Further and Higher Education Public/Private Sector Collaboration For more information on up and coming BCPL conferences and Events please e-mail Patrick Highton on executive@black-country.ac.uk

1. Spring Conference
Further and Higher Education Partnerships,
Public/Private Sector Collaboration
Black Country Partnership for
Learning
25th May 2012

2. Welcome
Background and Context to the
Conference
BCPL Chair & Director

3. The Changing HE Policy
Framework
Gordon McKenzie
Deputy Director, HE Policy at the Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills

4. The Changing Policy Framework: the
HE White Paper and beyond
Gordon McKenzie
BIS

5. Students at the heart of the system
• Providing the robust information and financial support to allow all those
with the ability to do so, to benefit from higher education. In particular:
– No first time undergraduate has to pay tuition fees up-front. Loans available to
cover course and living costs. Many part-time and distance learning students
able to access tuition fee loans for first time.
– More generous support for low income full time students.
– Loans repaid at a rate of 9% of earnings over £21k
– HEIs to provide a standard set of information about course content and
outcomes, readily available to students.
– Encourage HEIs to publish anonymised information about teaching
qualifications and expertise of their staff.
– Asking HEFCE to improve Unistats, including with graduate salary information
from summer 2012.
– Course by course data on the type and subjects of qualifications held by
previously successful applicants.

6. Demand for HE places exceeds supply
Applicants who made one or more application to an English institution by June 30 (M ain scheme
applicants only)
UK EU non-EU HEFCE-fundable UG entrants
700,000
600,000
50,963 53,235
38,938 41,545
500,000
46,309
43,441 31,778
39,794 27,651
400,000 26,915
300,000
503,970 509,387
455,578
200,000 414,844
376,284
100,000
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Since 1994-5, government has used student number controls intermittently - to safeguard budgets during
periods of high demand.

7. UCAS applications data (i)
• Reduction in applicants (all age, all UK and overseas domicile)
in 2012 against 2011 of 7.4%.
• For English domiciled applicants the reduction is 9.8%.
• The proportion of English school leavers applying to university
is the second highest on record.
• Application rates for 18 years olds are down by just 0.7%
(March data) against 2011 but show an increase of 0.2% on
2010.
• Size of 18 year old cohort applying for entry in 2012 is over
50k fewer than its peak in 2009 – a fall of 6%

8. UCAS applications data (ii)
• Applications from young people from low participation
neighbourhoods (widely established proxy for disadvantaged
background) have held steady, down just 0.2 % from 2011
(January data).
• Applications to STEM subjects (all age) broadly maintained –
down just (2%) compared to non-STEM applications (down
8.7%).
• Larger decline in applications from older age groups (a
reduction of 11% for over 24s).
• Demand for places still significantly outstrips supply. Can
expect around 170,000 applicants failing to secure a place in
the summer (compared to just over 210,000 last year).
• Both 2011 and 2012 will be unusual years

9. White Paper reforms: student information
and student support
The Key Information Set will be available from September
2012;
Working with major providers of student data – HESA, SLC,
HEFCE and UCAS - to make more data available. Complete KIS
dataset – all 14,000 undergraduate courses - publicly available
from September 2012
The relationship between public information and quality
assurance is being strengthened. From 2012/13, QAA review
teams will make a formal judgement on the public
information provided by institutions.
Student finance package for 2013/14 announced.

10. Students at the heart of the system
• Creating competitive pressures for better teaching by
introducing new providers so that we drive up the quality of
the higher education experience for the benefit of the
student. In particular:
– Committed to opening up HE market including to FE Colleges and
alternative providers;
– Will relax student number controls through free recruitment of high
achieving students and a flexible margin;
– Will consult on removing barriers to entry, including changes to the
process for the award and renewal of degree awarding powers and the
criteria for university title;

11. Institutional supply : known unknowns
• Lack comprehensive quantitative information about
alternative (“private”) providers and their students:
– No authoritative list of providers and organisational status;
– Unclear about student numbers and characteristics;
– Lack information on student experience
• HE in FE: much more known but still gaps:
– Deeper understanding of student motivations, experience and
outcomes;
– Deeper understanding of FECs costs, resoruce implications, links with
partners
– Employer views of HE in FE and of the skills of its graduates.

12. Competitive pressures: AAB+ and Core and
margin
• Protections for SIVs and specialist institutions
in performing and creative arts;
• Core and margin:
– 155 FE colleges have received allocations of
10,354 places in total
– As a result, 65 FE colleges will have a direct
funding relationship with HEFCE for the first time.
– 35 HEIs have received allocations of 9643 places in
total

13. Competitive pressures: SNCs in 13/14
• ABB+ and equivalents = at least 120,000
entrants (1 in 3) freed from student number
controls;
• 5,000 core and margin places - majority
allocated to institutions charging <£7,500;
remainder allocated to those charging
between £7,500 and £8,250;

14. Competitive pressures: alternative
provider designations
Year No. of courses No. of students
designated (per accessing
year) student finance
2009/10 76 4300
2010/11 286 5860
2011/12 276* 9360*
*first six months
only

15. Degree awarding powers (DAPs) and
university title: WP proposals
• Legislation to allow non-teaching bodies
organisations to award taught degrees;
• More flexibility on the nature and length of
experience for organisations applying for
DAPs;
• Renewable DAPs
• Reducing the numbers criterion for university
title.

