Degrees lasting two years to be offered at UK universities

According to Jo Johnson, Minister of Universities and Science, students in England will be offered degrees lasting two years, saving £5,500.

The fees for these condensed undergraduate courses will stand at 20% less than current three-year courses. However, the amount of teaching will not be reduced as students will take the same number of modules and receive the same amount of contact hours.

Students will also be expected to save a year’s worth of living costs.

Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, Angela Rayner, argues that annual tuition fees would be more expensive, at around £11,000 as opposed to £9,250 year.

The move comes following concerns that students did not believe they were getting good value from the fees for their degrees. A wider review of fees and university funding is expected to occur within the next few weeks.

The fees for these condensed undergraduate courses will stand at 20% less than current three-year courses. However, the amount of teaching will not be reduced.

Jo Johnson explains that he wants to “break the mould” as three-year undergraduate courses have “crowded out” flexibility in degree programmes.

He also commented that: “This policy will be particularly attractive for mature students who are looking to change their skills and adapt to changes in the economy – and who might want to go through higher education at a faster pace.”

Rayner argues that there is no evidence that: “Squeezing three years of learning into two will stop the huge drop in part-time students or lead to better outcomes”.

Third-year Psychology student, Haneefah Pervez, commented: “I don’t think you would be able to get the full university experience, first-year is all about finding your feet academically and socially, with the stress of having a condensed course, you would not be able to get a chance to develop both.”