- Part-time undergraduate study has an important role both in widening participation and in developing skills.
- Since 2010, the number of part-time undergraduate entrants living in England attending UK universities and English further education colleges has fallen annually. By 2015, the numbers nationally had decreased by 51%, by 63% at the Open University, and by 45% at other UK universities and FE colleges. These numbers continue to fall.
- Most of this decline was caused by the large increases in tuition fees for entrants domiciled in England following the 2012/13 student funding reforms, which abolished means-tested fee and course grants, introduced fee loans and reduced universities’ teaching grants leading to big increases in tuition fees.
- There were around 43,000 fewer entrants in 2015 than we would expect without the 2012/13 reforms.
- Student loans, contrary to their intention, have failed to stem the decline caused by fee increases.
- Less than half of all part-time entrants qualify for loans because of their narrow eligibility criteria, and
- only a quarter have taken them out.
- More student loans are unlikely to reverse the decline. They are not the right policy instrument for encouraging part-time study.
- Employer support for part-time study has held up in most universities, but not at the Open University.
- The part-time sector is not just smaller, it is different. The 2012 reforms have changed what students study, the qualifications they take, and who studies part-time.
- Tailor-made policies for part-time students and for full-time students need to replace governments’ ‘one size fits all’ approach to student funding and their preoccupation with developing a ‘level playing field’.
- Policies need to provide financial incentives for prospective students to study part-time and for universities and FE colleges to deliver part-time courses while reducing the cost of study for students.
- One option is a new tuition fee grant, which could replace maintenance loans at virtually no additional unit cost.
New evidence on the decline of part-time undergraduate study in England
1. Introduction[1]
Since 2010/11, the number of part-time undergraduate entrants at UK universities and Further Education (FE) colleges in England had fallen every year. By 2015/16, they had decreased by 51%. The fall was greater at the Open University, the key provider of part-time study, than at other universities and FE colleges in England (63% compared with 45%).
Yet part-time undergraduate higher education study helps transform lives and drive economies. It is central to lifelong learning, to the national skills strategy, for reskilling and upskilling the workforce, and for widening higher education participation.
This evidence examines the reasons for these declines focusing on the role of the 2012/13 reforms of student funding. It calls on findings from a recent report, commissioned by the Sutton Trust, by Claire Callender and John Thompson (2018) The Lost Part-Timers: The Decline of part-time undergraduate higher education in England London: Sutton Trust https://www.suttontrust.com/research-paper/lost-part-timers-mature-students/[2]
To understand the decline in the part-time study, we need to recognise the characteristics of part-time entrants and how they differ from those of full-time entrants. Arguably, one of the reasons for the decline is that the 2012/13 student funding reforms failed to acknowledge the distinctive characteristics of the part-time student population and their educational needs. Instead, the reforms adopted a ‘one size fits all’ policy approach and were preoccupied with developing ‘a level playing field’ with full-time students.
Part-time undergraduate students are very different from their full-time peers and more heterogeneous. They are more likely than full-time students to be older, and female. Their highest entry qualification and qualification aims are more diverse. Related to this, they tend to be concentrated in less research-intensive universities and study a more limited range of subjects. Most part-time students have family commitments. Around 80% part-timers are employed - mostly in full time jobs in higher level occupations in the service sector, especially the public sector - jobs which are very different to those of full-time students.
However, the characteristics of part-time students have changed following the 2012 student funding reforms.
Figure 1 shows the overall long-term decline in the number of part-time undergraduate entrants domiciled in England at UK universities. It clearly illustrates how the falls have been very dramatic since the 2012 funding changes. The Open University (OU) is by far the largest provider of part-time undergraduate courses, absorbing approximately 29% of all entrants in 2015. Its size and dominance shapes overall trends in the part-time sector. Consequently, where possible we present data separately for the OU, and for other UK universities and Further Education (FE) colleges in England.