16. Next steps
• Response to White Paper and regulatory
framework consultations
• HE Bill

17. A Perspective from the
Association of Colleges
Nick Davy, Higher Education Policy
Manager
AoC

18. Title: HE Diversity?
Presentation by: Nick Davy, National HE Policy
Manager

19. Diversity?
 The Rulers - complete his theoretical and practical education by the
age of 50 (Plato ¾ century BC) [WP/Elitism/Lifelong Learning]
Medieval Universities (13th/14th century) [Structure]
 ¾ years of study
 Trivium – grammar, rhetoric and logic; Quadrivium – mathematics,
geometry, astronomy and music
 Bachelors degree – examined by a Master
 Masters degree (7 years): enter the Guild – become a teacher
 The degree was a step towards becoming a Master
 "I think I may say that of all the men we meet with, nine parts of ten
are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education”
(Locke 18th century) [Empty vessel/Value-added]

20. Diversity?
The central Humboldt (Prussia – early 19th C) principle was
the 'union of teaching and research’
The function of the university was to advance knowledge by original and
critical investigation, not just to transmit the legacy of the past or to
teach skills.
 Teaching should be based on the disinterested search for truth
 University was a 'community of scholars and students' engaged on a
common task.
 19th C - “…Knowledge…has a natural tendency to refine the mind, and
to give it an indisposition…towards excesses and enormities of evil…It
generates within the mind a fastidiousness…(which) will create an
absolute loathing of certain offenses” (Dublin Lectures Newman
1850s) – *‘Perfectabilty’/the generalist+

21. Diversity?
20th Century – Elitism to Mass/Universal?
 Pre-Robbins – young participation: under 5%
 Post-Robbins – circa 8-15% up to late 80s
 Mass expansion: 1988-1993; circa 30% +; today circa 36%
[Proportion of young people living in the most disadvantaged areas who enter HE has
increased by around + 30 per cent over the past five years, and by +50 per cent over the
past 15 years]
Classification (1), systems of higher education with Gross Enrolment Ratio GERs
(2) of
 less than 15 percent categorized as “elite”
 systems between 16 and 50 percent - “mass”
 over 50 percent - “universal”
(1) Trow M 1974
(2) Total number of students in a country (including international students) divided by the number of
citizens in that country in the five year-age cohorts which follow the normal secondary school
leaving age

22. Diversity?
Weakness of (Higher) Technical Education:
• Samuelson (1884) – weakness of technical education;
• Industrial Training Act 1964 – establishment of industry training
boards;
• Employment and Training Act 1973 – the establishment of the
Manpower Services Commission ;
• Weiner – the anti-technical education English culture (1981);
• the ‘low skills equilibrium’ argued by Finegold and Soskice in 1988;
• Dearing (1997) – foundation degree development
• UKCES (2011a 2011b)
• The Skills Commission (2011)

23. Diversity?
• Participation rates of disadvantaged young people (Q1 and Q2) in entry
tariff institution groups (Offa)

24. Diversity?
Teaching and Learning?
• More teaching should be undertaken in small classes: lectures should normally be
devoted to the exposition of principles to large audiences.
• Every student should be assigned to a tutor and should receive regular personal
guidance.
• Every student should be regularly set written work, which should be returned and
discussed with him.
• Discussion periods should complement lectures.
• All newly-appointed junior teachers should have organised opportunities to acquire the
techniques of lecturing and conducting discussion groups.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• But its realisation does depend on a change in the values of higher education, where
research is currently the main basis for professional reward and advancement. A survey
of academic staff showed that only three per cent of them believed that the payment
system rewards teaching, but 63 per cent felt that it should.
• There must, therefore, be a radical change in attitudes to teaching.

25. Diversity?
? “are taking courses below advanced level and studying part-time. If too
many of these colleges were removed from their intimate connection with
local industry and commerce there might well be a serious risk that the
nation's needs for technicians and skilled manpower generally would be
increasingly neglected. The close local relationships that these colleges
have done so much to foster must be preserved. Moreover, if the colleges
as a whole ceased to be administered by local government there is some
risk that the links with school education - which are essential if technical
education is to provide an alternative ladder of higher education for boys
and girls who are unable to follow, or are unsuited to, a sixth form and
university course - will also be weakened”

26. Diversity?
So –How do we create a more diverse HE system for the 21st
century not overly reliant on the very expensive 3 Year
residential Bachelor’s Degree?
That meets the needs of:
• The Individual – HE is good – income, health, parenting
• Society – public good: medicine etc
• The Economy: Higher vocational education
Fundamentally – what is a mass HE system for, and if we
know, what are the mechanisms to achieve those aims?

27. Diversity?
Some Ideas – and this is the medium term?
 Create a system of HE not a sector- Permeability between
secondary/further/higher – A tertiary system:
collaboration and competition
 Need for a cultural shift – long-term – Political leadership
 Promotion of the importance of the applied/practical.
Apprenticeships/Higher apprenticeships
 One Planning and Funding Body/Greater integration
 Sponsorship of Academies/UTC
 Improved/equal relationships between
Universities/Colleges/Other providers
 Involvement of the professions

28. Diversity?
Some practical ideas – roots already in place
 Continue to support the expansion of cost-effective HE at non-
research providers. (this will allow growth in numbers)
 Continue to support the growth of P/T HE. Support modular HE
 Build on the apprenticeships pyramid for HA in appropriate vocational
areas. Improve incentives/funding
 Develop a CATS for applied/vocational HE
 Credit quality in-house company/charity training schemes
 Create and promote robust APL schemes
 Integrate and promote NPHE
 Allow student numbers quota transfer
 Ensure prestigious Universities meet WP targets

29. Diversity?
Thank You
Any Questions?

30. The New Landscape

31. Validation and Accreditation
Services for Higher Level
Provision
John Davies, Head of Programme
Development
Pearson

33. Pearson Degree
Background and context
3 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

34. Pearson Degree
Background
Pearson to develop honours degrees
Building on its position as the world's leading education
company
• Pre-school, school, higher education, professional
• Textbooks, curriculum materials, multimedia tools, testing,
certification, qualifications
Building on existing qualifications business
• Largest awarding body in the UK
4 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

35. Pearson Degree
Background
Drawing on experience as FTSE 100 company
Responding to changes in HE landscape
• Fees increase
• Employability focus
• Govt encouraging private provision to address unmet demand
5 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

36. Pearson Degree
Background
Responding to changes in employment landscape
•Employer concern that universities not preparing young people with
critical business skills*
• Interpersonal skills
• Teamwork
• IT skills
• Basic literacy and numeracy
•Concern also re 25% annual churn rate amongst graduate recruits
* Unlocking Britain’s Potential, Feb 2012
6 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

37. Pearson Degree
Background
Responding to changes in employment landscape
• Employerslooking to alternatives to graduates, developing their
youngest workforce in-house
• Apprenticeships, with progression to degrees
• Sponsored undergraduate honours degrees
• 20% believe school leavers make better employees than graduates*
• Competition for talent becoming more intense
• Focus on school leavers, and even 14-16 year olds
* Unlocking Britain’s Potential, Feb 2012
7 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

