SUB-BACHELOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM Gareth Parry, Arti Saraswat and Anne Thompson A A This report was prepared for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Sheffield. The authors are Professor Gareth Parry, Dr Arti Saraswat and Dr Anne Thompson. The views expressed in the report are those of the project team and do not necessarily reflect those of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. Acknowledgements Our thanks go to many individuals and organisations for assisting with this study. In addition to officials in government departments in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we gratefully acknowledge the help of Adrian Anderson, Richard Boniface, Lucy Hunter Blackburn, Jim Gallacher, Julian Gravatt, Rob Stroud and Graham Whalley. Dedication Our report is dedicated to the memory of Dr Peter Wright (1941-2016). Before retiring from full-time work in 2004, Peter was a Deputy Director at QAA, where he co-authored a report (with Julian Ellis) for the Department for Education and Employment which addressed questions similar to those in our own study. We are in his debt for this investigation as well as for his many other contributions - academic, professional and intellectual - to the field of higher education. Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 2 Dedication ............................................................................................................................. 2 Contents ............................................................................................................................... 3 List of tables .......................................................................................................................... 6 Executive summary ............................................................................................................... 1 Matters of definition ........................................................................................................... 1 Volumes and proportions of students ................................................................................ 3 Features of development ................................................................................................... 3 Interventions by government ............................................................................................. 5 Zones of heterogeneity and complexity ............................................................................. 6 Patterns of provision and participation ............................................................................... 7 Reviews of fitness and funding .......................................................................................... 8 Issues for debate and investigation ................................................................................... 9 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 11 2 What is sub-bachelor higher education? ................................................................ 14 2.1 Two categories of sub-bachelor higher education .................................................. 14 2.1.1 Higher education at the other undergraduate levels .............................................. 14 2.1.2 Higher level education, training and skills .............................................................. 15 2.1.3 Sub-bachelor qualifications, higher level apprenticeships and qualifications frameworks ............................................................................................................ 15 2.2 Sub-bachelor higher education in early UK qualifications frameworks ................... 16 2.3 Sub-bachelor qualifications in the FHEQ ............................................................... 19 2.3.1 FHEQ qualification descriptor at Level 4 ................................................................ 19 2.3.2 FHEQ qualification descriptor at Level 5 ................................................................ 20 2.4 Sub-bachelor qualifications in the FQHEIS ............................................................ 21 2.4.1 FQHEIS qualification descriptor at SCQF Level 7 .................................................. 21 2.4.2 FQHEIS qualification descriptor at SCQF Level 8 .................................................. 22 2.5 Sub-bachelor qualifications in international frameworks and classifications ........... 22 3 What size and share of higher education? ............................................................. 24 3.1 Students studying in the UK and offshore for qualifications and credits at the sub-bachelor levels ............................................................................................... 25 3.2 Full-time and part-time students studying at the sub-bachelor levels in higher education institutions and further education colleges in the UK ............................. 27 3.3 Full-time and part-time students studying at the sub-bachelor levels in higher education institutions and further education colleges in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ................................................................................... 28 3.4 Full-time and part-time students registered at the sub-bachelor levels at higher education institutions and further education colleges in the UK ............................. 30 3.5 Full-time and part-time students registered at the sub-bachelor levels at higher education institutions and further education colleges in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ................................................................................... 31 3.6 Sub-bachelor higher education and the Open University ....................................... 33 3.7 Full-time and part-time students studying for designated undergraduate courses at the sub-bachelor levels at private providers in England ..................................... 33 3.8 Individuals undertaking higher level apprenticeships in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ................................................................................... 34 3.9 Offshore students studying for sub-bachelor qualifications awarded by UK higher education providers or awarding organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland .................................................................................................... 35 4 How has it developed? .......................................................................................... 37 4.1 Sub-bachelor higher education at the time of the Robbins inquiry ........................ 38 4.2 A binary policy for higher education ....................................................................... 40 4.3 Reform of teacher education and the birth of the Diploma in Higher Education .... 42 4.4 A new national machinery for technician education at all levels ............................ 44 4.5 Sub-bachelor qualifications and the shift to mass higher education ...................... 46 4.6 Dearing on higher education at the sub-bachelor levels ........................................ 48 4.7 Weak demand and the invention of the Foundation Degree .................................. 50 4.8 Declining shares of sub-bachelor higher education ............................................... 53 4.9 Austerity, market reforms and higher level apprenticeships ................................... 57 5 What qualification types, what country profiles? .................................................... 63 5.1 Main types of sub-bachelor qualification in the UK ................................................ 63 5.2 Sector locations of sub-bachelor higher education in the UK countries ................. 67 5.3 Main types and locations sub-bachelor qualifications in England ........................... 68 5.4 Main types and locations of sub-bachelor qualifications in Scotland ..................... 71 5.5 Main types and locations of sub-bachelor qualifications in Wales ......................... 73 5.6 Main types and locations of sub-bachelor qualifications in Northern Ireland .......... 75 5.7 Characteristics of the sub-bachelor student population in the UK and England ..... 77 6 Futures? ................................................................................................................ 82 6.1 Proposals for regulatory reform in English higher education .................................. 83 6.1.1 A single regulator for higher education .................................................................. 83 6.1.2 A register of higher education providers ................................................................ 84 6.1.3 Reformed awarding powers and validation arrangements ..................................... 85 6.1.4 Plans for technical education and qualifications at the higher skills levels in England ................................................................................................................. 86 6.1.5 A single body to oversee the whole of technical education .................................... 87 6.1.6 Area reviews of post-16 education and training institutions ................................... 87 6.1.7 A network of specialist national colleges ............................................................... 88 6.1.8 A set of new Institutes of Technology ...................................................................