Figure 1: Part-time undergraduate entrants domiciled in England to UK universities* (2003 to 2015, thousands)
Source: Author’s calculations derived from HESA student record data various years
*Excludes entrants to FE Colleges
The effect the 2012 funding changes need to be set in the context of the longer-term decline of part- time since 2008. Key explanations include:
- above inflation tuition fee increases;
- in 2008, the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s withdrawal of institutional funding for most ‘ELQ students’, that is those studying for a qualification at a level equivalent to, or lower than, the level of qualification which they already held;
- inadequate student financial support;
- macro-economic factors including the recession, unemployment rates, and wage levels; and
- supply factors as universities’ income from part-time fell behind the income possible from full-time provision.
Another reason mooted for the decline of part-time study is the rise of unrecorded learning opportunities[3] including unaccredited courses at universities, courses delivered by ‘alternative providers’ and Massive open online courses (MOOCs). It is hard to estimate the extent to which such provision accounts for the recorded decline. However, the spectacular growth of MOOCs, and the steady increase in unaccredited courses makes it less likely that the short ‘continuing education’ type courses typically leading to ‘institutional credits’ will return to the levels seen ten years ago.
These factors are not mutually exclusive. As suggested, there was ‘pressure on all sides’ (HEFCE, 2014).
The 2012/13 reforms sort to stem the longer-term decline in part-time participation and make part- time study more affordable (BIS, 2011), but have had the opposite effect.
The changes:
- withdrew most of government funding to universities and colleges for part-time teaching;
- abolished means-tested fee and course grants for part-time students;
- introduced a cap of £6,750 on tuition fees; and
- extended income-contingent tuition fee loans to some part-time undergraduates for the first time.
To be eligible for these new loans, students have to be:
- aiming for a qualification that is not at an equivalent or lower level than the qualification (ELQ) they already hold – for example, if they already have a Bachelor’s degree, they cannot get a loan to pay for a second Bachelor’s degree;
- studying at an intensity of greater than 25 per cent of a full-time equivalent course; and
- following a full course for a specified qualification aim – so students studying individual institutional modules are ineligible for loans.
The loan repayment terms and conditions are broadly similar to those for full-time students. Importantly, however, part-time students begin to repay their loans in the April four years, at the latest, after they start their course, even if still studying. As part-time Bachelor degree courses typically last 5-6 years, most students will have to start repaying their loan before reaping any financial benefits of their part-time study.
By contrast, full time students do not begin to repay their loans until the April after they leave their course. Like full-time students, part-time students only repay their loans once earning £21,000 or more (in 2016, rising to £25,000 in 2018) with any outstanding debt written off after 30 years.
The evidence from both the trends in numbers of entrants to the Open University and to other universities, suggests that without the 2012 changes entrant numbers would have declined, but that the 2012 changes increased that decline. In 2010, the last year not to be affected by the 2012 fee increases for entrants domiciled in England, there were 216,000 entrants. By 2015, the numbers had fallen to 106,000. If the entrant numbers had fallen by the same proportion as for entrants domiciled in Wales (unaffected by the 2012 reforms), in 2015 there would have been 149,000 entrants domiciled in England. This suggests that something like 40% of the decline in English domiciled entrants can be attributed to the 2012 reforms, with over 43,000 fewer entrants in 2015 than we would expect without those changes.
Following the 2012 reforms, undergraduate part-time tuition fees rose because higher education institutions no longer received direct public funding for most of their teaching.
- In 2012/13, the median tuition fee charged for a part-time degree was £5,000 per FTE (HESA, 2014) and some institutions charged the maximum £9,000 per FTE.
- A comparable national figure prior to 2012/13 is unavailable, but tuition fees in 2012/13 were more than double, and in some cases triple, their pre- 2012/13 level.[4] For instance, the Open University increased its fees by 247% in real terms, from £1,400 to £5,000 per FTE between 2011 and 2012.[5]
By comparing trends for entrants domiciled in England, with those in Scotland and Wales, who were unaffected by the 2012 reforms, it is clear that the decline in 2012 was caused by the large increase in tuition fees in England.
The introduction of loans for part-time students was meant to mitigate any negative effect on access resulting from tuition fee rises. Yet, less than half of part-time entrants qualify for them because of their narrow eligibility criteria (Table 1). Without loans, potential students have to pay their tuition fees up-front and out of their pocket, or abandon the idea of studying. As research in the UK and elsewhere, repeatedly shows, upfront fees and fee increases have an adverse impact on participation unless they are accompanied by equivalent increases in student support (Dearden et at al, 2014; Dynarski, 2003). The falling enrolments are both unsurprising and predictable.
