Stretching or Shrinking the Bachelor Degree Sandra Hollis Pro Vice-Chancellor Anglia Ruskin University, UK

English degrees have already been shrunk shortest in Europe result of the most specialised last two years of school in Europe at the price of the lowest staying-on rate for the last two years of secondary school in Europe Scotland thinking of shrinking private providers shrinking face-to-face contact

Pressures for further shrinkage 25% of UK undergraduate full-time students are not school leavers Imminent price rises will mean that school leavers will in future leave university with more than £45,000 of debt Price rises likely to shrink student numbers Shorter courses could increase numbers by making degrees more affordable

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Flexible Learning Pathfinder Project BA (Hons) International Business Strategy BA (Hons) Management Practice Whole degree in two years Use summer vacation as an extra semester Now have second cohort going through A total of 77 students in the pilot

The Students 60% of students aged % of students aged 26+ All students rank the reduced cost as a key reason for choosing the course Older students rated time saving higher Highest rank of all for course well suited to career I want

Outcomes – NB small sample Retention better than 3-year cohorts More going on to Masters study, one to University of Cambridge MPhil Employer recognition: Oberoi Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers

HEFCE Evaluation of Pathfinders Anglia Ruskin End of Project report Project successfully met objectives, positive outcomes Widening access Good recruitment and retention Good graduation and employment

HEFCE Evaluation of Pathfinders Costing Study ( Liz Hart Associates, 2011 ) Cost of 2-year accelerated degree is 71%-74% of 3-year Difficult to realise benefits with fixed student numbers (overheads spread over fewer students) Significant one-off costs to re-engineer admin systems Not all models piloted capable of expansion Likely to take two years to bring about in an institution

Degrees totally in the workplace: Higher Work £10million government funding Costs:infrastructure, cost of sale drive and develop employer engagementdrive and develop employer engagement Clients include: Barclays, Harrods, Ridgeons, SpecSavers, Volvo, UPS, National Health Service 680 students enrolled over first 18 months Bespoke products and models, undergraduate and postgraduate, e.g. Barclays: BA Management and Leadership, PG Cert\Dip Harrods:BA Sales

A customer point of view: There has never been a greater need to equip our managers with strong skill sets to enable them, and the company, to adapt to an increasingly complex and competitive market. Through this programme, we aim to equip ourselves to react stronger and faster to market changes and facilitate future growth."