Hartpury College has become the second FE institution to be granted taught degree-awarding powers, and has launched a consultation on plans to seek university status for its higher education centre.
The Gloucestershire-based college follows in the footsteps of NCG, which became the first college to be granted full taught degree-awarding powers in June last year. From September 2018, students will be able to study for a taught honours or master’s degree awarded by University Centre Hartpury.
And the land-based college is consulting current and former students, staff and other stakeholders on whether it should seek full university status. The consultation ends on 29 August. If the college goes ahead with the move, it would seek higher education corporation status, with the FE provision remaining a discrete part of the organisation.
The last college to make the move from FE to HE was Plymouth College of Art in 2014.
Hartpury College was one of 14 colleges to be awarded a “gold” status for higher education teaching in the first set of Teaching Excellence Framework ratings published in June.
‘An exciting step’
Russell Marchant, principal of University Centre Hartpury and Hartpury College, said: “We are proud to be one of the first specialist providers of education that’s recognised for its quality in this way. Gaining taught degree-awarding powers publicly stamps the integrity of what we do. It’s an exciting step. We’ve worked hard to get this status and it is credit to all of our staff that we have achieved it.”
Rosie Scott-Ward, director of higher education and vice-principal of University Centre Hartpury, said: “The ability to validate our own degrees means we can respond quickly to market and student demands. As a vocational provider with strong industry partnerships, this is paramount to forging clear progression routes through academic levels and to our students moving into strong careers when they graduate.”
The consultation can be viewed here.
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