers but which retain national recognition.

The government should reform grant, fees and loans rules to support and incentivise new technical courses at Levels 4, 5 and above, while the same fee cap and loans/maintenance arrangements should be made available for this route as for the Bachelor’s route, “for students at all ages, part- or full-time, with the same fee cap”.

“Although past efforts did not always work as hoped, there are reasons for optimism this time around,” says the AoC. 

‘More interest’ in work-based education

“There is now more interest from young people and their parents in work-based education routes as an alternative to taking on a large student loan debt. Several prestigious employers have worked with universities and colleges to develop higher and degree apprenticeships. Employers are concerned about being able to recruit skilled people as the numbers of EU nationals reduces. The T level reform plans will create a new set of qualifications at Level 3, which could be the foundation for further development.

“Both universities and colleges will want to be involved in developing higher technical education and in maintaining a high-quality and accessible Bachelor’s route, though colleges are particularly well-placed to take the lead in the technical arena.”

Student funding

The AoC also calls for changes to student funding, more support for adults to achieve better skills at lower levels, and more focus on access for adults, as well as for school and college leavers at age 18 or 19 to Foundation and Bachelor’s degrees. “Taken together, these changes would help to deliver a system which can support many more people to train and retrain across 50-year careers, allowing them to realise their ambitions and talents,” the association says.

Labour’s shadow higher and further education minister, Gordon Marsden, said: “Today’s review paper from the AoC further highlights the urgent need for post-18 reform and contains a series of practical proposals to assist students with much-needed support including for travel and maintenance grants - issues we’ve consistently challenged government over but they have consistently ignored.

“As we have said, this Tory government’s ‘market model’ is completely unworkable, the student loans system in FE and HE is economically unsustainable and damaging to social mobility, and £9,000-plus tuition fees have been a catastrophe for part-time and mature learners.

“That is why the Labour Party has committed to scrapping tuition fees in HE and FE, restoring maintenance grants for the most disadvantaged and to use the AoC’s recommendations for equity for students of all ages with our integrated HE/FE approach in our new National Education Service.”