38. Pearson Degree
Employer business needs
Pearson degrees can help address an employer’s long term
business needs in this context by providing:
•Talent pipeline
•“Tailored” employees
•Engaged and diverse workforce
•Relevant skills
•Recruitment assistance
•High quality, good value qualification
8 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

39. Pearson Degree
Our first degrees, key features and benefits
9 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

40. Pearson Degree
Our first degrees
Launch September 2012
• Business and Enterprise BSc (Honours)
Engineering, Computing in September 2013
Academically rigorous
• Awarded by Royal Holloway
New and innovative type of higher education qualification
• Designed so work can support studies without being a disadvantage
• Allows study alongside full and part time work
Emphasis on employability and workplace experience
10 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

41. Pearson Degree
Key features and benefits
Flexibility
• Flexible learning and attendance
• Online
• Face to face
• Weekly seminars, termly conferences, annual residentials
• Distributed learning centres
• Flexibility, not low workload
Industry and workplace links
• Designed to enhance career prospects
• Employer input valued as highly as academic input
• Work oriented design
11 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

42. Pearson Degree
Key features and benefits
Graduation debt free
• Priced below traditional university courses
• Designed around students working at least 20 hours a week
• Flexible payment system – “pay as you go”
• Student loan
• Sponsorship / scholarship
Students can complete their degree after 4 years with:
• No debt
• Several years of practical experience
• A degree from a university (Royal Holloway) ranked in the top 1% of
the world
12 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

43. Pearson Engineering degree
13 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

44. Pearson Degree
Engineering degree
Aims:
 To seek Degree Awarding Powers
 To work with colleges and industry as delivery partners
 To build on the legacy of Higher Nationals and develop
applied degrees
 To launch degrees from Pearson by developing Level 6
units, building on our Higher Nationals
 To facilitate progression for Higher National students
 To facilitate progression for Foundation Degree students
14 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

45. Pearson Degree
Higher Nationals - Engineering
HNC/D Levels
 HNC: 120 credit, level 4 qualification ≈ year 1 of degree
 HND: 240 credit, level 5 qualification ≈ years 1 & 2 of degree
 HNC is nested within the HND
HND/C Structures
 HNC: 8 units in total, with 3 core units
 HND: 16 units in total, with 4 or 5 core units
Engineering subjects: Mechanical, Manufacturing,
Electrical, Electronic, Operations,
General, Automotive, Aeronautical,
Marine
15 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

46. Pearson Degree
Level 6 Broadening Studies
A selection of units taken from the Pearson Business Degree:
 Financial Principles and Techniques for Non-specialists
 Strategic Management
 Innovation and Creativity
 Supply Chain Management
 Leadership and Management
 Entrepreneurship
 Change Management
 Applying Lean Principles to Business Operations
 Contemporary Issues in Business
18 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

47. Pearson Degree
Engineering Degree Assessment
Will be an extension of that used for HNDs, it will be:
Employer based, as far as is possible: case studies and work-
based projects
A mix of assignments and time constrained examinations
Facilitate achievement of UKSpec Learning Outcomes to meet
educational requirements for professional registration
Engender work skills, competences and performance development
23 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

48. Pearson Degree
Collaboration, benefits and commitment
24 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

49. Pearson Degree
Potential collaboration with employers
1. Contributing to the degrees’ design
• Overall concept
• Individual course units
2. Providing a case study that deals with current business issues
• Working with Pearson‟s publishing team to create this
3. Providing an interview/lecture that can be recorded and
distributed to students nationally
• Pearson would assist technically and in finding a suitable topic
4. Hosting a conference programme, and/or seminars
25 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

50. Pearson degree
Employer partners
Signed up:
double negative
In advanced discussions:
26 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

51. Pearson Degree
Benefits to employer partners
1. Embedding the degrees within employee Learning &
Development programmes
• Tailored to employer requirements
• Enhances recruitment
• Improves staff engagement
• Provides progression opportunities
• ROI benefits
2. CSR benefits by association with a new, innovative degree
that:
• Provides higher education more flexibly, less expensively, and to a
wider range of people
• Can link to a company‟s CSR programme
• Shows commitment to diverse, well qualified workforce
27 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

52. Pearson Degree
Benefits to employer partners
3. Development opportunity for employer’s staff
• Creating a case study
• Recording an online interview/lecture
• Inputting to course design
4. Increased brand exposure within the education vertical
market sector
28 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

53. Pearson Degree
Collaboration timeline for Engineering degree
2012 2013
Apr Sept Dec Sept
Course units,
Degree
case studies, Degree
concept Validation interviews launch
development
development
31 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

54. Pearson Degree
Appendix
33 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

55. Benefits of embedding and sponsoring the Pearson
Degree within L&D programmes
Creates attractive work-study proposition for higher calibre of
recruit opportunity to be positioned as “employer of choice”
• Work experience
• Employment opportunity after course
• Graduate debt free
• Degree from one of top 1% of universities in world
Enhances standard of applicant for entry level roles
Develops a talent pipeline for the future
Creates more knowledgeable, better equipped, “tailored” employees
Presents career progression/development opportunities
• Progression from Level 3
• Pearson suite of qualifications from Level 2 to Level 7
• Creates improved staff attitudes
35 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

56. Benefits of embedding and sponsoring the Pearson
Degree within L&D programmes
School leaver recruitment opportunity
• School leaver salary third to half lower than graduate salary
• New recruits immersed in the organisational culture and the skills
required to excel from day one
• Fills a critical skills gap common in graduate recruits
• Recruitment through Pearson school/college network
• Pearson candidate selection filters – interview/assessment day
• Savings on staff retention compared to graduate recruitment - 25% of
grads leave after 1 year
Flexibility for employee to work full time whilst studying,…
Or, 0.8 FTE options, facilitating study and at a lower salary cost
Savings on internal training costs (training absorbed within degree)
Minimised/zero absence from work for studies/exams
36 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

