Upcoming Events :
Housing Seminar: Partnerships with the Public Sector – Avoiding the pitfalls
Thu 31 May 2012
Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BB
Union opposes two-year degrees
Tue 01 Jun 2010
The University and College Union (UCU) has expressed its opposition to plans to introduce a two-year degree in the UK.
Sally Hunt, general secretary of the UCU, accepted that fast-track degrees sound "great on paper".
However, she argued that they would amount to little more than "education on the cheap" and would significantly add to teachers' workloads.
Ms Hunt also warned that if the plans are implemented, staff would have less time to spend on pastoral duties and on carrying out vital research.
She said universities are places of learning and not academic "sweatshops", which means more cannot be delivered for less.
Ms Hunt added that the upcoming cuts in the budget for higher education in the UK will have consequences.
This, she stated, means the government cannot use a two-year degree to "mask the failings of the government to properly fund" British universities.
Ms Hunt's comments coincide with a separate warning from UCU president Alistair Hunter, who said the funding cuts could result in more than 200,000 people missing out on a university place next year.
Andrea Squires, a partner at Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors, commented: "It is likely a fundamental review of higher education is required to better align the need for advanced studies and training with the ability of universities to adopt flexible practices, whilst preserving all the elements of what makes a university distinctive.
"There are no simple answers but the rising cost of higher education will dictate that changes are necessary."
