Back in March the WONKHE meeting ‘Secret Life of Students 2024: Surviving and thriving’ raised awareness of the plight of many students to a new level. As the implications of this sink in slowly, it appears this time is pivotal as people associated with university life wake up to the reality of what being a student has become. A blind eye was turned to part-time work, commuting and less time to study in the past. Now it’s front and centre. It has been a long time coming and has been a burden for a significant minority for many years. But 2023 saw the problems tip into the majority as a financial crisis widened.
The resources associated with the WONKHE meeting are readily available online and should be carefully considered by those formulating policy. Taken together, they warn of an unstable higher education system in the UK. This is driven by many students unable to fully engage with courses due to commuting and job commitments. Last year this tipped into the majority of students and now cannot be ignored (see TEFS 29 June 2023 ‘More students in jobs as fewer travel first class on the university experience train’)
Warning of an unstable path.
A UUP Foundation ‘Student Futures Commission Two years on’ (pdf) report, introduced at the WONKHE meeting, issued the following stark warning of the path ahead,
“There is a growing gap between expectations of the student experience and reality – students in our focus group frequently reported feeling underwhelmed by the university experience; particularly international students.
There is a growing sense of apathy, and a lack of agency students feel over their university experience – this is fostering a reluctance to participate in both learning and teaching and extracurricular activities.
This is compounded by the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis and the insufficiency of maintenance support – which leave students struggling to engage with the basics of the university experience (lectures, seminars, and campus facilities), never mind the opportunities to participate in wider student life that has always been seen as fundamental to the higher education offer”.
Drowning in surveys.
The UUP survey and report is only one of many. All efforts to survey students have reached broadly the same conclusions. The evidence is overwhelming and still not addressed. Most students are now finding financial difficulties a problem and either commute, work part-time or both at the expense of their studies.
On working students, Professor Janet Lord, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Health and Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, issued a simple statement,
“Students now aren’t working out of want, they are working out of necessity.”
However, she and others also pressed for provision that is flexible and accessible for all given increases in financial and other pressures on students. This is not the solution. It simply dilutes the courses to a low common denominator. The solution must be more support for students so they can take part equally in courses that are at a high standard of content as well as intellectual demand.
It ain’t funny no more.
The WONKHE meeting was preceded by A BBC2 documentary presented by comedian Geoff Norcott. By addressing the question ‘Is university really worth it?’ he shed an insightful light onto what students are enduring today. He deserves considerable credit for opening what is a black box unfamiliar to many. He was a student himself when there were no fees and like many, including most of our politicians, he had a preconception based on what it was like for him. But armed with curiosity he asked if it was worth it today. The dilemma he posed was the choice between a new car or saving for his son’s university education. After touring England speaking with students and others, he ends up in a car showroom looking at a new car. This sends out a powerful message that cannot be ignored. Norcott, intentionally or otherwise, fuels the drive by the government to deter students from going to university.
A two-tier system.
Both Norcott and WONKHE highlight the root of the problem. Many parents cannot or will not financially support their children at university. Some students are essentially estranged from their families and struggle to prove they need additional support. Add to this the fact that these students do not get the full means tested maintenance loan in England and they struggle with too many study hours lost to part-time jobs. Yet other parents are well off and have planned for their children’s futures. Those students have time to consolidate their assignments and studies and gain a significant advantage. They are in the upper echelon of a two-tier system.
No more money.
While the facts of what is happening were laid out by WONKHE, it seems everyone had acquiesced to simply accepting that there was ‘no more money’ available. This is an odd defeatist attitude that needs to be robustly challenged. The system is patently unfair and slowly degrading. The solution lies with a radical rethink about how students and universities are funded. It must be fair and progressive so that all parties who benefit pay the cost. TEFS has consistently pressed for a ‘graduate tax’ for graduates and their employers. This is most simply achieved through a graduate levy on National Insurance (NI) (TEFS 18th April 2024 ‘Funding students and Universities: a graduate National Insurance Levy is progressive and fairer.’). The time has come to grasp the nettle.
The author, Mike Larkin, retired from Queen’s University Belfast after 37 years teaching Microbiology, Biochemistry and Genetics.