Students could be left over £25,000 better off by choosing an
accelerated degree instead of a traditional three-year course,
according to proposals set out today in a new government
consultation.
Accelerated degrees offer the same qualifications and are
quality-assured in the same way as a standard degree, but
delivered over a shorter, usually two-year timespan. This means
when most students are completing their third year of study, an
accelerated degree student will be starting work and getting a
salary.
The proposals, announced today (10 December), include a £5,500
(20 per cent) saving for students in total tuition costs compared
to a standard three-year course. When added to the average salary
of £19,000 in the first year after graduating, it means a
potential £25,000 benefit overall.
For the taxpayer, it means significantly lower tuition loan
outlay, higher rates of repayment and therefore a lower cost to
the public purse of higher education. A higher proportion of
students on accelerated degrees will also repay their loans in
full.
Although the proposals allow institutions to charge up to 20 per
cent more each year for accelerated degrees, the overall tuition
fee cost of the degree to the student is 20 per cent less than
the same degree over three years.
Providers already offering accelerated degrees report on more
engaged students, positive employer feedback and the opportunity
to attract a wider pool of applicants, including mature students
who often want to retrain and enter the workplace more quickly.
New fee arrangements for these degrees are set to be in place by
September 2019, subject to parliamentary approval.
Universities Minister said:
For too long we have been stuck with a system that has
increasingly focused on offering only one way of benefiting from
higher education, via the classic three year degree programme.
The passage of the Higher Education and Research Act this year
has finally enabled us to break the mould of this
one-size-fits-all system so students have much more choice over
how they learn.
Many will want to stick with the classic three year university
experience, but for highly motivated students hungry for a faster
pace of learning and a quicker route into or back into work, at
lower overall cost, two year degrees will be well worth
considering.
Professor Les Ebdon, Director of Fair Access to Higher Education,
said.
Accelerated degrees are an attractive option for mature students
who have missed out on the chance to go to university as a young
person. Having often battled disadvantage, these students can
thrive in higher education and I hope that now many more will be
able to take up the life-changing opportunity to get a degree.
There has been historic cross-party support for this policy, from
Shirley Williams in the 1960s, to Labour spokesman , , and who all supported it in
the passage of the Higher Education and Research Bill.
There are a range of accelerated courses currently on offer –
including Law, Accountancy and English – but the ambition is make
more courses available across the widest possible range of
subjects.
Karl McCormack, who teaches accelerated degrees in Accounting
& Finance at Staffordshire University, commented on the
increased focus of students on accelerated courses.
I find that the accelerated degree offers so much more to
students, including the extra focus, the drive and the immersive
experience of constantly learning over the two years.
Accelerated degrees appeal to a broad spectrum of students,
including mature students who want to retrain and enter the
workplace more quickly, and those who do not take a traditional
A-level route into higher education.
Laura Montague, a student in her final year of an accelerated
degree at Staffordshire University, said:
The fast-track course is exactly the right option for me. Being
able to do the course in a two-year timeframe instead of three
really makes you dive into the course knowing that completion is
not far off. It also prepares you well in terms of how the
working environment will be when you finish.
Providers offering accelerated degrees will need to meet exactly
the same quality assurance measures as for the standard
three-year equivalent degrees.
The new regulator, the Office for Students, will also support the
provision of accelerated degrees when it becomes a legal entity
in 2018.
The consultation will run until February 2018.
