Part-time Students And part-time Study In Higher ... - Universities UK

1 IntroductionThis report is about the aspirations and experience of part-time students in the UK. It is based on astudy commissioned by Universities UK and GuildHE (previously SCOP) now and conducted byProfessor Claire Callender of London South Bank University, the Policy Studies Institute, and GfKNOP.1.1 The policy contextIn 2002/03, 42 per cent of all higher education (HE) students in the UK were studying part-time andthis proportion dropped to 34 per cent amongst undergraduate students, which amounted to overhalf a million people. Evidence suggests that they are a growing element of the sector both in termsof their number and their diversity. For instance, between 1997/98 and 2003/04 part-time provisionhas grown by 45 per cent while full-time provision has grown by 12 per cent.Issues about part-time students, however, were largely overlooked in recent debates about studentfunding including the 2003 White Paper The Future of Higher Education (DfES, 2003) and thesubsequent legislation. The references to part-time students in the White Paper were in relation tothe need for more flexible provision to meet the skills gap. Yet, there was no detailed examination ofthe part-time student population and the issues concerning them. Nor was there discussion aboutwhat is needed to ensure greater flexibility of provision such as a national credit framework, or creditaccumulation transfer systems.This did not go unnoticed by the House of Commons Education Select Committee. In their report onthe White Paper (Fifth Report of Session 2002-03 HC 425-1) they commented:The White Paper is principally concerned with young, full-time students. The needs of those who falloutside that category must be properly taken into account if the higher education sector is to providetruly improved access (HC 425-1 p49).Similarly, part-time students were absent from the accompanying document to the White Paper –Widening Participation in Higher Education (DfES, 2003a). Nor do part-time students fall within theremit of Office of Fair Access (OFFA), which was set up by the 2004 Higher Education Act to ensure“the introduction of variable fees does not have a detrimental effect on widening participation”(http://www.offa.org.uk/about/ – accessed April 2006). However, the nature of OFFA’sresponsibilities means that no consideration is given to what impact, if any, higher tuition fees for fulltimestudents may have on part-time provision and part-time fees.Yet, the changes in student funding encapsulated in the 2004 Act, particularly the introduction ofvariable fees of up to £3,000 a year repayable on graduation, are likely to have implications for parttimestudents throughout the UK. Historically, the fees of part-time students have been linked on apro-rata basis to those of full-time students. With the rise in full-time students’ tuition fees in 2006 inEngland and the following year in Wales, it is unclear if this link can be maintained in the future andwhether the part-time market could sustain large increases in tuition fees, without some changes instudent support for part-time students.Part-time students and part-time study: Strand 3 Universities UK 8