Decline in part-time students a result of unfair funding regime
Responding to official HESA statistics that confirm a sharp decease (3%) in part-time enrolments of undergraduate students in England, Professor Les Ebdon, chair of the university think-tank million+ and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire said ‘’The decline in the number of part-time enrolments in England is a direct effect of the Government’s decision to exclude part-time students from the loan and grant support package that was made available to full-time students to help them cope with the introduction of variable fees.
Universities have warned Ministers from the start that this was unfair. The fact that they have been proved correct can be of little comfort to the Government which has already had to freeze additional student numbers. It is even more illogical to retain a policy of charging part-time students upfront fees at a time of recession and rising unemployment. We now need a serious and urgent increase in higher education funding to ensure that additional student numbers are funded and that part-time study at university is free at the point of enrolment’.
Notes to editors:
- million+ is a leading university think-tank, working to solve the complex problems in higher education.
- Part-time students in England still have to pay fees upfront and are excluded from any maintenance support unless they study for at least 50% of a full-time course each year
- Even if part-time students study at 50%, they are excluded from any student grant if household income is more than £2500 per annum – a much lower figure that full-time students all of whom receive fee loans and do not have to pay fees upfront. The majority of part-time students are therefore excluded from the Government’s part-time student support package
- Earlier in the financial year, DIUS switched £4m out of the budget set aside for part-time student support to other Departmental budget areas – further evidnce of the limited numbers of students eligible to claim any support from the state and the decline in enrolments
- The million+ report reality check student finance regimes confirmed that the system in England incentivised full-time provision and that younger part-time students were from lower socioeconomic groups. The decline in part-time student enrolments is therefore likely to undermine widening participation targets
- Part-time numbers have also declined in Scotland and Wales where part-time students are also treated differentially but full-time numbers in these countries have also decreased as a result of demographic decline.
- The full results can be found at www.hesa.ac.uk/sfr130
- For more information please contact Gemma Tumelty, Public Affairs Officer on 0207 7171657 or 07900277819