57. Benefits of embedding and sponsoring the Pearson
Degree within L&D programmes
Access to Govt funding
• Higher Apprenticeships (credited within the degree)
• GIF / Employer Ownership of Skills
• EC funds
Financial flexibility
• Competitively priced fees
• Pay as you go
• Student loan
• Part-sponsorship / “Scholarships”
• Discounts for volume
• Payment in kind (for degree/module design, case studies, lectures,
workshops, classrooms)
Re-payment conditions if employee leaves before stipulated time
period
37 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

58. Entry requirements
Application approach
• Interview
• Review academic background
• Take into account other indications of ability
• Diagnostic/admissions test
Ideally we will be looking for students:
• Intellectually capable of benefiting from the degree
• Having a certain attitude and commitment level
• Who will actively contribute to the experience of the cohort as a whole
Entry directly on to the level 6 “top up”
• HND in a relevant subject
• Foundation Degree in a relevant subject
• First two years of a relevant honours degree
• APL/APEL combined with diagnostic/portfolio
 Such students may need to complete bridging modules
38 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

59. Full-time and Part-time students
The programme is neither full-time nor part-time
• Technically students will be ¾ time
• Students will complete 90 credits a year
The programme is designed for students in substantial part-time
or full-time work
• Instead of taking 6 years it will only take 4 years to complete
• After first year some students can accelerate studies where
appropriate
Programme can also be offered on a 2 year full-time basis
“Top up” students able to complete honours degree stage in just
over a year
39 © Pearson 2012 Confidential

60. Assessment reflects work activity, e.g.:
Course Unit Assessment Work Activity
Entrepreneur- Oral exam - fifteen Presentation of a business proposal
ship and minute „pitch‟
Innovation
International Individual report Detailed report of a country market
Business and opportunities
International Business Ongoing analysis of a country
Diary market, and presentation of this
analysis
Contemporary Continuous assessment Ongoing analysis of a key emerging
Issues in via blogging issue, shared with colleagues via a
Business company intranet
Business Report A report into a key emerging issue
Major Project Project proposal Proposal for a major business
40 © Pearson 2012 Confidential
research project

61. Foundation Degree Awarding
Powers for FE Colleges
John Ellison
Head of Higher Education
New College Durham

62. Foundation-Degree Awarding
Powers (FDAP)
A perspective from an awarding
college – John Ellison New College
Durham

63. Background to the awarding powers
• powers promoted by Bill Rammell Minister for
Higher Education
• opposition from elements of the university
sector, particularly the new universities
• opportunity to apply became available from 2008
• process mirrors TDAP applications; application
process managed and scrutinised by the QAA,
and Privy Council grants the power to an
applicant based upon the report of the QAA

64. • take up has been low; two colleges granted
awarding powers in July 2011, with four
others currently undergoing scrutiny
• current HE landscape very fluid (student fees,
public information, withdrawal of franchise
numbers, private sector entrants, student
numbers, possible increases in validation
charges)

65. Why seek awarding powers?
• increased capacity to respond flexibly and rapidly
to market demand
• greater freedom over curriculum content and
design
• confirmation of maturity and fitness as an HE
provider
• platform for potential future TDAP application
• academic status
• independence

66. Financial costs and benefits -costs
• upfront QAA charge of £52000
• annual QAA subscription charge
• staff costs associated with the scrutiny process
• costs associated with awarding (external
examiner fees and costs, additional Registry
functions, new posts?)

67. …benefits
• no more annual charges payable to the
validating HEI
• opportunity to maintain/increase student
numbers through programme development
greatly enhanced
• strengthening of HE processes and procedures
• marketing opportunities from raised profile
and standing
• profile of the FEC sector enhanced

68. The process – main features
• specific details contained in the Companion
Guide for Foundation Degree Awarding Powers
published by BIS
• applicants must have delivered HE at L5 or above
for four consecutive years preceding application
• process initiated by informal discussions with
QAA
• detailed application completed by college and
submitted to QAA

69. • submission based upon a critical self analysis (CSA),
progression statement (post L5 opportunities), student
consultation process, statement from chair of governing
body and from validating institutions
• QAA scrutiny team appointed, made up from senior
members of the academic community
• scrutiny team identifies whether applicant has the capacity,
self criticality and maturity to be granted the powers,
through examination of written evidence, attendance at
meetings, and meetings with staff and stakeholders

70. • team reports to ACDAP, ACDAP reports to the
QAA Board, the Board advises BIS which liaises
with the Privy Council
• power initially granted for 6 years

71. The New College experience
• process extremely thorough and extremely long
(for us)
• main issues were around management structure,
where deliberative activity takes place, and
scholarly activity
• activity dominated our HE work
• process forced clarification and simplification of
processes and structures
• development of our own regulations and
awarding processes challenging

72. Was it worth it?
• we have learnt a great deal
• we are stronger than we were
• we used the powers immediately
• we will be delivering all our own fd’s from
September
• it has forced me into early retirement

73. FE/HE and Private Sector
Relationships in Higher
Education
Peter Crisp
Chief Executive of BBP Law School
&
Adam Temple, Managing Director of BPP Centre
Birmingham

74. The private HE provider
Peter Crisp and Adam Temple
BPP University College
25 May 2012

75. Introduction
Peter Crisp
Dean BPP Law School
Adam Temple
Managing Director, BPP Birmingham
Agenda
To give a non-traditional HE perspective
How private sector universities differ from the publicly
maintained university sector
75

76. “World-wide private
institutions out number public
ones – 30,555 private HEI’s
representing 55.7% of total HEI
provision”
PROPHE 2010 data*
“In Europe, private HEI’s enrol “World-wide 35 million students
16% of all students and study with private HEI’s –
represent 25% of all HEI’s” 31.3% of total enrolments”
PROPHE 2010 data PROPHE 2010 data*
“Through out the world, the number
of students in private institutions
is growing faster than in publicly owned and funded ones”
“In Asia, private HEI’s enrol HEPI, 2011 “In Latin America, private
36% of all students and HEI’s enrol 49% of all
represent 58% of all HEI’s” students and represent 71%
PROPHE 2010 data* of all HEI’s”
PROPHE 2010 data*
“In the US, private HEI’s enrol 26%
of all students and represent 61%
of all HEI’s”
PROPHE 2010 data*

