New Labour – Money buys Educational Standards

Back in July 2008 the Chairman of the House of Commons select committee on innovation, universities, science and skills, stressed a need to examine the threat to higher education standards. Today’s report says it is "unacceptable" for higher education to receive £15bn in taxpayers' funding "but be unable to answer a straightforward question about the relative standards of the degrees of the students" and describes the situation as "absurd and disreputable" the claim that the growing demand for courses, including from overseas students, is proof that university standards are being maintained. Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, on the other hand challenges the report while a Conservative university spokesman says about the report - "refreshingly frank assessment of where things stand". Back in July 2008 too The chief executive of the Quality Assurance Agency, Peter Williams, reflected some of these concerns about an over-dependence on overseas students. He was also explicit in his criticism of the current system: "The way that degrees are classified is a rotten system. It just doesn't work any more."

 

The UK was formerly about setting Standards to which others aspired however through inconsistency brought about by the need to modularize in forcing competition, while yielding profits, standards as to some has gone out through the window!. Was it right that the Government bribe children to attend classes to reduce absenteeism?. In 2004 Ministers set out plans for the Excellent teacher Scheme (ETS) as in today’s News but in reality almost a third of the teachers in Schools were not even aware of the scheme. Quality and Standards are about Identity but how far down the road must the Nation tread before recognizing that diminishing standards diminishes worth.

 

OLD News

05 04 2008 Graduates - better off on dole. Graduates just out of university may be better off on the dole than taking a low-grade "stop gap" job for which they are over-qualified, an expert has said. Each year large numbers of graduates leave university with high hopes of glittering careers. The immediate reality for many of them was poorly paid work in unchallenging jobs, such as serving in fast food restaurants, stacking boxes in supermarkets, or filing papers in back-room offices. "They are moving out of the normal range of levels of psychological well being into the area of clinical depression," said Prof Cassidy, who presented his results today at the British Psychological Society's annual meeting in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Dublin.

https://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/40278/Graduates-better-off-on-dole-

 

02 07 2008 BBC News - E-mail leak of 'degree inflation'. The Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) e-mail, sent to computing and mathematics staff by that department's academic standards manager, calls for an increase in the number of first class and upper second degrees. The e-mail, sent several months ago and now obtained by the BBC News website, reveals how staff have to consider more than the quality of students' work - and the tension between academic standards and universities' external ambitions. "As a university we do not award as many Firsts and 2.1s as other comparable institutions so there is an understandable desire to increase the proportion of such awards," it says. The university told the BBC this was in no way related to university policy.

Last week, the higher education exams watchdog warned that the university grading system was "rotten". The e-mail goes on: "We have never received any external examiner criticism that our 'standards' are too low so there should be quite a lot of leeway available to us all when assessments are set." The e-mail also includes a joke about boosting the student satisfaction rating.

Earlier this year, staff at Kingston University were caught urging students to falsify their responses to improve the university's standing in league tables. It says: "Please do not complain when all the BSc (Hons) mathematics students gain first class awards next summer. Now that really would increase our student satisfaction!" The leaking of the e-mail provides further evidence of the concern among academics over the pressure to manipulate degree awards to improve the public image of universities and to make them more attractive to applicants. MMU confirmed the e-mail was genuine.

Such is the level of concern that Phil Willis, chair of the House of Commons select committee on innovation, universities, science and skills, wants to examine the threat to higher education standards.

This is the latest warning about university standards, following a whistleblower's account of postgraduate degrees being awarded to students who could barely speak English.

The chief executive of the Quality Assurance Agency, Peter Williams, reflected some of these concerns about an over-dependence on overseas students He was also explicit in his criticism of the current system: "The way that degrees are classified is a rotten system. It just doesn't work any more."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7483330.stm

 

17 03 2009 Tuition fees 'should be £6,500'. That was the opinion of a group of 12 vice-chancellors polled as part of a study by Universities UK, which represents the executive heads of UK universities. It suggests that University tuition fees in England and Wales should rise from their current maximum level of £3,000 to £6,500. However, annual fees of £7,000 would be enough to "make potential students start to change their behaviour" and could even "discourage some from enrolling in higher education", the study revealed.

http://money.uk.msn.com/student/spendingandsaving/livingcosts/article.aspx?cp-documentid=15159232

 

01 08 2009 Universities 'fail on standards' – say a report by The Commons Universities Select Committee. "Inconsistency in standards is rife," said committee chairman, Phil Willis.  

The report says it is "unacceptable" for higher education to receive £15bn in taxpayers' funding "but be unable to answer a straightforward question about the relative standards of the degrees of the students". It describes as "absurd and disreputable" the claim that the growing demand for courses, including from overseas students, is proof that university standards are being maintained.

The report casts doubt on the reliability of self-regulation by universities and calls for tighter rules for external examiners and a way of comparing standards in different institutions.

MPs also recommend a national system of bursaries to support students, removing differences in the amounts offered by individual institutions.

NUS president, Wes Streeting, also welcomed the questions raised about value for money from degree courses. "Tuition fees in England were trebled in 2006, but students have not seen a demonstrable improvement in the quality of their experience.

Lord Mandelson challenges the report while a Conservative university spokesman says about the report - "refreshingly frank assessment of where things stand".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8178740.stm