ASL0072

Written evidence submitted by Coventry University

This paper responds to the following inquiry questions:

• What role can local authorities/combined authority areas play in ASALL provision?
• Who currently participates in and benefits from lifelong learning? 

Coventry University

Coventry University is one of the country’s leading modern universities with a robust academic presence regionally, nationally and across the world. Our innovative and forward thinking approach is driven by the enthusiasm of over 30,000 students, 2400 academic staff and 2000 professional services staff.

The University has always been industry focused and continues to do so as it aligns with the Industrial Strategy and its initiatives for the benefit of the regional and national economy. Meanwhile, as an innovative, enterprising and entrepreneurial university group, Coventry University is business engaged - developing strategic level collaboration with businesses on a local, national and global scale.

Where the response refers to the Coventry University Group, this is an umbrella term for Coventry University and all of the locations owned and governed by Coventry University.

Inquiry response

Coventry University Group is grateful to the Education Selection Committee for allowing us the opportunity to share our experiences. The Committee will already be familiar with the Coventry University Group’s “CU Model”, as outlined in our previous submissions (Available here & here), and through our engagement with committee Chair, Robert Halfon, who we were delighted to host at the University last year. As part of our contribution to this inquiry, we wish to draw the Committee’s focus to the experiences of CU Scarborough and CU London and the vital role they play as anchor institutions that would not be possible without the support of their respective local authorities.

Coventry University Group firmly believes in its civic commitment; working collaboratively with local partners to develop place based approaches that strive to address future workforce challenges whilst providing equality of opportunity through the provision of accessible and flexible life-shaped learning. Encouraging people to retrain and upskill is fundamental for economic growth and prosperity and will become increasingly vital as industries are reshaped by automation – that is why through the “CU model”, we are now making a significant contribution in both Scarborough and Dagenham.

We hope that our response to your inquiry is useful and we would like to extend an invitation to the committee to attend our campuses in Scarborough and Dagenham with the hope of bringing together our students and key stakeholders from the local area, in order to expand upon our shared experiences of providing lifelong learning opportunities.

CU Model

1. The CU Model offers innovative models of delivery. With multi-start, step on step off, vocation-focused undergraduate courses with flexible learning options and no end of year exams, these allow for increased flexibility and scope for mature and part-time students. Indeed, the Government recognises the importance of flexible learning and the benefits it can bring to individuals, employers and the wider economy[1].

2. Coventry University offers accelerated modes across most of its CU provision. The structured block timetable provides the opportunity, under the current fee and loan system, for students to complete their undergraduate programme in 2 calendar years (but across three academic years). 

3. Such a timetable provides students with the convenience of regular hours and the possibility of fitting other commitments, such as part-time employment and family responsibilities, around study. Courses are delivered at times that are specifically tailored to suit part‐time and mature students, including evening and weekend delivery.  Our provision in CU Scarborough was highlighted positively in the recent report by the Social Mobility Commission.

4. Programmes are designed in conjunction with businesses, enabling them to be tailored to the business objectives of individual organisations and the learning needs of their employees.  Access to HE courses with clearly articulated progression pathways in Business Studies, Health and Human Sciences are also provided. These are designed specifically for people who may not have conventional educational requirements to enter on to a higher education course.

CU Scarborough

5. 11. Coventry University Group launched branch campus CU Scarborough in 2015 following the development of a strong working partnership with the then Chief Executive of Scarborough Borough Council and a good relationship with North Yorkshire County Council. The borough has an aging population and has suffered in recent years from the outward migration of young people from the area[2]. This is at odds with the borough’s Local Plan[3] and economic development strategy to grow and diversify its economy and population, whilst also presenting challenges to local public services which struggle to recruit skilled staff to deliver vital services.
6. 12. From the point of view of Coventry University, a key reason for investing in CU Scarborough was a report released by HEFCE[4]in 2014, naming the Yorkshire coast as a ‘cold spot’ for Higher Education. It is also nationally acknowledged that traditional town centres, particularly those located within coastal towns, face significant social and economic challenges. Furthermore, the nexus between educational background of parents and future prospects of their offspring is well documented, thus highlighting the importance of mechanisms to support social mobility. Therefore, the aims of the local authority and the University are intertwined -with both working to support the implementation of the Council’s ambitious local plan, which includes growing Scarborough as a “University Town”.