77. UK private HE sector
• Private providers who exercise degree awarding powers of
the publicly maintained sector (e.g. Kaplan International
Colleges)
– Joint Ventures, e.g.
• Kaplan (Liverpool John Moores, University of Essex etc)
• Laureate (University of Liverpool)
• London School of Business & Finance (London
Metropolitan University)
• Simple accreditation/validation services, e.g.
• University of Wales
• Open University Validation Scheme
77

78. UK private HE sector
• Private providers who support the operations of the publicly
maintained sector but do not have their own degree awarding
powers
– INTO, pathway programmes
– Study Group, pathway programmes
– Cambridge Education Group, pathway programmes
– University Partnerships Programmes – management of
real estate, development of halls of residence etc

79. UK private HE sector
• Existing private provider established by Royal Charter
– University of Buckingham
• New private providers with TDAP post 2004 group –
charitable bodies:
• IFS School of Finance
• Ashridge Business School
• Private for profit providers
– BPP University College
– College of Law (converting educational provision from a
charity to a private for profit venture owned by Montagu)

80. UK private HE private sector
• Others
– Pearson – Edexcel plans to offer degrees
– US companies planning an entry strategy (Bridgepoint/ De
Vry/ Capella (who have taken a stake in the UK in RDI,
which is seeking UK TDAP)
– Private Equity groups seeking an entrance, such as
Warburg Pincus, Englefield Capital

81. BPP Education Group
 BPP formed in 1976 by three accountancy faculty
 Floated in 1986 as BPP Holdings plc
 In 2007 BPP became the first proprietary company to gain UK
Degree Awarding Powers
 1n 2010 BPP became first private University College for 30 yrs
 140,000 students study with BPP annually
 BPP University College
 BPP Law School
 BPP Business School
 BPP School of Health
81

82. BPP Education Group
• BPP Learning Media – publisher
• BPP Professional Education – accountancy, tax, financial
services, actuarial science, and continuing professional
development
• Markus Verbeek – Technical University for Accountants
• UK – 16 cities and the Channel Islands
• Worldwide – Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Hungary,
Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia

83. DAP: why bother?
• Beginnings
– Build on BPP’s success in the accountancy and legal education
• QAA encouraged BPP to have our programmes validated by
existing universities
– Lack of urgency, faculty politics, costs, interference in the commercial
case
– Reputational risks linking to a third party university
– Expertise (BPP is a niche professional education provider)
• Decision to seek Taught Degree Awarding Powers (TDAP)
– Ability to tailor programmes and work closely with clients to bespoke
the programme to their needs
– Innovative with learning technologies
– Speed to market
83

84. BPP’s journey to DAP
• Application to the Privy Council
– Long internal debate within ACDAP as to whether a private provider
could apply
• QAA
– A panel observed meetings over a period of 18 months, interviewed
students, employers, staff and sat in on classroom learning
– Reviewed BPP’s General Academic Regulations, policies and
procedures around the administration of qualifications
– QAA submitted report to ACDAP which made a recommendation to
the Privy Council
• Result
– Taught Degree Awarding Powers granted in September 2007 for a
renewable period of 6 years
84

85. Degree Awarding Powers – the positives
New programmes
– Certificates, diplomas, Masters and Undergraduate degrees in law,
finance, accounting, human resources, management, marketing
– “Credit rate” our existing programmes
– Accreditation of prior learning and prior experiential learning
– Work with employers to offer tailored solutions to their training
requirements
Innovation
– Programme design
– Investing in new learning platforms to support learning
Masters of our own destiny
– Privately funded but same fees as the publicly-maintained sector
85

86. Degree Awarding Powers – the challenges
• You must look like and talk like a publicly-maintained
university
– Senate and Council; governance; adopt the language of HE
• Teaching-led v research-led
– Universities seem to assume that the only research that takes place is
that within a university
• Competing with a university sector that:
– Will never lose its powers to award degrees (not time renewable)
– Mismanages its finances
– Under invests in teaching (typical final year undergraduate receives
only 4 hours tuition per week) without any consequences
– Enjoys priority over funding and tax breaks
86

87. BPP University College governance
• Academic Council
– Educational authority of BPP
– Voting majority weighted in favour of independent members
– Chaired by Professor Martyn Jones, PVC of Kingston University
– 6 independent members, 2 from “industry” (1 QC, 1 from business), 4
from the higher education sector
• Board of Directors
– Faculty led commercial board including Deans of Schools
– Non-executive director and chairman
• Ceremonial President: Baroness Cohen of Pimlico
• Executive
– Principal and Deans of Schools (Business, Law)
– Chief Officers for operating roles – finance, technology, operations,
marketing, enrolment, people
87

88. BPP faculty
• Employed permanent employees
• 37.5 hours per week contract
• 30 days holiday per year plus bank holidays and discretionary
closure days (employee can flex holidays by buying/selling up
to 10 days)
• Career levels of Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Principal Lecturer,
Professor linked to HE Academy descriptors with
appointments panel
• Typically 16 hours max teaching per week for two semesters
• Salaries usually higher than the publicly maintained sector
• Not part of the University Pension fund
88

89. BPP model
• Learning Centres in 16 UK cities and 13 in other
European countries
• Law Schools in eight cities
• Face-to-face learning
• Blended learning
• Campus and on-line equivalence
• Class sizes typically 12-18
• 12-16 hours contact per week (students)
• 95% faculty permanent employees (16 hours max for
2 semesters)
• 3 standard start dates for degree programmes
89

90. The Big Issue for HE
Supply of
affordable,
high quality HE
Demand

91. Demand is growing
• 1950 less than 33% • Today, UNESCO • 2025 estimated to be
of jobs required estimates there are 262.8M students in
higher skills 150.6 million tertiary education
• Today the Milken students in Tertiary • First 25 years of this
Institute estimates education century will
• Increase since 2000 produce*
70% 53% 270%
*Centre for HE Development, Guttersloh, Germany

92. Race to the top?
• The Millennium study of • The OECD reports in its • Race to the top v Race to
mothers of children born latest 2010 world the bottom?
in the year 2000, asked education data, that the • India with 144M 18-24
how many aspired for UK is below the OECD year olds has announced
their children to go to average for the number the intention to achieve
university of school leavers University enrolments of
graduating
98% 35% 30%

