Universities: Part-time Students

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackstone]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to promote an increase in the number of students studying part-time at United Kingdom universities.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, this Government introduced non-means-tested tuition loans for part-time students undertaking their first undergraduate degree. Last year we commissioned Universities UK to undertake a review of part-time undergraduate higher education and to make recommendations. The sector is currently working on these recommendations. We are also relaxing the ELQ policy in selected STEM subjects, which will provide the opportunity for students to access loans so that they can retrain from 2015-16.

[Baroness Blackstone (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister accept that part-time higher education is vital for mature students if they are to acquire skills and become socially mobile? In these circumstances, does he agree that a 40% decline in the number of part-time enrolments is wholly unacceptable? This follows the trebling of tuition fees. Can he also reassure the House that the Government will do far more than he has just set out to reverse this shocking statistic?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I agree with the noble Baroness’s first point, about the importance of part-time education particularly for mature students. Indeed, 89,730 of the over 150,000 students who study part time are aged 30 years and over. As a matter of history, I think that the noble Baroness herself was part and parcel of the Government who introduced tuition fees. Although we have raised them, it has been done to ensure the long-term future of higher education in our country. That point is acknowledged not just by these Benches and the coalition Government but by the OECD and the World Bank.

[Baroness Sharp of Guildford (LD)]

My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the unfortunate result of introducing loans for tuition fees in both the higher and the further education sectors is that those in their 20s and 30s have disproportionately been put off, although we very much need them to upgrade and improve their qualifications? Will he say a little more about precisely what the Government are doing to encourage this group of people to come back into education so that the oft-used term “continuing education” is made a reality?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

My noble friend has touched on an important issue, but I disagree with her on another. Higher education is important not only for mature students but for young people. Our current information shows that a record number of 18 year-olds are taking up higher education—indeed, at 34.8% the figure is unparalleled, especially in light of the fact that there are fewer 18 year-olds. Of course the issue of mature students in higher education is important, and the Government are working with the universities to ensure that every opportunity is made available to them. The Government have facilitated such opportunities through the steps we have taken to ensure that they are able to take out loans. However, the important thing to note about higher education is that it has to be demand led and something that employers want. I am sure my noble friend knows that 81% of part-time students are in employment.

[Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord may be aware, although possibly he is not, that recently I chaired a seminar for the Westminster Higher Education Forum on this very subject. The decline in the registration of part-time students that my noble friend Lady Blackstone described was dramatically illustrated by the testimony of vice-chancellors and other university teachers. There is clearly a serious problem there. Can the noble Lord expand a little on the answer that he gave to his Liberal Democrat colleague on the subject of mature students, particularly those who are in full-time employment but wish to upgrade their qualifications? I am thinking particularly of teachers who are asked to work extremely long hours. Many of them would like to address their continuing professional development through part-time university courses but find it quite hard to do so.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

I was not aware of the seminar that the noble Baroness mentioned but if she would like to enlighten me on it I would be happy to talk to her outside the Chamber. I fully acknowledge that the number of part-time students in higher education institutions has declined, but as I said, this is a matter that employers have to work with as well. Many employers who were facing challenging economic circumstances were not releasing people to go and study part time. The other point I would make is that the higher education offering has changed as well, and I give the example of Birkbeck College. When I talked to people there, I was interested to note that there is now a higher take-up of evening degree courses which are run on the equivalent of a full-time basis. The actual offering of institutions is changing, and that is having an impact on the figures.

[Baroness Hooper (Con)]

My Lords, what proportion of students studying at our universities are international or overseas students, and what are the Government doing to promote this aspect of our university education system?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

As my noble friend will be aware, the Government do not offer loans for university tuition to international students. I acknowledge that we have seen a decline in the number of international students coming to the UK as compared with some of our other European partners. The Government are making it clear through the reforms we are making in higher education—such as the opening-up of caps on university admissions—that the UK is open for business to anyone who wishes to come here to study on an accredited basis at an accredited institution. The Government take this most seriously.

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab)]

I am sure that the noble Lord will have read the CBI report, Tomorrow’s Growth: New Routes to Higher Skills. Does he agree with the CBI’s conclusion that relying on traditional university courses alone will not meet the growing demand for degree-level technical skills in key sectors such as manufacturing, construction, IT and engineering? What will the Government do to deliver on the CBI’s obviously very sensible call?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

The noble Lord makes an important point. As I said, higher education has to reflect the needs of the economy and, indeed, the needs of employers. I was therefore delighted that my right honourable friend the Chancellor very recently announced, on 7 May—as I am sure the noble Lord will recall—the new industry campaign “Your Life”, under which leading organisations including Google, Microsoft, BP, BSkyB, Airbus, IBM and Nestlé, to name but a few, have created 2,000 new entry-level positions which cover both apprenticeships and graduate-level posts. I am delighted to inform the House that 170 businesses have now signed up to this initiative.