Which? could list ‘Best Buy’ degrees

UNIVERSITIES could be ranked by consumer watchdogs under plans to give students more information on the degree they choose as part of the most radical reform of higher education for decades.

Institutions will be made to publish more information on students’ satisfaction, teaching hours, course reviews and graduate job prospects under plans announced yesterday.

However student leaders rejected the Government’s claims that its new Higher Education White Paper would increase choice for university applicants when it will sit alongside a massive tuition fee increase which comes into effect next year.

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Aaron Porter, president of the National Union of Students (NUS), said: “To use proposals for more information as a justification for lifting the cap on fees to £9,000 is outrageous and will not fool students and their families. It’s the price, rather than educational standards, that will have tripled.”

President of the Oxford University student union David Barclay said: “Dressing up the White Paper with the language of student choice is like putting lipstick on a pig – it cannot mask the fundamental destruction of our universities. Sky-high fees and a marketised system will only serve to hurt social mobility and cause courses and institutions to close across the country.”

The Government has said consumer watchdog Which? and website bestcourse4me were interested in producing comparisons using detailed information on university courses.

Information provided is set to include what courses successful applicants to popular universities took at school to help current pupils choose their own options.

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Universities Minister David Willetts yesterday defended plans to “name and shame” degrees with poor job prospects.

Mr Willetts said the Government was looking for a “transformation” in the amount of information students receive.

He said: “There are some courses that are far better at preparing young people for the world of work than others. At the moment, the student finds it very hard to get that information.

“In future, they are going to be able to see ‘if I do biological sciences at one university, I have got a much better chance of a job in a pharmaceutical company than if I do biological sciences at a different university’.

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“Yes, all that information should be out there and we are insisting for the first time that it should be available for prospective students.”

The Government is considering making the creation of Student Charters, stating what the university intends to provide, compulsory.

The White Paper will also look at whether graduates would be allowed to pay back their loans early, but the Government said it will consult on how to do this.

The document says it will consider whether students should apply for university after receiving their A-level results.

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Such a move would mean a major revamp of the system, with students sitting their A-levels earlier in the school year to allow more time to apply.

Ministers said they would not look at so-called post qualification application or a hybrid system until after UCAS completed its review of the admissions process.

The Government is also launching a review of the collaboration between universities and industry to increase private sector involvement in degree courses.

The White Paper contains measures to open up the sector and give more power to students with the reforms tied to the Government’s plans to triple tuition fees to £9,000 from 2012.

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The fee increase caused widespread student anger when it was launched last year and has remained a source of controversy for Ministers after the majority of universities announce plans for top level fees when the Government had expected an average charge of £7,500.

Yesterday’s announcement included plans to encourage universities to compete for 20,000 places for courses which charge fees of under £7,500.

This move is intended to allow new providers such as private universities or further education colleges to increase the number of degree courses they run.

Martin Doel, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “The White Paper recognises the benefits of affordable, quality college higher education in England by providing 20,000 extra student places available for institutions setting 2012 course fees under £7,500.

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“The vast majority of further education colleges teaching HE will be charging £6,000 or below next year.

“While we would have liked to see even more places available and a price threshold lower than £7,500 as a welcome first step in creating more affordable places, in a way that is flexible and leads to improved life and career prospects, we understand the pressures on the public purse that necessitate a limit on additional places.”

However the University and College Union’s general secretary Sally Hunt said: “The Government’s higher education policy is already in complete disarray after it got its sums wrong on fees. However, bringing in for-profit providers is not the answer to the current funding crisis in higher education.”

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