Extending loans via relaxing the ELQ eligibility criteria only, is unlikely to have much impact on the falling numbers.
- In 2012, 41% of all part-time entrants to UK universities and FE colleges in England were eligible for a loan (Table 1).
- Twice as many Open University entrants as those at other UK universities and FE colleges in England qualified (62% compared with 31%).
- By 2015, the proportion of all entrants eligible for loans had risen to 47%, and increased to 81% for Open University entrants and 35% at other UK universities and FE colleges in England.
- Consequently, most entrants outside of the Open University do not qualify for loans.
- Most ineligible for a loan do not meet a variety of the loan eligibility criteria, which are not just related to ELQ restrictions and students’ higher education qualifications on entry and (Table 1).
Table 1: Percentage of part-time undergraduate entrants domiciled in England ineligible for a loan (All UK Universities including the Open University and FE colleges in England)
Reasons for ineligibility | 2012 | 2015 |
‘Not eligible’ – course requirements, ELQ,etc | 48% | 45% |
‘ELQ’ – eligible apart from ELQ criterion | 7% | 7% |
Ineligible total* | 56%- 59% | 52%-53% |
Source: Callender and Thompson (2018)
Table 1 shows that the percentage of ineligible entrants arising from the ELQ criterion alone is much lower than previous estimates (Callender, 2015). This arises because here we have only counted entrants as ‘ELQ ineligible’ if they failed to meet this criterion only. If all the graduates and others with HE qualifications who did not meet the ELQ requirements were counted, we would get a much bigger figure. There is no ‘right’ answer but with the definition used here, we get a measure of the percentage of entrants that would potentially benefit from a relaxation of the ELQ conditions while, keeping the other conditions the same.
From 2015 honours graduates studying a second honours degree part-time in engineering, technology, computer science, or a mixture of these subjects, became eligible for a loan. We estimate that in 2015, less than 250 entrants benefited from this change, far fewer than originally estimated. In 2017, the ELQ exemption was extended to cover all STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects. We estimate that less than 600 entrants will benefit, assuming they are aware of this policy change.
Student loans for tuition fees have proved far less popular among part-time students than among their full-time peers.
- In 2012, an estimated 24% of all part-time entrants to UK Universities and FE colleges in England had taken out a loan (Table 2).
- Of those who were eligible, about 59% had taken one out while a further 15% received employer support or a fees waiver (Table 2) compared with 94% of full-timers taking out loans (SLC,2017).
Table 2: Part-time undergraduate entrants domiciled in England eligibility and take up of tuition fee loans, employer support and fee waivers, 2012. (All UK Universities including the Open University, and FE colleges in England)
| No. entrants | All entrants | Eligible entrants |
% | Cum. % | % | Cum. % |
All entrants | 133,705 | 100% | | | |
Eligible for loan* | 54,830 | 41% | | 100% | |
Loan taken out | 32,335 | 24% | 24% | 59% | 59% |
Employer support** | 6,805 | 5% | 29% | 12% | 71% |
Fee waiver** | 1,430 | 1% | 30% | 3% | 73% |
Source: Callender and Thompson, 2018
* Assumes all undetermined eligibility entrants are ineligible
** For those eligible for a loan
New maintenance loans for part-time students taking a degree level course will be introduced in 2018/19. No doubt, maintenance loans will enable some to take up part-time studies, but it seems unlikely that this measure alone will lead to a significant increase in numbers on entrants.
Governments’ answer to stemming and reversing the decline of part-time numbers is student loans. They have increased opportunities to take out loans, relaxed the conditions for tuition fee loan eligibility, and introduced maintenance loans (from 2018). While welcome in themselves, the evidence suggests that more loans will not have a great impact on the falling numbers.