7. 13. Since launching, CU Scarborough is now established as a pivotal anchor institution in the area, with the former council Chief Executive a member of the CU Scarborough Advisory Board. The university moved into its purpose built, state of the art, £14m campus in August 2016. Starting with only 17 students, student numbers have grown rapidly in the intervening years with 550 currently enrolled and a cohort of circa 800 students expected for the 2019/20 academic year including a significant number of mature students. Furthermore, CU Scarborough has developed, in partnership with local employers and public services, 12 new degree programmes including Adult Nursing, which started in September 2018, and Mental Health Nursing and Acting which both start in September 2019; reflecting a need to support the local health economy by providing valuable education opportunities to local people.  Furthermore, the University has continued to invest in purpose built spaces on the campus including a £200k Cyber Security Lab and a £40k clinical skills facility.

8. 14. Working closely with local businesses, the university also provides courses that can be woven into the working week.  Part of its corporate strategy is to ‘provide relevant and much needed graduates to the Yorkshire coast region’ by delivering ‘career focussed courses’[5] that are flexible and provide lifelong learning opportunities. The branch campus offers a number of different degree apprenticeships, including a Nursing Associate apprenticeship, which provide businesses and local organisations with a way to upskill their existing workforce. Furthermore CU Scarborough has recently secured £250K of funding from the Office for Students for a project to improve graduate outcomes in the health and social care sector on the North Yorkshire Coast[6] which we hope secures the university as a vital anchor institution that is renowned for upskilling/reskilling the local workforce.

9. 15. The relationship with the local authority continues to be a pivotal component of the university’s success in Scarborough. CU Scarborough has aspirations to grow student numbers within the borough to 2000, and the ability to achieve this growth has been impacted by a shortage of quality student accommodation within the town. Similarly the NHS is struggling to attract a range of key health workers (including junior doctors, nurses and clinical staff) due to the shortage of suitable accommodation and skills within the town.

10. 16. The council has recently approved plans for the development of purpose built student accommodation to help support the growth of both education and employment opportunities as part of the Council’s local plan to grow Scarborough as a university town. Indeed, the Council recognises that CU Scarborough and the NHS have both identified shortfalls of suitable accommodation to meet their needs whilst highlighting the strategic importance of the proposals in ensuring the economic sustainability of the area and securing high quality education and employment opportunities for the local community and from further afield.

11. 17. Working in partnership with the University and NHS, the Council is making a significant financial investment to support this endeavour. The proposals will maximise the attractiveness and regenerative, social and economic benefit of the provision and recognise the importance of the accommodation to be located within the town centre, close to services and at the heart of the local community.

CU London

15. Also operating under the CU Model, CU London was launched in September 2017 in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham, set up in the newly refurbished Civic Centre in Dagenham. As has been outlined above, the CU Model is based on taking a civic approach to higher education, ensuring that the branch campus offers access to flexible higher education to those who may not have access to it in order to improve outcomes for that community.

16. Barking and Dagenham has been identified as one of the areas designated as a national priority for urban regeneration[7]. The area was best known for being home to the Ford Factory, where many local people worked until full production of vehicles shut down in the 1980s. This closure took many of the local jobs in that industry with it, and had a big effect on the community[8].

17. The borough has also historically underperformed in comparison to other London boroughs on a number of key indicators such as education, and health outcomes[9]. For example, in 2017 a study by Trust for London found that over 40% of the population in Barking and Dagenham lacked Level 3 qualifications, the highest in any London borough[10]. Given the backdrop of these statistics, the Coventry University Group identified Barking and Dagenham as a cold spot for access to higher education and skills, and believed that the CU model could offer the Barking and Dagenham community a chance to access higher education locally. Having a higher education institution in the area was also of interest to the local authority as they looked to address the huge challenges that the borough faced in order to improve the outcomes for the local population[11].

18. CU London offers a wide range of courses across Foundation, HNC, HND and degree level to the local community and those from neighbouring boroughs in the flexible learning model outlined earlier in this document. Subjects include Business, Accounting, Law, Health and Social Care, Education and Teaching as well as many others. CU London is also the lead higher education provider for one of only 12 government funded Institutes of Technology across the UK, this one specialising in digital and construction and featuring a new, sector-leading cyber security superlab to open in January 2020 that will provide additional opportunities for students to deliver invaluable digital skills in this booming sector.

