Partnerships Between Higher and Further Education: Their Contribution to Government Objectives for Widening Participation in Higher Education
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Middlesex University Partnerships between higher and further education: their contribution to government objectives for widening participation in higher education A project report submitted by Catherine Jennifer Anderson In partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Doctorate in Professional Studies (Higher Education Policy) June 2004 CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements 3 Foreword 4 List of tables and figures 5 Executive summary 6 Chapter 1 Introduction 9 Chapter 2 Project rationale and methodology 11 Chapter 3 Policy context and literature review 36 Chapter 4 Case study 1: Higher Education and Training Partnership 57 (Middlesex University) Chapter 5 Case study 2: Staffordshire University Regional 73 Federation Chapter 6 Case study 3: Anglia Polytechnic University Regional 86 S University Partnership Chapter 7 Case study 4: Bedfordshire Federation for Further and 100 Higher Education Chapter 8 Analysis and findings 113 Chapter 9 Conclusions and contribution of the study 141 Appendices 155 Appendix 1: The framework for higher education qualifications; The National Qualifications Framework Appendix 2: Legislative and administrative frameworks for higher and further education Appendix 3: Principles of effective franchise partnerships and funding consortia Appendix 4: Responsibilities of institutions in franchise partnerships and funding consortia Appendix 5: Documents and data requested from case studies Appendix 6: List of questions used in semi-structured interviews Appendix 7: Template for writing up case studies Appendix 8: Location and administrative boundaries relating to case study partnerships Appendix 9: Satisfying the Level 5 indicators in the Middlesex University academic framework Glossary and abbreviations 167 References 169 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank colleagues involved in the four case study partnerships for their co-operation in the study. Special thanks are due to Professor Ken Goulding, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Middlesex University, for his support and advice throughout, to David Jenkins, Director of Widening Participation at Staffordshire University, for his helpful comments at key points during the project and to Professor Chris Green, Director of the Regional Office, Anglia Polytechnic University, for his support and encouragement. Thanks are also due to staff at Middlesex University who guided my study, particularly Dr Pauline Armsby who helped me to see the research through to its completion. Dr Martin Kitchener and Dr Eileen Loucaides provided much appreciated comments on my work in progress. The Learning and Skills Development Agency facilitated the completion of the study after I took up my role with them, for which I am grateful. Finally, I valued enormously the tireless efforts of Simon Kitchener who not only supported and encouraged me to finish the study but also provided constructive and incisive comment on the work as it progressed. 3 FOREWORD Approval to undertake the project that is the subject of this report was granted by Middlesex University in June 2002. At the time the researcher was employed by the University as Director of the Higher Education and Training Partnership, a partnership between the University and four further education colleges in north London and Essex. The fieldwork that provides the evidence for the report was largely conducted between July 2002 and April 2003. The researcher took up a new post as Director of Research with the Learning and Skills Development Agency at the end of April 2003. During the period May to June 2004, continued support and access to resources were provided by Middlesex University to facilitate completion of the research. Two further developments are worthy of note in relation to the timing of the project. First, the Higher Education and Training Partnership underwent a complete review during the course of the fieldwork. The context, conduct and outcomes of the review are captured in Chapter 4, the case study of the Higher Education and Training Partnership. Secondly, the Higher Education Funding Council for England commissioned a review of indirect funding agreements between higher education institutions and further education colleges. The review took place between January and June 2003. The researcher was asked to chair the advisory group for the review and was privy to information that was not in the public domain but that was of direct relevance to the conduct of the research. Confidential information obtained while carrying out the role of chair of the advisory group was excluded from this report. Finally, it should be noted that the study was conducted as the final element of a work- based learning programme for the award of Doctorate in Professional Studies (Higher Education Policy). The researcher undertook the project as a reflective practitioner. The project and its outcomes were intended to have a positive impact on the organisation that was the site of the work-based learning and the broader community in which it was located, as well as on the researcher's own learning. 4 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figures Page Figure 1 Phases and milestones on the path to widening participation 37 Figure 2 Frequently cited partnership dividends 55 Figure 3 Aims of the Higher Education and Training Partnership 59 Figure 4 Areas covered by the HETP partnership agreement 62 Figure 5 Objectives of the Staffordshire University Regional Federation 75 Figure 6 Areas covered by the SURF partnership agreement 77 Figure 7 Strategic aims of the APU Regional University Partnership 89 Figure 8 Areas covered by the APU Regional University Partnership agreement 91 between each college and APU Figure 9 Aims and rationale for the South Bedfordshire Colleges' Federation 102 (1994) Figure 10 Areas covered by partnership agreement between the University of 105 Luton and a partner college Tables Table 1 Details of respondents selected for semi-structured interviews 30 Table 2 Answering the research questions 32 Table 3 Summary of issues used to analyse case studies 35 Table 4 Members of the Higher Education and Training Partnership 57 Table 5 HETP's contribution to widening participation - numbers of full-time 68 equivalent students Table 6 Members of the Staffordshire University Regional Federation 73 Table 7 SURF's contribution to widening participation - numbers of full-time 82 equivalent students Table 8 Membership of the Anglia Polytechnic University Regional University 86 Partnership Table 9 APU Regional University Partnership's contribution to widening 96 participation - numbers of full-time equivalent students Table 10 Members of the Bedfordshire Federation for Further and Higher 100 Education Table 11 Bedfordshire Federation's contribution to widening participation - 110 numbers of full-time equivalent students Table 12 Summary of key aspects of case study partnerships 116 Table 13 Partnerships' contribution to widening participation - numbers of full-time 119 equivalent students Table 14 Findings from thematic analysis of qualitative evidence 137 Table 15 Benefits of partnership 143 Table 16 Barriers to effective partnership operation 146 Table 17 Critical success factors in partnerships 152 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Widening participation in higher education: the contribution of partnerships between higher and further education Widening participation in higher education has been a stated priority of the Government since it came to power in 1997. In its 2001 election manifesto, the Government set a target that, by 2010,50% of people aged between 18-30 will have had the opportunity to experience higher education. The percentage of this age group currently engaged in higher education is calculated at 43%. Government education policy in the last six to seven years has explicitly encouraged collaboration between institutions in the higher and further education sectors as a means of widening participation in higher education. Partnerships are seen as holding the key to delivering the Government's 50% target. This research explored the contribution that such partnerships make to Government objectives for widening participation in higher education. Four case studies of partnership were examined: the Higher Education and Training Partnership, based at Middlesex University; the Staffordshire University Regional Federation, the Anglia Polytechnic University Regional University Partnership and the Bedfordshire Federation for Further and Higher Education, involving the University of Luton. The case studies represented two examples each of the two main models of indirect funding between higher and further education, the funding consortium and the franchise partnership. The case studies were informed by a review of the literature. Quantitative and qualitative evidence was gathered for the case studies through a study of the data and documentation provided by the four case study partnerships and by means of a series of semi-structured interviews with a range of carefully selected respondents. The analysis of the qualitative evidence and the limited quantitative evidence that it was possible to obtain from the case studies generated a set of findings from which conclusions were drawn. The analysis, findings and conclusions represent a valuable contribution to the knowledge about partnerships and their behaviour, a hitherto under- researched area. 6 The main conclusion was that it is difficult to assess the contribution of partnerships between higher and further education to Government objectives for widening participation because of the lack of robust, comparable student