Some part-time students are prepared to borrow to study. But for most, part-time study is now too expensive. It is unaffordable. They do not perceive loans as an adequate safeguard against the risks of part-time study. Part-time students, who tend to be older and have substantial family and financial commitments, according to government research are far more price sensitive and debt averse than their younger full-time peers. Their unwillingness or inability to pay the higher fees upfront, or via loans, is compounded by wider economic factors.
Taking out a loan and having to pay, in essence, an additional 9% of marginal tax for loan repayments, or more than £6,000 a year for fees, is a leap of faith when the returns on their investment are unknown and uncertain. As research demonstrates, the financial returns from lifelong learning, higher earnings, and improved employment opportunities, are mixed (Dorsett, 2010). Yet governments justify student loans because of the assumed financial returns and the belief that those who benefit financially from higher education should contribute towards its cost. For all these reasons, loans may not be the right policy instrument for encouraging greater participation in part-time study.
6. The effects of the 2012 funding changes on employer support
Employer support is important, not only because without it some students would not have enrolled into higher education, but also because it is an indication that the employer values the competencies that the course is expected to bring (Mason 2011; 2013; Pollard et al, 2012). Research shows that employers are very selective in terms of which employees they help with tuition fee costs, favouring the most advantaged - those in higher-level full-time jobs (Callender et al, 2010).
Some have argued that higher tuition fees are a barrier to employers supporting their employees financially with the costs of tuition fee (HEFCE, 2014). Others suggest that the availability of loans have acted as a disincentive for employers to sponsor their employees. The evidence is mixed.
More work is needed to understand fully what drives and deters employer funding. Greater thought needs to be given to how employers could be incentivised to support more employees to study part- time. On such possibility is a relaxation of the terms and conditions regarding employers’ use of the Apprenticeship levy.
- Between 2010 and 2015, there was a 54% fall in the numbers of English domiciled entrants receiving employer funding (Table 3).
- The fall of 88% at the Open University was far great than the fall of 50% at other universities.
- In 2010, 11% of entrants to Open University courses in England had employer funding. This fell to 4% by 2015. So over and above the general fall in entrant numbers, fewer entrants were funded by their employer. However, the percentage of entrants with employer funding held up for entrants to other universities at 20% and to FE colleges at 28% in 2015.
- By 2015, 17% of all entrants domiciled in England received employer funding for their tuition fees.
Table 3: Part-time undergraduate entrants domiciled in England with employer funding.
| Providers | Number (percentage) of entrants with employer funding | % decrease (increase) |
2010 | 2015 |
England | Open University | 8,380 (11%) | 1,035 (4%) | 88% |
Other Universities | 26,935 (21%) | 13,460 (20%) | 50% |
FE colleges | 2,775 (25%) | 3,075 (28%) | (11%) |
All | 38,090 (18%) | 10,4157 (17%) | 54% |
Source: Callender and Thompson, 2018
7. The impact of the 2012 reforms on part-time provision
The part-time sector is not just smaller following the 2012 funding reforms, it is different.
There has been a dramatic shift in entrants’ qualification aims and their intensity of study, signalling a change in the nature of part-time provision with a move towards more degree courses and away from vocationally oriented short ‘continuing’ education type courses. These shifts are associated with the student loan eligibility criteria (see section 4). They suggest that HEIs are modifying their provision so more potential students can qualify for loans while entrants may be deterred from studying low- intensity courses.
- In 2010, a quarter of all part-time entrants to UK universities and FE colleges in England studied for a degree and three-quarters for sub-degree qualifications.[6] By 2015, a third of entrants were aiming for a degree and two-thirds for a sub-degree.
- By 2015, the number of non-degree entrants had declined more rapidly than degree entrants (57% compared with 33%), and especially at the Open University (88% non-degree compared with 31% degree) in contrast to entrants at other UK universities and FE colleges (46% sub- degree compared with 36% degree).
- There was a 64% decline in the number of entrants studying on courses of less than 25% intensity, while the decline in the number on courses of 25% intensity and over was 41%.
- The higher decline of entrants on the less than 25% intensity courses was driven by a fall of 94% at the Open University, compared with a fall of 46% at other UK universities and FE colleges.
- These falls were probably due to supply as well as demand effects but have contributed to the rise in the proportion of students eligible for student loans (see section 5.3).