19. There are scholarships and bursaries available on offer, of around £95,000, to ensure that a wide a range of students as possible have access to education. In its first year, CU London saw 470 full time students enrol. CU London’s student population has grown by over 30% since launch and in its third year projects over 1000 enrolments, thanks in part to its responsive full time delivery models that perfectly suit ‘commuter students’ and busy adult lives

20. Since its start in September 2017, CU London has looked to work closely with the local authority and build a good partnership with the council. Setting up in the old civic building in Dagenham was of significance to both CU London and the borough. The building itself is very important to the local community and by allowing CU London to operate from within the refurbished civic centre, it stands as a monument to how CU London and the local authority are willing to work together for the benefit of the wider Barking and Dagenham community.

21. This acknowledgement and encouragement by the local authority to ensure that CU London is an anchor institution in the community is a very positive step when it comes to adult education and lifelong learning. Many of the students who study at CU London have jobs alongside their studying commitments and the inclusive nature of CU London has helped to ‘normalise’ higher education and further study.

22. As well as being home to CU London, the civic centre is open to local people with space available to use for community purposes. The CU Model branch campuses are civic in their nature and want to ensure that they are able to adapt to the needs of the local population and in Barking and Dagenham, this is one way CU London has been able to do that. The building has been used to hold local events such as the launching of the borough manifesto, and groups and businesses are invited to use the facilities as a base, creating a relationship between CU London and the wider community. This is important to ensure that people come to view higher education, and lifelong flexible learning as a normal part of their lives, and see it as easily accessible.

23. It has also allowed CU London to forge good relationships with other important businesses and groups, for example with the Future Youth Zone, and the Barking and Dagenham School Improvement Partnership. In turn, these relationships are helping CU London to better understand the needs of the local community it serves, and in the long run this will allow CU London to offer courses that are tailored to local need and take an even more place based approach. The School Improvement relationship is a good example of this, where having the team based in the civic centre has helped to build a relationship between different aspects of education in the area, and there are hopes that CU London may be able to increase its education course offer going forward. The ambition is that CU London will be delivering a range of programmes in education for teachers looking to enter and progress in the profession under the new institute for education. A very strong local partnership with Barking and Dagenham School Improvement Partnership was central to a coherent, ambitious local delivery plan that puts CU London at the heart of the solution to a borough, regional and national skills gap in this DfE-supported initiative.

24. Going forward, CU London hopes to continue to work in partnership with the local authority and other anchor institutions to continue to provide flexible and lifelong learning which suits the needs of the community it serves. Barking and Dagenham Borough Council have launched their borough manifesto which has set out aims and achievements for the borough over the next 20 years[12]. CU London will have a role to play in achieving some of the outcomes and it is this partnership which plays an important role in embedding adult skills and lifelong learning into the fabric of the community. For example, CU London already offers Policing as a subject which will provide local people with access to those qualifications and in turn, support the borough’s ambition to decrease crime. And both CU London and the council are in discussions about how it could support creative arts skills to support the creation of the new film studio in Dagenham.

25. The CU London experience in Barking and Dagenham highlights how higher education institutions can be truly civic in their approach to adult and lifelong learning when working closely with the local authority. The local authority therefore has a role in being able to articulate the skills gaps in the local area, and work with education institutions to address these. Since it opened in 2017, CU London has already begun to offer higher education to a cold spot and there is ambition to extend this offer given the support for the institution locally. CU London is also committed to ensuring that it has a positive impact on the local community through its delivery of higher education but also through its involvement more widely with the local community, and through its place on the Barking and Dagenham Delivery Partnership. The Partnership brings together organisations from across the public, private, and community and voluntary sectors with the local council.

26. The CU London model highlights how a strong partnership between the local authority, education institutions, and the wider community can come together to address the local skills gap and ensure that the local community has access to higher education and in turn, look to improve the outcomes of the local population and enact wider societal change.

Conclusion

27. As the above case studies demonstrate, local authorities that work strategically and collaboratively with education providers and local businesses within their communities can help grow adult lifelong learning opportunities. In turn these benefit the local population and help enhance economic prospects, and encourage growth and regeneration of deprived areas. Without this collaboration, it would be impossible to deliver these opportunities effectively, with danger of a disconnect between the skills being delivered by local education provider and the skills gap of the local area, and the impact of this on the community.

August 2019