93. Traditional UK model dominates the world
• Research intensive universities
• Judged by the quality of research output
• Judged by the number of PhDs produced
• Academic freedom – control over what is researched,
relevance to the needs of business etc
• Engaging undergraduates through “teaching” is low priority
• Government of India describes this as education for the 5%
“The main thing students said would improve quality is more
contact time, though group or individual teaching sessions,
or time with a personal tutor.”NUS/HSBC Survey 2010

94. “Students prefer a choice in how they learn.
Computer technology is one possibility along-side
part-time and traditional full-time learning and face
to face teaching.
“Students respond to a range of possible learning
methods rather than one or two prescribed
options.”
“Survey: Student Perspectives on Technology HEFCE Study, Oct 2010”

95. “33% of graduating students
wish they had chosen a
different course such as a more
scientific/technical course or a
business-based course or a
professional vocation.”
source: CIPD “Value of a Degree” 2006

96. Employability skills CBI/UUK*
• Self –management – readiness to accept responsibility, flexibility, resilience, self-
starting, appropriate assertiveness, time management, readiness to improve own
performance based on feedback, reflective learning
• Team working - respecting others, co-operating, negotiating/persuading,
contributing to discussions, awareness of interdependence with others
• Business and customer awareness – understanding the drivers for
business success – including the importance of innovation, taking calculated risks, the need
to provide customer satisfaction and to build customer loyalty
*Future Fit (2009)
96

97. Employability skills CBI/UUK* defined as:
• Problem solving – analysing facts and situations, applying creative thinking to
develop appropriate solutions
• Communication and literacy – ability to produce clear, structured written
work, oral literacy, including listening and questioning
• Numeracy – general mathematics awareness and its application in practical contexts,
confidence tackle maths problems in the workplace
• Application of information technology – IT skills including word
processing, spreadsheets, file management, and use of internet search engines
*Future Fit (2009)

98. Career focus?
• 91% of students applying to university have some idea of the
career they wish to pursue (Source: CBI Survey 2009: Stronger Together)
• 34% of students are learning “employability skills” as part of
their degree (Source: CBI Survey 2009: Stronger Together)
• 25% of students believe their business awareness could be
improved (Source: CBI/You Gov Survey 2009)
• 51% of students would like more opportunities to develop
business awareness (CBI/You Gov Survey 2009)
• 31% of students would like more opportunities to develop
their numeracy skills (CBI/You Gov Survey 2009)
• 35% of employers were not satisfied with the business/
customer awareness of graduates ( Source: CBI/Nord Anglia Research 2009)

99. Abandoning the 50% participation target ?
• This year record numbers of UK applicants were turned away
from university
• UK university graduation rates for young people graduating
with a first degree is below the OECD average*
• 30% of total UK work force has a graduate level qualification
• % 15-19 year olds NOT in education or employment in the UK
is the 2nd highest of all 29 OECD developed countries, only
Turkey is worse*
• The UK is below the OECD average for developed nations for
% population completing upper secondary education*
*Source: OECD 2009 At a Glance Data: Education Directorate
100

100. The future
• BPP offers undergraduate degrees at the top-up level fee i.e.
same fee as public sector
– BPP receives nor asks for any funding from HEFCE
– BPP’s model involves 12-16 hours contact teaching per
week in maximum class sizes of up to 18
– Degree can be completed in 2-7 years (BPP teaches
through the summer term)
– Professional employed faculty teaching professionally
relevant degree programmes
“Stronger Together: Business and Universities in
turbulent times” 2009, CBI
101

101. The future
Government needs to welcome greater private sector
involvement in the sector provided it delivers high-
quality provision and value for money (CBI proposal)
Stronger Together: Business and Universities in turbulent times 2009, CBI
• Here to stay!

102. Panel Session/Q & A

103. Lunch

104. Practical Responses and Local
Partnerships

105. Participation, Progression and
Partnerships: Real Inclusion in
Practice
Professor David Green
Vice Chancellor & Chief Executive
University of Worcester

106. Local Enterprise Partnerships
and employment/demand-side
perspectives
Professor Ian Oakes
Pro-Vice Chancellor Research and
Enterprise
University of Wolverhampton & BCPL

107. Black Country LEP
Skills Challenge – 25th May 2012
Professor Ian Oakes
University of Wolverhampton

108. Productivity Challenge

109. Skills Component - £1.4bn
Insufficient Skills Levels

110. Proportion of Pupils attaining 5+ A*-C GCSEs, 2004-
85 2011
75
%
65
55
45
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Black Country England

111. Proportion of Pupils attaining 5+ A*-C GCSEs inc.
English and Maths, 2006-2011
60
55
50
%
45
40
35
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Black Country England

113. Qualifications of the Working Age
Population, 201081,660 extra people
% with NVQ4+
% with NVQ3
% with NVQ2
% with NVQ1
% with Trade
Apps
% with other
quals
% with no
quals
51,038 less
people
0 10 20 30 40
Black Country England

114. % of working age population with no qualifications, 2004-
25 2010
20
%
15
10
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Black Country England

115. % of the Working Age Population with NVQ Level
18 1 only
17
16
15
%
14
13
12
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Black Country England

116. % of the Working Age Population with NVQ
20
Level 2 only
19
18
%
17
16
15
14
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Black Country England

117. % of Working Age Population with NVQ Level
18 3 only
17
16
15
%
14
13
12
11
10
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Black Country

118. % of working age population with NVQ Level
35 4+, 2004-2010
30
%
25
20
15
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Black Country England

120. Black Country Key Sectors
Transformational Sectors:
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Building Technologies
• Transport Technologies including Aerospace
• Business Services
• Environmental Technologies

121. Black Country Major Developments
• Enterprise Zone (inc. M54 development)
• JLR Engine Plant
• Growth in Aerospace sector

122. Black Country Enterprise Zone
• The DCLG have approved the location of the
Black Country Enterprise Zone
• Comprises a portfolio of 2 sites situated in
Darlaston and i54 - spread over 120 hectares
• Will create almost 4,000 net new jobs by 2015
• The zone will benefit from discounts on
business rates, new superfast broadband and
increased planning certainty