Table 4:Part-time undergraduate entrants domiciled in England by qualification aim (Open University, Other UK Universities and FE colleges in England)
Provider | Qualification | 2010 | 2015 | % decrease |
Open University | Degree | 32,425 | 22,235 | 31% |
Sub-degree | 41,305 | 4,925 | 88% |
Other universities, FE colleges | Degree | 21,070 | 13,420 | 36% |
Sub-degree | 121,110 | 64,910 | 46% |
All | Degree | 53,495 | 35,655 | 33% |
Sub-degree | 162,415 | 69,835 | 57% |
Source: Callender and Thompson (2018).
Entrants are becoming more concentrated in fewer subjects, especially those outside the OU, following the 2012 reforms.
- Between 2010 and 2015, enrolments in all subjects fell at UK universities and FE colleges in England, except for in engineering and technology, which saw a one per cent growth.
- The largest fall was for those studying Combined subjects with the number of entrants falling by 85%. This was due to the decline in modular ‘open’ courses, especially at the Open University, which accounted for 81% of the combined studies entrants in 2010.
- UK university and FE college entrants outside the OU are now more concentrated in fewer subjects. By 2015, two-thirds of all entrants studied just three subjects – Subjects allied to medicine (44%); Engineering & technology (12%); and Education (9%).
There are not just fewer part-time students, overall they are becoming less diverse and in some respect increasingly like full-time entrants.
- There were large falls in the number of entrants to all UK universities and FE colleges in England in all age groups between 2010 and 2015. The largest falls were among those aged over 35, so that overall, the age profile of part-time students is becoming younger, more like full-time entrants.
Part-time study contributes to widening participation but measuring socio-economic disadvantage of mature entry, and part-time mature entry in particular, is difficult. The current POLAR classification was designed to monitor the family backgrounds of young entrants and is inappropriate for assessing for position of part-time and mature learners. A new measure is required to capture the socio- economic backgrounds of older and part-time students.
- Between 2010 and 2015, the number of young entrants (aged 20 and under) to all UK universities and FE colleges in England fell by 51%.
- The falls were greater among those from the most advantaged POLAR group (1) than among those from the most disadvantaged group (5) – 59% compared with 42%.
- In 2015, a higher proportion of young part-time entrants than young full-time entrants came from disadvantaged POLAR groups (36% compared with 28%).
- POLAR is an inappropriate measure of disadvantage for mature entrants, and an alternative measure is required.
- Between 2010 and 2015, among young part-time entrants to all UK universities and FE colleges in England, the biggest change in their highest qualification on entry was the increasing share of entrants with A-levels and their equivalents. This change brought the profile of highest qualifications for part-time entrants closer to the profile of full-time entrants.
- Over the same period, among part-time mature entrants, the biggest change was also the rise in the proportion with A-levels and their equivalents.
- By 2015, 55% of mature part-time entrants already had a degree, or some other higher education qualification compared with 33% of mature full-time entrants.
Government should replace its ‘one size fits all’ approach to student funding with tailor-made policies for part-time and for full-time students. They need to provide financial incentives for prospective students to study part-time and for universities and FE colleges to deliver part-time courses.
The government’s Review of Post-18 Education should recognise that the costs of tuition for part- time and mature students need to be tackled to reduce barriers to entry. One option, at a low or zero additional unit cost, would be to give students who are eligible for the new maintenance loan the option of a tuition fee grant for the first two years of their course instead of taking out the maintenance loan.
This means-tested tuition fee grant would help tackle the three financial constraints students encounter: price and liquidity constraints as well as debt aversion. It would cover most, at least 95%, of the tuition fee, so less than £200 in tuition fees would be paid up front, and gives a break-even RAB charge of 42%.[7]
Resources should be invested in reinvigorating lifelong learning, particularly for the less well off. In a rapidly changing economy, the need to upskill is likely to become greater. It is essential that this does not lead to a two tier-workforce. Additional resources for supporting lifelong learning should be directed at those with lower levels of education and from low socio-economic backgrounds who would benefit the most.
