Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements are in place for students who leave a university prior to completing their course to have their learning accredited in order to facilitate future transfer to another course at a different higher education institution.

The Government is committed to improving the flexibility of higher education provision and student choice. We are currently considering the evidence gathered via the recent call for evidence on Accelerated Courses and Switching University or Degree, and engaging stakeholders, to understand arrangements currently in place for supporting student transfer and any barriers to take up.

There are no regulatory barriers to students choosing to leave university prior to completing their course and having their learning accredited by a different higher education institution.

English universities are independent, autonomous bodies and it is their responsibility to decide how to recognise or accredit prior learning so they admit students who are able to succeed at that institution or on a particular course. Government has no power to interfere in university admissions.

Sound practice in English university recruitment, selection and admission is underpinned by the principles of fair admissions, or Schwartz principles, and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education’s UK Quality Code.