123. Enterprise Zone - Darlaston

124. Enterprise Zone – i54

125. Enterprise Zone – i54

126. Jaguar Land Rover Engine Plant
• £355m investment
• 750 new jobs (approx 700 skilled/semi skilled)
• Low-emission car engines
• Completion mid-2013
• Further 2,500 supply chain jobs

127. Growth in Aerospace Sector
• Wolverhampton is at the centre of the Aerospace
Industry in the Midlands and accounts for 20% of
the total UK output for the sector.
• 4 major 1st-tier suppliers - HS Marston, Timken
Aerospace, Goodrich Aerospace and Moog
• Moog has just completed a new bespoke factory of
the future on the EZ retaining 400 jobs in the
region
• Goodrich Aerospace is currently seeking to recruit

128. LEP Contribution to Job Creation
Jobs Challenge +£1.7bn GVA
+49,000 jobs to reach average
BC LEP Contributions +8,954 Jobs (18%)
Enterprise Zone +4,000 Net New Jobs
Regional Growth Fund +510 Jobs Created
R2 177 Jobs Safeguarded
Growing Places +4,444 Jobs
HCA +1,920 Jobs

129. LEP Skills Task & Finish Group
• Cross section of input: FE, HE, Schools, Employers, Local
Authorities, Education and Business Partnerships, Job Centre
Plus
• Identified 3 key work strands and a cross-cutting theme

130. Key Themes
• Work Experience
• Soft Skills
• Skills needs
• Complex information landscape
• Information, advice & guidance (IAG)
• High unemployment & complexity of employing

131. Recommendations (1)
• Work Experience
– Deliver education alongside work place experience

132. Activity:
• Provide academic education alongside a work place
experience focussed specifically on the needs of the
companies in the Black Country (e.g. high-value
manufacturing sector).
• Employers will be expected to provide work experience for
young people across a range of levels which will:
• Be stimulating and demanding
• Be representative of future career opportunities
• Provide an opportunity to develop ‘soft’ skills

133. Recommendations (2)
• Soft Skills
– Commission range of age and context relevant on-line
materials based on 6 key principles

134. Activity:
• Commission range of age and context relevant online learning
materials to support the development of soft skills for
individuals as they seek employment or once in
employment, which will be:
- Accompanied by work experience to further develop and
practice soft skills in a work place environment
- Mapped into providers’ offers from schools, FE and HE
- Developed with significant employer input
- Linked to accreditation opportunities
- Accessible online, available to individuals, employers and
providers

135. Recommendations (3)
• Skills Shortages
– Revision of education curricula in collaboration with SSC
to closer match employers’ needs

136. Activity:
• In collaboration with the Sector Skills Councils, employers
will be expected to contribute to the revision of current
education curricula and educational programmes including;
Apprenticeship Schemes, Advanced Apprenticeship
Schemes, National Certificates in Engineering and Graduate
Training Programmes to ensure that they align with their
needs. This will be achieved through the development of
sustained and sustainable learning and progression
relationships between schools, colleges, universities and
employers, as a means of addressing the skills needs in
strategic areas.

137. Recommendations (4)
• Work based learning
– Bite size CPD opportunities for those in employment, via
various media, to avoid barrier of absence from
workplace
– Embed culture of employer-led life-long learning

138. Activity:
• Provide CPD opportunities for those in employment to
enhance knowledge and skills at a variety of educational
levels. These ‘bite-size chunks’ of learning will address
common needs amongst employers and be delivered through
various media, including on-line, in-company, evening and
weekend delivery, avoiding lengthy absences from the
workplace.
• These programmes will create a platform for a culture of
employer-led lifelong learning and will also assist in retention
of staff that is currently being lost through the retirement of
an aging workforce.

139. Recommendations (5)
• Information, Advice & Guidance
– Provide clearer and more readily accessible signposting
for employers

140. Activity:
• Develop a ‘signposting service’ for employers wishing to
engage in the provision of work experience opportunities or
employ school leavers, students or graduates
• Create single point of reference and information for
employers, employees, young people and advisors
• Align to ‘Find It’ framework

141. Recommendations (6)
Skills for Unemployed
– Improve mapping of clients’ journey against current
provision to identify duplication and market failure.

142. Activity:
• Improve the mapping of all elements of a client’s journey
against the current provision available through Job Centre
Plus District Provision. This exercise will identify duplication
and complementarily in the provision as well as market
failure. Where gaps in provision are identified, funding will
be identified and additional provision
commissioned, including provision for NEETs
• Support will be provided for employers (particularly SMEs)
to overcome bureaucracy involved in employing people.

143. The next steps…………….
• Implementation, monitoring, reporting, impac
t
• Skills Promise

144. Thank you for listening

145. Panel Session

146. Practical and Local Development

147. Partnership working across Students’
Unions and College based support
functions - Birmingham and the Black
Country
Luke Millard & Paul Chapman
Birmingham City University
BCU Students’ Union
Kim Hughes Students’ Union Dudley
College

148. Flexible, Open and Distance
Learning Approaches to HE
Partnerships
Dr Philip Hallam
CEO, Resource Development
International Ltd (RDI)

149. Partnership working across Students’
Unions and College based student
support functions across Birmingham
and the Black Country
Luke Millard, Birmingham City University
Kim Hughes, Dudley College Students’ Union
Paul Chapman, Birmingham City Students’ Union

150. Today
• Ethos for student partnership and college
engagement
• Wider perspectives from the Colleges and NUS
• The Virtual Students’ Union
• ‘From the virtual to the real’ through student
leadership
• The way forward

151. Ethos for student partnerships at BCU
• Generating the Learning Community
• Co-creation of a learning experience
• Partnership between the University and the Students’ Union
• Student Academic Partners
• Student Representation / Student Voice
• The emergent role(s) of students within education
• Transition to HE
– From pupil to student
– Greater awareness of the SU and student expectations and
opportunities

152. Partnership with Colleges
• University debate on
engagement with Colleges
• Desire to find out what
Colleges wanted from
working with a University at
an institutional level
• Student engagement and
student led activity was key
• Series of meetings with
College SU and Student
services to identify
collaborative projects