The key limitation of the above ‘zero unit cost’ proposal is that it would exclude part-time students who do not qualify for maintenance loans. Eligibility to student loans could be broadened by lifting the ELQ and other restrictions. Introducing a part-time premium for universities and FE colleges would reduce their tuition fees making part-time study more accessible and affordable to students while incentivising higher education institutions to provide more part-time courses.
To encourage greater employer investment, the government should consider relaxing the terms and conditions associated with employers’ use of the Apprenticeship levy.
Information on fees and loan eligibility should be much clearer for prospective students. Providing accurate, up-to-date data on fees and ‘fees per full-time equivalent student’ in an easily accessible form should be a priority for the Office for Students. Loan eligibility criteria should be streamlined to make them less complex and easier to understand.
Information for policy development
Data collection that can inform future policy should be improved. There are four sets of information, which, if they were available more systematically, would make future analysis much more effective: part-time tuition fees, loan eligibility and loan take up, and means to measure the impact on social mobility of mature entry to higher education. Ideally, these data items would be routinely included in the HESA and Student Loan Company student records.
15 March 2018
References
BIS (2011). Students at the Heart of the System, White Paper, Cm 8122. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. London: Stationery Office, paragraph 5.27.
Callender, C. (2015). Putting part-time students at the heart of the system? In N. Hillman (ed), It’s the finance, stupid! The decline of part-time higher education and what to do about it. Oxford: HEPI.
Callender, C. and Thompson, J. (2018). The Lost Part-Timers: The Decline of part-time undergraduate higher education in England. London: Sutton Trust.
Callender, C., Hopkin, R., and Wilkinson D. (2010). Futuretrack: part-time students career decision- making and career development of part-time higher education student. Manchester: Higher Education Careers Services Unit.
Dearden, L. and Fitzsimons, E. and Wyness, G. (2014). “Money for Nothing: Estimating the Impact of Student Aid on Participation in Higher Education”, Economics of Education Review, 43, 66-78.
Dorsett, R., Lui, S., and Weale, M. (2010). Economic Benefits of Lifelong Learning. Discussion Paper No 352. London: National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
Dynarki, S. (2003). “Does Aid matter? Measuring the Effect of Student Aid on College Attendance and Completion”, American Economic Review, 93 (1), 279-288.
HEFCE (2014). Pressure from all sides: Economic and policy influences on part-time higher education, (April 2014) HEFCE Report 2014/8d. Bristol: Higher Education Funding Council for England.
Mason, G. (2013). Employer support for part-time higher education students. BIS Research paper number 119. London: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Mason, G., and Hopkin, R. (2011). Employer perspectives on Part -time students in UK higher education, BIS Research Paper Number 27. London: Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
Pollard, E., Hunt, E., Hillage, J., Drever, E., Chanfreau, J., Coutinho, S., and Poole, E. (2013). Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2011/12, English-domiciled Students. Research paper number 115.
London: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
SLC (2017). Student Support for Higher Education in England 2017: 2016/17 payments, 2017/18 awards, SLC SFR 05/2017, Glasgow: Student Loans Company.
4
[1] The views expressed in this report are solely those of the author. My thanks go to John Thompson for all the analysis undertaken.
[2] The report is to be published in March 2018. Most of the statistics in this report relate to the numbers of part-time undergraduate entrants domiciled in England, or, for comparison, domiciled in Scotland or Wales, attending public UK higher education institutions and further education colleges in England. The main data sources are the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) student records and the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Individualised Learner Record (ILR) for students registered at FE colleges.
[3] Most analysis, including this evidence, uses the individual student records at public institutions collected by the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) and the equivalent records returned by FE Colleges.
[4] No national comparable data are available on current part-time tuition fees.
[5] Personal communication with Open University
[6] Other sub-degree qualifications include: Foundation Degrees (FD), HND and HNC: Other higher education qualifications, for example Certificate of Higher Education; and Institutional Credits – credits that can be aggregated to qualify for a higher education award but which do not constitute an award in their own right.
[7] This is based on the following parameters: course 50% intensity FTE; tuition fee of £2864.00 - Standard 60 credit Open University fee; Maintenance Loan of £3548.50 - 50% of £7079 Living at home FT loan.