153. College aspirations
• Student academic representation / the learner
voice support and development
• Student led activity; clubs, societies and
volunteering organised by students
• Collaborative discussions around international
students
• An accessible platform
• Virtual Students’ Union and Shareville

154. Dudley’s view
• Widening participation
• Raise aspirations
• Strengthen learner representation
• Community
• Broaden horizons

155. “Being invited to collaborate with BCU on such an innovative project
has been not only been exciting but also inspiring. BCU have welcomed
and encouraged our input at every step and it has been refreshing to
be in partnership with such forward thinking colleagues who truly
value the learner voice. The possibility of communication with our
membership via this medium is one which previously we have only
imagined but with the vision of BCU it has become a reality. The
interactivity is also something that we had aspired to. We cannot wait
to launch the Virtual Students’ Union in the next academic year in hope
that it will open up many new opportunities for us to communicate
with our membership especially those who are apprenticeship, work
based, and part time.”
Sophia Daley, Student Development Officer
Kim Hughes, President of Students’ Union, Dudley College
(Nominated for NUS FE Students’ Union of the year and NUS Student
Unionist of the year)

156. Shareville
• Shareville brings ‘real world’ scenarios to students in
order to prepare them for the workplace
• “It would be the partners intention to employ this
technology to replicate the real life interactions of
students as a mechanism for improving course
representation training and ultimately to improve the
quality of student learning.” LLN bid
• Shareville is an open source resource available to all

158. NUS response
“This is pioneering and really exciting. The virtual
students' union is incredibly impressive, and the
potential here is huge.”
Shane Chowen
Vice President (Further Education) NUS

160. College Perspective
"The Virtual Students’ Union is providing us with an outstanding
resource to train some of the 390 course representatives we have at
Solihull College. It's is immediately more engaging than the resources
we have used before and speaks directly to young people. The case
studies are immensely useful and having used real students allows
them to speak directly to our course reps. The other benefit is that with
so many reps at the College, it allow students who may be elected later
in the year, replacement reps who are already trained or mature
students who are unable to attend training sessions to access the
benefits of training remotely. This could prove to be a key benefit in
the expansion of course representation to part time students who
have traditionally been an underrepresented group who struggle to
attend training due to their commitments outside of College."
Jim Busher, Director of Student Services, Solihull College

161. Moving to the real
• Creating the Leadership Academy
• November 24th 2011 (6 Colleges, 70+
students)
• Inspirational student leaders advocating
student engagement
• Creating the template for collaborative action
• Identifying opportunities for collaborative
working

163. Feedback
“Feedback from the Solihull College students who
attended the event has been overwhelmingly positive -
full of enthusiasm and energy about how they could
replicate the ideas in their colleges. Further development
is currently underway within the Student Representatives
agenda at the College and there has been a lot of interest
in the topic as word seems to be spreading amongst
students about the success of the event.
“It was great to be involved, I really enjoyed thinking of
how we can make a difference to learning at college and
sharing these ideas with other colleges.”

164. Feedback
“ Brilliant day, loved meeting all the students from other colleges, and
the American speaker was inspiring I wish all colleges could employ
students it’s a great way of building confidence - a totally enjoyable
day”
“Usman Ali really affected me with his life experience, it’s hard to see
where life is going when you're in college, I felt after hearing Usman
that the sky is the limit, and positive thinking gets you where you want
to go”
“ Loved the day it was exciting being at BCU and the positive
experiences of the speakers about University and the learning
experiences they shared was key, it made me realise that I want to go
to University to further my education.”

165. NUS Perspective: Usman Ali VP-HE
"The focus on Further Education, FE students,
the choices they make and the opportunities
afforded to them has never been greater nor
more urgent, so it is great to see a University
working not only in such a collaborative way
but also by putting student leadership at the
heart of what they do and how they do it.
The BCU Student Leadership Academy has
great potential to motivate a diverse mix of
students and impact on their future lives and
it was a pleasure to be involved…this was my
favourite event of the year and
[demonstrates] how much more of this needs
to be done”

166. Impact
• College based Question Time debate
attendance by HE SU President on access,
finance and FE transition
• NUS VP-HE Attending Stourbridge College
Student Conference
• Inter-College conversations on joint activity
• Series of FE visits by HE Student Intern
investigating impact and future opportunities

167. Next steps
• Evaluation
– On-going student Intern visits
• Seeking sustainable funding
• HEA Collaborative projects proposal
• Next leadership event in 2012

168. Thoughts, Questions and
considerations…

169. Flexible, Open and Distance
Learning
Approaches to HE Partnerships
Dr Philip Hallam
170

170. Background
• Founded 22 years ago
• Provide online and blended learning
• 8,000 registered students in 156 countries
• Offices in UK and Hong Kong
• 10 years of HE course development,
recruitment, delivery, assessment & QA
• 40+ Undergraduate/Postgraduate courses
• 27,000+ HE learning hours online content
• 8 University partners + Edexcel

171. Course Breadth
• Business & Management
• Law & Finance
• Marketing
• IT & Computing
• Telecommunications
• Psychology
• Hospitality & Tourism
• Health & Social Care
• Graphic Design & Media
172

172. Education Partners
173

173. What makes for a good Partnership
• People
• Realism
• Agreed set of goals
• Mutual respect
• Communication
• Trust
• Commitment
• Accurately defined set of responsibilities
• Contract
174

174. RDI Responsibilities
• Syllabus design & validation submission
• Marketing & admissions
• Online learning material development
• Appointment, management & development of
academic tutors
• VLE and student management software
• Delivery and support of student learning
• Assessment & marking
• Course Committee & Examination Board
• QA&E 175

175. Lessons learned
• People leave institutions
• Bureaucracy interferes in decision making
• Investment risk is often undervalued
• Success is easily achieved and therefore it
can be easily replicated
• Partnerships have a finite life span
• Ensure the student always comes first
when a partnership unwinds
176

176. Panel Session

177. Plenary Session
Key issues for participants, reactions
to inputs, impact and
implementation timelines 2012-13
and beyond

178. Thank you
Conference presentations will be
available online
www.bcpl.org.uk